Top 10 Business Travel Tips w/ Anthony Pizzuto (Geeky a Go Go)

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Ever had your rubber mats disappear into a parallel universe? Join us on this episode of "Treasures of Our Town" as Joshua hilariously recounts his bizarre car wash saga that spirals into a conspiracy theory featuring missing mats and alternate realities. It's a wild ride you won't want to miss! Along with this quirky tale, we introduce a new travel trend coined as "raw-dogging" — embracing the thrill of spontaneous adventures. Anthony, our seasoned traveling guest, joins us to share invaluable tips for work-related trips, ensuring even the most planned traveler finds inspiration.

Anthony Pizzuto brings to the table a rich blend of expertise from his multi-faceted career in hospitality and his geeky passions. As someone who clocks 55,000 air miles annually, he's got the scoop on making the most of your travel time. From the hidden perks of airline club access to the importance of having backups for your gadgets, Anthony's insights are pure gold for business travelers. We'll also touch on managing multiple streaming subscriptions and the allure of driverless cars, ensuring there's something for every tech enthusiast and travel geek alike.

We're all about celebrating local gems and the unique treasures each town has to offer. From finding local dining spots over fast-food chains to reconnecting with old friends through social media, this episode is packed with heartfelt stories and practical tips. We also highlight the pride we have in our hometowns and encourage listeners to support our podcast through Patreon and social media. Join us for a show filled with laughter, travel wisdom, and a genuine appreciation for the places we call home.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There's a new trend going out of people having
videos of themselves.
And Josh, have you seen this?
Yeah, they call it raw-dogging.
I'm going to raw-dog thisflight.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Do you love to travel ?
Do you love road trips?
Do you love finding hiddentreasures in towns all over the
USA?

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Hi, I'm Joshua, and I'm Joshua and I'm Craig.
Welcome to Treasures of OurTown.
It's the podcast that exploresthe unique and charming towns
scattered throughout the United.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
States.
Join us as we venture into someof the country's most
intriguing destinations,uncovering hidden gems and local
secrets along the way.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
On today's episode, Josh, we've got a person who is
actually you know what.
He's a non-geocacher.
Again.
Like last week, like lastepisode, we didn't know he had
more about the travel, and thistime as well, this guy is all
about the travel.
He's got his own podcast not atravel podcast, but he will
sound good for it, I'm sure ofthat and he travels all over the

(01:00):
USA for work purposes, andthat's what we're going to talk
to him about today Because, asyou know, Josh, you travel for
work, don't you?
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:07):
yes, I do, yeah.
And so I just want to say toall the geocachers listening now
, don't just like scroll away,no, no, I guess you can't scroll
away from a podcast.
Don't just hit pause, don'tjust turn it off, don't go fast
forward, forward.
Yeah, don't do that.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
We're gonna tell we'll talk to him about
geocaching, of course, just likewe, just like we did with jack
norton, uh, two weeks ago, buthe's gonna give us some real fun
travel tips yeah, some reallygood ones too for those people
who aren't geocachers out there,who don't have the geocaching
app or munzee app or whatever,and what they do when they go to
these places, josh, and theydon't know they're there for
work purposes, you see, and theydon't have the geocaching app
or Munzee app or whatever.
And what they do when they goto these places, josh, and they
don't know they're there forwork purposes, you see, and they

(01:49):
don't know what to do withthemselves, where to eat, where
to drink, where to amusethemselves during these times.
So there we go, right, yeah,right.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
But, craig, before we get to Anthony, we need to talk
about our upgrades and delays.
And let's just say this weekthere were a lot of actual
delays.
Yes, in the whole world.
Yes, as people were stuck inairports and stuck in cities
that they didn't want tonecessarily be stuck in because

(02:20):
of the Microsoft.
I think it was like a Microsoftoutage or something like that.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
It was some IT outage somewhere that affected a lot
of places worldwide, includingAustralia as well.
So, yes, there was a lot ofdelays in all.
But, Josh, what is yourpersonal delay for this episode?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Oh boy, here we go.
Are you ready?
Yeah, I'm ready.
Markle up.
This is a mini story.
I'll try not to make it long.
Okay, I up.
Yeah, this is a mini story.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
I'll try not to make it long okay, I went to a car
wash this week.
Oh, do you know where I'm goingwith this?
I do I, because I follow you onyour instagram, mate.
Oh my god, it's all over yourinstagram.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, keep going.
Okay, so I'll try to make itquick.
I go to a car wash.
It's one of those full servicecar washes where they, they
vacuum it out for you, they washit.
You know all the things.
Right, I walk, I drive up a guywith the ipad says would you
like the to have the add-onwhere you, we spray off your
rubber mats.
And I look down in my car and Ilook and look at my rubber mats

(03:16):
and they're dirty.
I was like, yes, add that twodollar extra.
I pull up into the vacuumstation, I get out of my car and
then I head into the car wash,where you go down the hallway to
wash, watch your car be washed.
Yeah, um, they're vacuuming out, there's spraying the mats off.
So I think, and I'm all done,they go through the.
I watch my car go through thecar wash.

(03:37):
I get back in my car at the endof the car wash and I look down
, craig, and the rubber mats aregone.
What, dun, dun, dun, what.
And I'm like, oh no, they musthave given the rubber mats.
Yeah, you know, accidentallyput the rubber mats maybe in
somebody else's car.
Yeah, or they just forgot toput them back in, yeah, so I
pull back around and I go toback to ipad, kid who, um, who I

(04:01):
gave my money to, yeah, andhe's like, oh, okay, uh, sorry,
so he goes, gets the managertakes five minutes.
The manager comes out.
He goes, yeah, um, what, what'sthe?
What's the seems to be theproblem.
Um, I, I went through.
I was like I went through thecar wash, yeah, and then the
rubber mats.
I'm looking at it, the floor isclean, but the mats are gone.
It must have went to some othercar that must be back back

(04:23):
where the vacuum thing is.
So he leaves, comes back.
He goes, yeah, uh, you don'thave rubber mats, what?
And I'm like what, are youkidding me?

Speaker 1 (04:35):
there's a word for that, josh I was being gaslit.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, gaslighting, exactly he was.
He was making me think I wascrazy.
He's like no, they, you know,you don't, you didn't have them.
There were no black mats.
I was like what?
I was like, a hundred percentfrom my memory, I paid for them.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Here's the receipt oh , so you showed the receipt oh,
yeah, here's the receipt.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, says I paid the two dollars for it.
He's like no, you never hadthem, they were never there I'm
like, are you kidding me?

Speaker 1 (04:59):
then why would you ask if you want your mats done
if they weren't there?
And then why would you pay forthem to have them done if they
weren't there?

Speaker 3 (05:08):
That's the key.
Why did I pay for them?
Because I remember looking atthem.
Right Now, the iPad kid I givehim a little bit of grace there
because he's not necessarilylooking inside my car.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
He's just trying to sell.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yeah, he's trying to upsell me, right?
So I mean, from thatperspective, yes, but I saw them
with my eyes.
Craig, I was like and I keptexplaining to the guy 100%, I
had black mats and now they'regone.
He's like, no, no, you can lookat the video footage.
I was like what?
I was like I don't have timefor this, so I left.

(05:42):
I I was like I don't have timefor this, so I left.
I came back later that evening,when you did have time, when I
had time to look, and I wentinto the back room a different
manager.
I look at the footage and thefootage that they showed me of
me.
They showed me getting out ofmy car.
Yeah, they pulled it up and,craig, I don't know what's going
on, but they didn't pull anyblack mats out of my car.

(06:03):
What?

Speaker 1 (06:06):
so maybe you are going the mat.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
So either I'm going crazy, yeah, or um, they didn't
show me the complete footage oflike when they took the mats out
, like there might be, becausethey pull the forward again be a
mat so I was like yeah, isthere a difference?
Where's the mat station?
And they were trying to explainto me though their process, so

(06:28):
maybe they did lose them andthey're trying to cover their
steps.
Did they, craig?
Did they edit the video?

Speaker 1 (06:37):
It's not an attempted assassination you know oh gosh
Conspiracy theory.
The conspiracy theory of themats the geocaching vlogger
conspiracy theory.
The conspiracy theory of themats the geocaching vlogger
conspiracy theory has beencreated here's what.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Here's what I think happened.
Craig, I'm sorry this is a longdelay that's all right, it was
really a big deal.
Yeah, I think when I got out mycar and went to that hallway, I
entered a new timeline.
Oh so you're like marty mcfly?
well, like, yeah, like atimeline where I don't have mats
didn't exist in my car, aglitch in the matrix it was, and

(07:13):
that if anywhere of there wouldbe a portal, it would be a car
wash.
I think so, yeah, so I you know, I was telling everybody at my
work the story and I was likeasking questions like who's the
president?

Speaker 2 (07:27):
To make sure everything was the same.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
It was the same, because if there's something
else that changed, here's aquestion for you though.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Did any of your work colleagues or Tammy or any of
your kids say to you oh yeah,you definitely had black mats in
there, Did you ask them?

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Okay, they were uncertain what yeah Rhys was
like, like I don't know if therewere black mats in there and
then I talked to my youngestyeah, I talked to my youngest,
hayden, who has been, who hasbeen um has this permit and he's
like dad, I think in the frontseat, at least in the driver's
side, there was a black matthere, there you go, I was like

(08:00):
thank you somebody, but mostpeople were not validating me
tell me, did tammy validate youor she doesn't know?

Speaker 1 (08:05):
she?

Speaker 3 (08:05):
thinks I'm crazy.
She's like I don't.
She's like I don't think we hadblack mats in the front well,
there you go, there's your.
Wow, it was there's your I justwant to say craig it was
disturbing and I want to knowfrom the listeners, please reach
out to us.
Yeah, if you've ever had amoment like this where, like
craig, 100, 100%, I saw themwith my own eyes, yeah, it was a

(08:29):
glitch, I was like they'redirty, they're messed up.
They need to be sprayed off.
I saw them, Craig.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah, it's like when you say you had deja vu.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Is it the?

Speaker 1 (08:39):
same black cat.
Is it exactly the same blackcat that you saw?
Again two seconds ago, blackcat.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
Is it exactly the same black cat that you saw
again two seconds ago?
So I took so much time with mydelay.
That's all right, mate, thatI'm not even going to share an
upgrade.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
It was disturbing how about you craig your upgrade?
Is you actually?
You went out now and boughtblack pants, didn't you?

Speaker 3 (08:55):
I did, I posted it.
Did you see me post it oninstagram?
They said I'm trying to returnto my original timeline oh my,
that mate.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
That really made me laugh.
That really did.
I saw that and I went oh, therehe is.
There you go, mate.
All right, my delay is very,very quickly, and that is I've
got FOMO, like you said.
Remember, before Me too, I saidto you about me attempting to
go to Midwest Geobash in Ohiothis weekend, know and having
fun, but then my car and allthat sort of stuff with the

(09:26):
delay with the car.
Well, now the delay has gonefrom all my car stuff because my
car still isn't fixed, butthat's okay.
Uh, it's gone now towards mehaving the fomo about watching
all the great action that's beenhappening in in ohio at the
midwest geobash.
All, everyone, everyone who's,anyone who's there.
They're all camping on, they'rehaving drinking nights in this

(09:46):
place called Area 51, which is,after a certain time there's no
kids allowed there, so it'sliterally alcohol and some
dancing and some drinking andsome fun.
Yeah, so there you go, that'smy guy.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
I have FOMO too.
I saw the video of Shorty Nitzfrom the Geocaching Podcast.
I love how they light all thefire pits with blowtorches.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
And they light them all with blowtorches.
Make sure that they're lit.
You know what I mean.
That's the place, that's theArea 51.
They class it as too, and a fewgood friends of yours and I are
there as well.
So you've got Jeff from Cashthe Line.
He was on the episode.
We had an episode with him too.

(10:31):
He's there as well.
Hailmeister is there, uh, and afew others as well.
So, and I would know I know afew of them listen to this
podcast, and of course, jesseand and uh and scott were there
too.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
So it's a great event .
I've been there once.
I've been there once.
I want to get back.
It's a huge event.
Next to geo wood, it's thelargest I believe it's the
largest event in the UnitedStates.
Wow, wow.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
It's thousands, and my car's perfectly ready to go
for me just to drive in and setit up.
It's already done, sorry, I'vegot a place to sleep, you know.
Anyway, I'm getting along onthe tooth now for my FOMO,
because my upgrade, josh, though, is my travel needs.
I've been stuck at home now fora few weeks, you know, stuck
back in New Jersey, new Jor-eezy, as they say, and so now I've

(11:15):
booked another trip toCalifornia next week for a few
days, going to the northernCalifornia area of the Napa
Valley sort of area.

Speaker 3 (11:19):
Oh, you're going to love it yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Fantastic, yeah, so just to get away, mate.
You know what it's like.
You need to get away with thesethings.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
So, craig, do do me a favor.
Yeah, because I have now fomo,I have double thanks a lot,
you're welcome I'm stuck in anew timeline where I don't
travel at all, and so I want youto find a winery, sit down to
have a glass of wine, and find awine cat to sit next to but
then you're not with me sothey're not gonna to come
walking over towards me, theyonly walk towards you.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
That wine cat from that video if people don't know
what we're talking about we dida video, you and I, with Scott
from Ojai Again, we did have himon the show.

Speaker 3 (11:59):
The other week as well, and we did an episode on
Lompoc.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
On Lompoc, yeah that's it what we're talking
about.
Yeah, and we did an episode onLompoc.
On Lompoc, yeah, that's it whatwe're talking about.
Yeah, yeah, exactly, so thereyou go.
All right, josh, that's it forthe time being.
Do you want to just jump instraight away to Anthony?
His name is Anthony and heworks for Wyndham, the Wyndham
Hotel chain, specifically DaysIn.
Let's get to him, mate.
So, josh, here we go.
Anthony Pizzuto, mate, welcome,buddy.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
How are you?
I am excellent, Craig andJoshua.
I'm so excited to finally behere.
I've been listening to yousince you started, Craig.
I've known you for a while andI've heard all about Joshua, and
now I feel like I'm ingeocaching greatness, which for
me is odd because I'm not ageocacher, but I know you all
are awesome geocacher.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
But but I but I know you all are awesome.
Well, we'll get to this because, anthony, you are geocaching
adjacent, because you've beenseen around the world by
thousands of geocachers andwe'll get to that a little bit
later.
So there's a little, there's alittle uh carrot for you
geocachers that are listeningexactly, exactly, and uh, yeah,
I'll show you know again, josh.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
All these links that we're talking about are in the
description anyway.
So there you go, anthony mate.
Before we get a crack on aswell, let's just talk a little
bit about yourself.
I know you personally.
I know you have severaldifferent side hustles that you
do here, there and everywhere.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Give us all of them, all of them, oh God all of them,
okay, yes, I All of them, allof them, oh God, all of them,
okay, yes, I guess I'm arenaissance man.
I have my fingers in all kindsof different pies.
So I do have a day job where Iwork in the hospitality industry
for a hotel chain, days In byWyndham.
I'm an actor, I am a podcaster,I am a maker, I am a YouTuber,

(13:41):
I am a fixer, I am a YouTuber, Iam a fixer, I am a cosplayer.
There you go, oh yeah, oh yeah.
I'll send you all some pictures.
And I am a husband and fatherto two amazing children.
So, yeah, there's a lot goingon in the land of Anthony
Pizzuto.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Well, mate, I know you personally through acting,
actually Years ago when I firstcame over here, et cetera as
well, and that's how you and Isort of met up from there.
But then you said about yourYouTube channel, but now you've
gone into the podcasting world.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
And that's what I really enjoy too.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
I'm a big fan of the Geeky A Go Go.
It's called Geeky A Go Go.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Tell us what's the premise behind your podcast,
mate, Sure yeah.
So Geeky A Go Go.
The website started back in, Ithink, 2017 or 18.
And it was really, if we're allbeing honest, it was really a
way for me to get press passesto Comic-Con Smart.

Speaker 3 (14:38):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
It didn't work.
It didn't work but I waswriting, writing content and
reviewing movies and things likethat and and I had a few pals
that were trying to help me out,but they they kind of fizzled
out over time and and geekygo-go just became quiet over the
last couple of years.
And then every Friday I havelunch with a few pals of mine
and we are nerds, we, we arecosplayers, we're star Wars

(15:00):
geeks where and we talk aboutall things nerdy and finally it
was like you know what, we justneed to start recording these
conversations and like what arewe watching what's going on in
the world of geekdom and thingslike that?
And and just, we literally justsaid, ok, let's do it, and we
recorded it and that was episodeone.
I think we talked about theStar Wars holiday special.
It was around November of lastyear and we've been going every

(15:24):
week since then.
Sometimes we record while we'reat lunch and so we'll be like a
special live on location atsuch and such diner.
But yeah, we talk about allthings geeky.
Mostly we talk about the thingsthat are in our queues, like
Netflix and Hulu, and we reviewthem to inspire others' queues,
others others entertainmenttastes and to try something

(15:46):
different.
We have a disco ball ratingsystem.
One out of five disco balls.
I don't know the concept of thegeeky a go-go was like.
I just I love that the 70s, Ilove the colors and the vibrancy
of it and you know why not justpicture a bunch of nerds on

(16:07):
roller skates in a discotheque,you know like, so why not?
Yeah, why not?
So we went with the disco ballrating system.
So, yeah, definitely, uh, checkit out, uh, geekygogocom, and
you can see all of our, uh, ourupcoming episode or our previous
episodes.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
But we get it out weekly.
So, anthony, anthony,geocachers, and I'll just say
this is not a geocaching podcast, but we have a lot of
geocachers that listen.
We we have, um, you know,people say geocaching is when,
like, nerds could go outside.
So, so, um, you know, we we've.

(16:37):
We fully love the nerdy things.
So, anthony, I'm just curious,what is your favorite fandom?
You mentioned you've beentalking about Star Wars a lot on
your podcast because theacolyte that is currently out.
But is Star Wars your favoritefandom or are there other?
Give me your top three fandom's.
It's my, my true passion, uh,my next fandom is, um, anything

(17:06):
horror related.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Uh, I love a good horror movie.
I'm a big fan of, like thenightmare on Elm streets, like
the classic horror, thenightmare on Elm streets, um,
you know the the Friday the 13th, like the classic eighties
monster uh type of films, um,and then the last, oh, a third
one films and then the last or athird one, yep, oh, that's a
tough one.
Uh, fandoms, you know what I'm?

(17:39):
I'm slowly getting into astudio, uh, ghibli, uh, they do
a lot of anime.
Um, it's uh like spirited awayUm my neighbor Totoro, uh, so
they're like 80s, 90s and eventoday, these wonderfully
animated films, but they're notnecessarily for kids.
They're well balanced betweenkids and like, but a lot of
grownup themes.
There's one I recently watchedthat's very, very mature themes,

(18:01):
um, very mature themes.
Uh, you know there's this uhgirl, it was um princess uh
nakatomo and she grows up withthe wolves and she trains to be
a wolf and but there's like alot of blood and gore and stuff
like it.
It's.
It's really interesting.
They play a fine line.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
So I'm really getting into that right now it's not,
it's not your grandma'sanimation I just, I just can't
believe anthony, because I knowI follow you obviously you're a
good friend of mine, etc.
As well.
I follow all your social mediasand whatever as well.
I can't believe you fit whatyou do in 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, let alone you'veactually got a real, a real

(18:38):
full-time job as well, plus the,the, the fixer stuff that you
do on your.
he doesn't have josh.
He doesn't have one YouTubechannel.
No, he's now got two YouTubechannels Impressive.
One's made by AP and the otherone is fixed by AP, so he's got
the two different ones fromthere as well.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
He's making stuff and fixing stuff.
Thank, you.
Wow, making stuff and fixingstuff, exactly, thank you.
So tell us a little bit aboutit's a great way too, josh, go
ahead.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
I was going to say it's a great way you think about
it, fixing stuff.
When we want to fix somethingin our house, what do we do?
We always turn to YouTube.
And that's where Anthony's comeabout, wasn't it?
That's why you made it.
The Fixed by AP is to try andget that evergreen video.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
Exactly, Exactly by AP stuff started out.
The first episode was me makinga costume for my daughter for
Halloween, and I really wantedto be about just making
practical things, whether it'sprops or cosplay or furniture.
But then I started just todevelop content, was posting
videos about how to fix thingshow to change your laptop

(19:40):
battery, how to fix yourdishwasher, your sump pump and
those are the videos thatactually generate the income,
the money.
And so I was finding, as I wasposting one or the other, I
would start losing subscribersnot a huge amount, but I noticed
that I was like losing thepeople who came to me to see the
model making stuff when I wouldpost a video on how to change a

(20:02):
laptop battery and vice versa.
I was like you know what Ithink, at this point I need to
split them off.
And so now I'm moving all ofevery time I need to fix
something and I make a video ofit that goes to fixed by AP and
that one I'm growing to be likethe monetized channel, and then
I'm really niching down on themade by AP to be more about the
cosplay, the props, the modelsand stuff like that, so really

(20:26):
waving the geek flag, so tospeak on that channel and the
Tim the Toolman Taylor on theFixed by AP side.

Speaker 3 (20:35):
That sounds like a smart decision that you made.
We're going to get to thetravel stuff.
I have one more question,because it's just very
intriguing.
You mentioned cosplay.
Yes, do you enjoy cosplay?
Is there a go-to cosplay or doyou mix it up?
Who do you cosplay?

Speaker 1 (20:53):
as.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
Top three, top three, oh, there's three.

Speaker 1 (20:56):
Top three.
Oh, there's more than three.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
There's more than three.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
yes, Top three Darth Vader.
So that's the one that kind ofopened up the cosplay tube or
the faucet.
So Darth Vader and I do thatwith a group called the 501st
Legion.
They're pretty muchprofessional costumers and we go
to events to raise awarenessfor charities and things like

(21:20):
that, but they're very screenaccurate.
It costs a lot of money, takesa lot of time to make these
things, but you can't get morescreen accurate than the
costumes that we produce in the501st Legion.
So Darth Vader Plus, whenyou're dressed up as Darth Vader
, you instantly become like MickJagger.
Everybody wants your picture,everybody wants to hug you.
It's like it's the most amazingexperience ever.

(21:42):
So Vader's number one, numbertwo Robot man from Doom Patrol
HBO Max is Doom Patrol.
They're DC Universe comic bookcharacters.
The character is voiced byBrendan Fraser.
It's a great show, very wackyshow, but I did a did a cosplay
for him a couple years ago atComic-Con and he was.

(22:04):
He was a hit and he's a funcharacter because he's a very
mouthy character so you can saystuff that you normally wouldn't
be saying and get away with it.
Like you, you can flip off thecamera and that's in character
for him.
So it's a lot of fun to be him.
And then, finally, last year wedebuted a pal of mine.
He is a fellow cosplayer.

(22:25):
He actually wrote a book aboutcosplaying.
He plays Paul Bearer and I amthe Undertaker.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
Oh yeah, that's awesome yes yeah, and we're part
of a cosplaying wrestling groupcalled Worldwide Wrestling
Cosplayers, I believe it'scalled.
Yeah oh yeah, and there's awhole bunch of us, a whole bunch
of us.
There's a macho man, there's.
There's a Yokozuma, there's aHulk there's.
There's a lot of people, soyeah, but but like these

(22:54):
characters, the first two you'rein a mask, so, but the last one
you're not in a mask, so youreally have to kind of act the
character.
But people just love it, theylove getting you know, they love
seeing a giant, thinnerundertaker uh, not as beefy
undertaker, uh, but no, it's,it's a lot of fun and uh, yeah,

(23:15):
people just have a good timeseeing us and taking the
pictures.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, and when he says giant Josh too.
By the way, Anthony, he's not asmall man, he's like seven foot
three.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
How tall are you, mate?
No, six foot three.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
I don't think he's that tall.
I wish I was seven foot three.
That would be amazing.
I'm about six three.
Yeah, yeah, six three.
There you go.

Speaker 1 (23:33):
He's still six, three , josh.
So I mean, I didn't realize.
So when I see these photos ofAnthony in his cosplay too, when
he is Darth Vader.
Darth Vader is known as beingtaller, more manly, more
stronger than all the otherplayers, and so he does suit the
bill.
Same with the Undertaker aswell.
He's this tall Undertaker thereas well, so I knew I was hoping

(23:56):
he'd bring the Undertaker up,anthony too, because I know how
much Josh loves, loves, loveshis WWF.
Anyway, anthony, let's get onto why you're here and let's get
into the travel content now.
Shall we Now going back to yourreal job, your nine to five,
whatever.
You work for Days Inn atWyndham.
Is that right, correct?

Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yep, days Inn by Wyndham.
It's owned by Wyndham Hotelsand Resorts, based out of New
Jersey.
I focus my attention on theDays Inn brand.
Days Inn is a 54-year-old brandthat started in Atlanta,
georgia, back in 1970.
Wyndham, in one of its previousiterations, purchased it in
1990.
And we have about 1,500 hotelsjust with Days Inn across the

(24:39):
globe.
In the US we have about 1,300of them because it is a
US-centric hotel chain and so Ihave hotels all over the place.
I have hotels that are rightoff the highway, I have hotels
in downtown Brooklyn andWashington DC.
We're a very diverse productset but having that many hotels

(25:00):
and that many franchisees, Ifind myself in an airplane or in
a rental car all the time.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
That's what I thought .
That's the reason why I said toJosh I said we need to bring
Anthony on.
He travels so much On average.
Anthony, what's your mileage interms of your travel?

Speaker 2 (25:19):
I average about $55,000 a year just in air miles
.
So it's almost every, almostevery week.
I probably travel 30 weeks ayear, you know, if not more.
Yeah, which is crazy.
I've actually been kind of on alittle bit of a travel break
this last few weeks, which hasbeen fantastic so I can catch up

(25:43):
with things around the house.
But yeah, it's typically like aMonday night through.
You know, either Wednesday,thursday, depending on the need.
Sometimes I'll do a day trip.
I've done day trips to SanAntonio, like I literally get
off the plane, get into the Uber, go to the hotel, do my thing,
get back into the car, go backto the airport and get back to
the New Jersey, like it's.

(26:04):
It's, yeah, there's, there's alot going on, but you know we're
we're we don't own any hotels,we don't manage any hotels.
We're we're a brand.
So you know a franchisee willenter into agreement with us to
use our marks and our trades andour standards and things like
that, and so 90% of it is clientservices.
You know you're going to meetwith a potential franchisee,

(26:26):
you're meeting with a currentfranchisee who might be having
an issue and you want to workthrough it with them, you know,
or just checking in on like arenovation that they might be
doing.

Speaker 3 (26:39):
So yeah, so it's a lot of client service stuff.
So, with all the flights, wouldyou mind telling us what is
your airline?

Speaker 2 (26:45):
of choice.
I always think this isinteresting.
Well, I'm New Jersey based andso I'm kind of stuck with United
I it's.
It's the airline.
They have a hub in Newark.
And so that's where all mystatus is, that's where all my
miles are.
Once a year, maybe twice, I'llhave to fly a Delta flight.
Okay, and I wish I could flyDelta more, because they seem to

(27:08):
have their stuff together moreso than United, and I know,
craig, you're a United guy aswell.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
And I'm in Minneapolis, so I'm a Delta guy.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
We have a.
Minneapolis is a Delta hub andI'm happy about that, yes,
you're very lucky, veryfortunate, uh, but yes, I'm all
invested in united.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
okay, very good and I'm curious with with the days
ends.
Like you said, days ends arefranchises.
So when you say you go to sanantonio, is that mean that some
individual has like a hotel thatwas maybe something else and
they're like like, oh, or it wasjust not even like a brand and
they're like, no, we want tobecome a days in hotel.
Is that what you mean by that?

(27:49):
That's the type of thing you doTotally.

Speaker 2 (27:51):
Yeah, that's part of it.
So a lot of hotels, especiallyin like the economy space, which
would be like Red Roof, daysInn, super 8, you know, comfort,
things like that they just kindof switch hands over time so
you'll have like maybe a50-year-old building but it's
been four different brands andso that's part of it going down

(28:13):
and meeting with potentialfranchisees to share with them
why they should be a Days Innand, being, you know, one of the
two people who lead the brand,it weighs a lot when someone
like me or my boss goes to visitwith them.
So that's part of it.
Another part is if it's anestablished franchisee and
they're going through renovationand they need an inspection,

(28:34):
you know, or they're havingtrouble with something that I
can help them with.
You know, the FaceTime is somuch better than you know,
trying to deal with somethingover the phone.
Getting a, you know, a renewalof a contract or something like
that is much easier in personthan over the phone.
So that's what I'll yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:50):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
So, anthony, we've got to hear as well top 10, top
10 travel tips for businessmenlike yourself, anywhere from the
airport tips to Ubers and taxisto where you stay.
What do you do if you've gotdowntime while you're away,
things like that and if cause?
This is obviously a travelpodcast guided by geocaching,
but if you're not a geocacherlike yourself, you don't know

(29:14):
that.
Oh, hang on, look at that.
There's an actual pill bottleunder that lamp skirt in the in
the car park.
So you don't know that.
So there you go.
So give us your top 10 tips,starting with number one, if
you've got them listed.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
All right.
So, number one always havebackups.
And by backups I mean there isnothing worse than getting to
the airport and realizing youforgot your AirPods.
And so I have actually two setsof backup headphones, one in my
backpack and one in my carry on, because I am a watcher, I am a
listener, and if I don't haveentertainment on these flights I

(29:47):
will go insane.
And so so I cannot recommendany more than to have a backup
when you're when you'retraveling, and so, and also in
the vein of backpacks, I meanbackups making sure that
everything that you need isdownloaded on your device,
whether it's your phone, youriPad, your computer, because

(30:08):
Wi-Fi can be very spotty on theairplane.
Wi-fi can be very spotty in theairport, and you don't want to
have to be working on somethingand realize it's still in the
cloud.
But in that vein, my number twotip when you're on the plane, if
the Internet is spotty this isa great chance to get to inbox
zero, because you're notconnected to the Internet is
spotty.
This is a great chance to getto inbox zero, because you're

(30:28):
not connected to the Internet,there's no emails able to get in
when you're replying to emails.
When you're offline, they justgo into your outbox and they'll
be sent when you reconnect, andso just being able to chip away
at all that stuff and catch upwithout the distractions that
you get every minute of the dayis is wonderful.
And then just being able toclose your laptop and say
there's nothing left in my inboxuntil I get to the hotel and

(30:49):
connect to the internet, it's agreat.
Uh, it's a great.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
Um, it's a great thing and going back to, uh, you
having, you know, entertainment, yes, whilst you're on the
airplane.
I've actually seen, especiallyon tiktok recently, there's a
new trend going out of peoplehaving videos of themselves and
they josh.
Have you seen this?
Yeah, call it raw dogging.
I'm gonna raw dog this flight.
And so they're so weird.

(31:13):
They haven't got a screen infront of them.
They don't have any ear pads,they don't have they're not
listening to anything.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
Well, they do have a screen in front of them, but
they're not using it no, they'reall the screen they have.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
They're're literally watching.
You know that map of the planeflying.
So, yes, oh, I'm going to rawdog this flight.
Can you imagine doing that allthe way to Australia, 15-hour
raw dog?
No thank you.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
This is dumb, that's so dumb.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
Funny kind of raw dogging.
So I was taking a flight fromNewark to Oregon, to Portland
Oregon, and my seatmate I wasupgraded to first class and my
seatmate was the guy who was inPortlandia Saturday Night Live
oh, fred Armisen.
Fred Armisen, he was myseatmate.
Oh my gosh, that's awesome.
And of course it was on aflight to Portland Oregon.

(31:57):
But he was so strange, likeuncomfortably strange, and he
was kind of raw dogging thefirst part of the flight.
He just had his hands on his,on his lap and he was staring
straight forward and I was likeis is he going to, is he going
to hurt me?
What's going on here?
And then finally, like whenthey brought the meals around,

(32:17):
he kind of relaxed for a minuteand then he started watching
something on his iPad, but itwas a good like hour before like
he broke.
I don't know if he was likeafraid of flights or something,
it was very strange, uh.
So, yeah, he started the rawdog.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
Um, I want to go back to your number one, to Anthony.
So when you say, bring extrathings, when I, when we talk
about, uh, airpods, earbuds, allthe things now united, I don't
know, does united have most yourflights, domestic flights, have
screens in front of you thatyou can plug into uh not that
you can plug into, no, okay, uh,yeah, uh, I mean you can they

(32:57):
have, uh, the the in-seatcharging, but there's, I don't
think you have anything that youcan plug into on the screen,
yeah okay, so they, they don't,they do or do not have like a
movie suite or a show suite thatyou can plug into on the screen
.
Yeah, okay, so they, they don't.
They do or do not have like amovie suite or a show suite that
you can watch on the it's 50 50.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
Yeah, okay, it's 50 50.
Yeah, I feel like a lot of themare moving towards the
screenless, but having like anipad holder, which is really
interesting, yeah, yeah, that'sthat's a really cheap way to do
things.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
Uh, yes, um more efficient, more efficient joy
and well, and I know it's like Ihave uh, just a tip for me,
because I I do fly delta oh, yes, very nice, mr fancy pants.
Yes, very nice very nice airlineum.
But I have, you know, I havebluetooth um noise canceling

(33:42):
headphones, which I enjoy.
But the cool thing about thesenoise canceling headphones is
that you can do the bluetooth,which means you can connect your
phone, typically easy.
But also it has a an aux cordout of them, so it's a dual.
I don't know if most bluetoothheadphones have it, but because
that aux cord you can plug itright into the entertainment.

(34:03):
So you have the best of bothworlds.
Or I know some people get alittle adapter for their
Bluetooth so they have aBluetooth converter that they
can plug into the screen andthen now they have wireless
headphones.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
So I don't have that, but that would be like next
level.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, but alwayshave a backup.
You don't want to be withoutsound and don't raw dog.
That's just strange foreverybody.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
No, it's just crazy.
I'm so tough.
It just reeks of like trying tobe like macho, exactly.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
My backup, anthony, personally as well, because I've
got my AirPods themselves for,obviously, bluetooth reasons et
cetera as well, but sometimesobviously their batteries go or
whatever else as well.
So like I've actually got acorded one as well that goes
into my ipad uh, like cordedheadphones, so smart.
So that's my backup too.
So there you go, mate.
Yeah, good tips, good tips whatdo you?

Speaker 2 (34:53):
well, do you guys travel with uh battery banks as
well?
I don't, but I'm curious.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah it's a geocacher thing as
you can.
You can imagine the GPS in thephone really takes a lot of
power from the phone.
So, yeah, we just walk aroundwith them in our everyday life,
these giant power banks.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
If you see, Anthony, any events whether it be
geocaching events or Munzeeevents as well, Munzee is the
same you'll always see everyoneon their phones doing the walk
or whatever, and they've alwaysgot a cord going into their
pocket.
It's true, it's stock standard.
Yeah, Got it.
Got it, Stock standard.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
All right.
So my next one, number three,and this is still in the vein of
like entertainment, and this isa relatively recent one With
like Netflix and Disney and HBOgoing to their ad-supp.
If you're on your their lowesttier, which is the ad supported,

(35:54):
you can't download content, so,so what we do is if I know I'm
going to be so, we we do the adsupported normally, but if I
find that I'm going to betraveling a lot and I just want
to load up my iPad, I'llactually upgrade my plan for the
month to the next tier where Ican do that.
Or if I'm going to be travelingand my family's traveling
somewhere else, which happens inour household my family went to
Paris for spring break while Iwas slumming it in Orlando for

(36:17):
work, but if they're travelingand they all have iPads as well,
we'll upgrade to the next planup where you can do multiple
devices, but it's only temporary.
The thing with that, though, isyou need to be on top of it so
you don't get charged $30.
The next month as well.
But I found that kind ofplaying, that game of
subscription changing forNetflix or Disney or whatever,

(36:40):
has been a lifesaver for me.

Speaker 3 (36:45):
I just do that, even outside of travel, just everyday
life.
I'm like, ok, my kids are likewe want to watch a show on on
Netflix or, I'm sorry, disneyPlus.
I was like, ok, what, whatsubscription are we going to
cancel to?
Exchange it, because we're justadding on subscriptions, I'm
sure, I'm sure you can relate,anthony.
Oh yeah, being a fandom of manythings, it's just like one

(37:06):
subscription after another.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
It's like why not just get cable again?
Right, exactly, that was waycheaper we were for years.

Speaker 3 (37:13):
For years we were begging I want to a la carte, a
la carte sort of uh,entertainment experience.

Speaker 1 (37:20):
And then now we have it and we're like, yep, yeah,
it's now 200 a month exactly,exactly we've never had cable in
australia, just saying, I mean,we've got some some form of
cable, but uh, it's extremelyminimal in comparison to what
you guys had here, like I'mtalking.
I'm talking maybe 10 channelson our cable, that's it.
On our free-to-air televisionin australia, we only had, we

(37:43):
had four channels in total onour free-to-air, but again
free-to-air television.
In Australia, we only had fourchannels in total on our
free-to-air, but, again,free-to-air.
You can't download anything,none of that sort of stuff.
It's only when Netflix cameabout that in Australia we have
Netflix.
There's another thing calledStan which is like your Hulu,
things like that.
So there you go.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
Wow, that reminds me Craig of National Lampoon's
European vacation.
When the kids go to Europe andthey're in the hotel room and
they're like what do you want towatch?
Cheese or snow?
It's just like documentaries onhow cheese is made.
That's it.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
You probably know, anthony, by listening to the
show, obviously that Josh is apop culture fan, when it comes
to movies and songs, et cetera,as well.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
So we can, we can hang out Anthony for hours.

Speaker 2 (38:28):
Well, we're going to have you both on the geeky go go
podcast, so don't, don't youworry, I got some geeky things
to talk about.
And actually before we, beforewe end today, I do want to see
your fancy YouTube play buttonthat I keep hearing about.
Yes, we end today.
I do want to see your fancyYouTube play button that I keep
hearing about.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
Oh yes, I'll take you upstairs.
I got permission from my wifeto put it in a common area, not
down here in my office.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
I was like I want to show that baby off.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
That took years.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
Not many people have got that actually play button,
let's be honest, especiallyYouTubers as well.
So yeah, see how we go fromthere.
Or am I moving on to your?

Speaker 2 (39:04):
number four yes, okay .
So if you travel a lot and thisis something I just took
advantage of too sign up foryour airline's not just their
credit card but also, if theyhave one, a club access card.
So I just signed up for like$500, $600 a year, but I got the
United upper end credit card,which gives you club access.

(39:26):
So, oh, yeah, so it's great.
So now, so if you have theirlowest end one, you get two
passes a year.
But if you travel, you know 30weeks, 40 weeks a year, you're
in 80 flights a year.
You know you run out of thosevery quickly.
But with this, you just kind ofscan your boarding pass and you
get in.
And what's great about that isyou, you get all the power that

(39:48):
you need to charge your stuff.
You get a quiet space to sitand work.
You get free beverages, you getfree food and check with your
company that you work forbecause they might actually
reimburse you for that, that fee, because it saves them on the
per diem, you know.
So if you have like a $75 perdiem, well, I'm going to eat for

(40:09):
free in the lounge.
That's saving them money.
So something to ask if you gothat route.
Yeah, that's one I definitelysuggest taking advantage of.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Here you go, Josh.
You're ready for this?
Give you some more jealousy,mate.
I know what's coming before Iwent on my recent trip to
montreal.
Uh, yes, anthony, I was, uh, Iwas escorted by my wife who,
like you, is a high-end, youknow traveler and a united
person, and yet her and I wewent into, we got there three
hours before.
It was a obviouslyinternational flight,

(40:39):
technically, so we got therejust over three hours beforehand
and and then our flight wasdelayed by an hour.
Did we care?
No, I was getting free drink,free food, relaxed area, I was
doing some TikToks, I was doingsome other Munzee stuff and all
that sort of thing too and doingsome work on the computer.
Oh, mate, I'm telling you, I'venever been there before to

(40:59):
these lounges, anthony, and Ithink when you have been to one,
you want to be to all Like youcan't.
Once you have it first, youdon't know what you're missing
out on until you actually do it.
So, yeah, yeah, absolutely theairline lounges.
They're brilliant, nicebathrooms too.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
Yes, definitely.
That's another big pro of theclub access, and I bet Delta has
some pretty nice lounges intheir uh and their hubs.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
never been, never been never been maybe just once,
josh, just just do it once.
I know no, if I go once, thenI'm going to be like I want to
go all the time and then all ofa sudden I'm paying six hundred
dollars a year.
I don't fly.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
I mean, I fly a lot, but not that much email delta
with this episode, josh andwe've said Delta that many times
in this episode and you may getone or two passes for free.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
This is not sponsored , but Delta if you're listening,
anthony, will you listen Everyepisode?
We're like Miller High Life.
I don't even know why we wantto be sponsored by Miller High
Life although that's a big brand.

Speaker 1 (42:01):
Yeah, and really, let's be honest.
Honest, it's only you thatreally likes me, it's the best
cheap beer, it's the best.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
What else have we got , anthony?
All right.
So now we're getting to thehotel, so I have to.
I normally wear blazers and abutton down as part of my normal
get up.
The irons at hotels areconsistently unreliable.
Most of the time they're dirty.
I have damaged more than myfair share of shirts in ironing.

(42:33):
So I picked up this past yearactually my wife got it for me
for Christmas, I think a steamer, a portable steamer, and so I
travel all over the world withthat thing.
It's great, and so I don't usean iron anymore.
I just hang my stuff up and Isteam it, and it's compact.
It's great, and so I don't usean iron anymore.
I just hang my stuff up and Isteam it, and it's compact.
It fits really nicely.
I have been stopped at TSA acouple of times now because

(42:53):
they're like what is that?
It's a steamer.
Okay, move along, it does looksuspicious when it's in the bag.
But, yes, don't damage yourshirts.
If you're traveling forbusiness, don't damage your
outfits, just get the forbusiness.
Don't damage your uh, youroutfits, just get the steamer.
It's it.
I highly highly recommend itthat's a great tip.

Speaker 1 (43:11):
I mean, josh, we all know you with your hairdryer,
you know.
At least you're not like thissort of thing where you have to
wear fancy clothes, you know,and get them well get them
cleaned.

Speaker 3 (43:18):
And yeah, this is.
We're talking to a hotel guyright now and I'm just gonna.
I'm now, I want to be validated, anthony, it is ridiculous.
If you go into a hotel or anAirbnb and there's no hair dryer
, hair dryer is standard.

(43:41):
That's just ridiculous.
Every place needs a hairdryer.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
Agreed or disagree, so I do use a hairdryer as well.
All right.
And I'm happy to share that.
Days In's has a standard thatyou have to have a hairdryer.
So if you go to one of our1,300 Days In's in the United
States, you'll find a hairdryer.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Now, I'm the old one out.

Speaker 3 (44:02):
Sorry, Craig.

Speaker 2 (44:07):
Sorry, friend.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
That's all right.
That's all right, but no greattip, Anthony, there on the
steamer mate.
I like that, I really do.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
Yeah, I love it.
I wish I had been doing it alot earlier.
I would have saved a lot ofshirts.
So, moving on to number six, soand this is I've kind of picked

(44:47):
up over the years too Uh, so Iuse Uber all the time.
Uh, whenever I'm on the road, Iuse it here, uh, for car service
to the airport, but it'stowards the, the area I start
ordering my car and, and ifUber's taking a little while,
I'll fire up Lyft and order acar.
Whoever gets to me first is theone I'll take.
I'll cancel out the other one.
So, like, there was a time Iwas in Nashville and I was, I
was waiting for, and an Uberactually accepted my ride, and
then he just kind of was goingback and forth somewhere and I

(45:08):
finally had to cancel it.
But then I ordered a Lyft andit was like right there, and so
come to find out Nashville is aLyft town, not an Uber town.
So, yeah, having both apps onyour phone to figure out who's
going to get you first is goingto save you time in the long run
.

Speaker 1 (45:25):
Sorry, Josh was going to say I'll take it.
Then you're an Uber Lyft fanover a taxi fan, then oh yeah,
who takes a taxi.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
And I feel terrible saying that because you know
taxi drivers I mean salt of theearth work really hard In London
.
They have to take what a 20,000question test or something like
that.
You know there's great work tobe done with the taxis but
there's just nothing better thanopening up your phone and
ordering a car.

Speaker 3 (45:53):
Yeah, I don't want to talk to a human, I don't want
to call anybody Nope Exactly.

Speaker 1 (45:58):
Josh I saw that actually on my last trip as well
that there's a toggle buttonnow on Uber whereby you can
actually ask them not to talk toyou.
Really, yeah, you can requestwhat music there is and request
not to talk Yep.
So there you go, awesome.

Speaker 3 (46:15):
Yeah, the conversation switch.
I love talking to people, butlet's be real.
It's just like why are wewriting?
Why are we doing this?
We need to get somewhereExactly, and, as a former driver
, that would be a very greattool to have because you're
always trying to read the energy.

(46:36):
It's like a skill.
It's a skill set to read theenergy of the person riding, and
a good Lyft or Uber driver canread the energy and not talk or
talk.
So it's actually that's a greattool for the drivers as well.
Anthony, have you taken any ofthose Uber or Lyft?
I know they're not Uber or Lyft, but the self-driving Ubers are

(46:58):
.
Oh my God, I can't wait to dothat Me too.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
Yes, I have yet to go to a place where they have it
readily available, but I cannotwait for that.

Speaker 3 (47:06):
Yes, I think Phoenix has it.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
Do they really?

Speaker 3 (47:09):
Yeah, I think Phoenix has that.
I think some places inCalifornia as well.
Craig, you haven't taken oneyet.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
No, I don't know about these things.
Have you seen?
Oh my gosh, I'm going to sendyou a video.
There's no driver.

Speaker 3 (47:23):
There's all kinds of videos of people using them.
It's, they're fascinating.
It's like an Uber, but you getthere and the car pulls up.
Nobody's driving, it's therobot.
The robot is driving and, sureenough, it'll take you right to
your place.
And it's a little creepy, alittle scary, but most people
that I've seen that have takenit.
They're like.
I actually felt safer than Idid with a real person.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
Oh, really, sure Was it this show where you guys were
talking about something inVirginia.
There was like a pod thing thatat a university.

Speaker 3 (47:52):
Okay, all right.
Yes, craig, you did that.

Speaker 1 (47:56):
Oh, yeah, yeah, but that wasn't, that wasn't, that
was yeah, but that was actuallyon actual tracks, like a
designated track, so there's noother vehicles involved in this.
They were like little minibuses per se, because they were
seriously.
They're very small and, josh,you will see it too when we go
to, uh, to geo woodstock nextyear in morgantown.
Um, yeah, and they've got theirown.

(48:17):
It's not actually a track, butit's a roadway yes, but it's its
own little uh road, you know sothe crazy thing is it's super
old.

Speaker 2 (48:27):
It seems like the future, but it's so old it's
like built in like the 50s or60s or something like that,
don't come home with more weightthan I left with, and so I try

(48:48):
to eat healthy and well.
But it's hard when you'retraveling in a rental car.
You know hundreds of miles aday and all there is is Culver's
or McDonald's or Zaxby's andthings like that.
So what I try to do is find notbranded places or not
franchised places Like I'll pullover, or if there's something

(49:10):
very unique to the area, I'lltry that.
So, for example, I was drivingfrom paris, texas, to, uh,
dallas, texas, and I saw thissign for a barbecue place and I
was like I've never heard ofthis place.
So I just pulled.
It was like something soulbarbecue or something like that,
and I pulled over and it'sliterally like this ramshackle
building with a dirt parking lotand pickup trucks galore.

(49:33):
And then I pull in with mylittle Toyota Corolla from from
Avis and but you know you walkin and you know it's just, it's
a great old barbecue place.
I can't remember the name of itfor the life of me, but it
wasn't a McDonald's, it was.
It was really good food.
Name of it for the life of me,but it wasn't a mcdonald's, it
was.
It was really good food.
Yeah, probably wasn't thehealthiest of choices but I did
grab, you know, the okra andthat kind of balanced out the uh

(49:54):
, the fatty beef that I washaving what fried, fried okra
right, well, yeah, I mean isthere any other way to have okra
?

Speaker 1 (50:03):
I mean, I've never had okra until I came here just
saying so there you go, friedokra is so we don't really have
it in Australia.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
Yeah, it's a.
It's a very distinctly likeSouthern United States dish too.
Um, cause it's biggest, uh, theSouth again.
I was driving from Savannah toAtlanta and I saw a billboard
for like, uh, you know, thepecan best pecan Pie in Georgia,
or something like that.
And so I took a diversion andwent and had, you know, lunch at

(50:30):
this and again, I try to getsalads, but I also imbibed in
the Best Pecan Pie and it wasreally good.
But it was like this offbeattown that I would never have
considered if I had just stuckto the highway and stopped at a
rest area.
So I try to find, you know,these non-branded,
non-franchised places to dine,because usually they have a
better assortment of food too.

(50:51):
If I do and my boss makes funof me if I do have to eat at a
fast food restaurant, I will tryto find the healthier option.
So he took me to a Culver's forthe first time to try a butter
burger.
I guess Culver's is like yourneck of the wood, Joshua.
Yes, wisconsin, it's like a.
It was like a, your neck of thewood, joshua.

Speaker 3 (51:07):
Yes, Wisconsin, yeah Wisconsin.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
Yeah and uh, but they serve broccoli, and so I got a
butter burger with a side ofbroccoli.
I have not lived that down.
He actually was like.
I'm going to go sit over onthat side of the.
But yeah, I think it's a goodrule.
You know, try not to come homewith more weight than you left
with.
Uh, I mean, that should be agood road warrior rule.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
I love that, love that.
And also I love the fact thatyou're actually supporting local
.
You know other local vendors,et cetera, and restauranteurs
and stuff like that too, whichis awesome.
And also I'm the same, anthony.
When I go to a place, Iactually research what food are
they known for here.
And Josh, I place, I actuallyresearch what food is are they

(51:52):
known for here?
And josh I've been to you withyou several times, right, and
josh's favorite thing before heeven looks at the menu, he says
to the waiter, waitress,whatever.
He looks at them directly andsays what's your biggest seller
here?
Because what are the locals eat?
That's what's going to be goodyeah, right yeah, yeah, right.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
I think, I say what do people get here?

Speaker 2 (52:12):
What makes your restaurant so special, exactly?

Speaker 1 (52:15):
Well, what, or what's your?
What's your recommendations?

Speaker 3 (52:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:20):
That's true.
What do you recommend?

Speaker 2 (52:22):
Although I will say I , I I have had to stop at a
Bucky's uh and I did that forthe first time a couple of
months ago uh ago, because Iheard about their jerky, their
wall of jerky, and I am nowaddicted to their Korean
barbecue and bohemian garlicjerky.
Oh, so good.
Next, time.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
Next time you go, anthony, you've got to get their
dark chocolate coffee beans.
Ooh, okay, and what they are isbasically like your dark
chocolate balls that normallyhave a peanut or whatever else,
but they've actually got acoffee bean inside, and so you
get that sweetness and yet youget that strength of the coffee
bean flavor coming through.
Oh man, they are so good,they're bad.

Speaker 3 (53:04):
Craig, I just had a brainstorm.
We need to do a whole show onBuc-ee's.
Oh, we do.
You can do a whole show onBuc-ee's and maybe we could get
somebody from Buc-ee's to talkto us.
Wouldn't that be amazing?
That would be cool.
Sorry, anthony, we're planningother podcasts during your
interview.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
Do your thing, do your thing.

Speaker 3 (53:21):
But I would listen to an episode all about Buc-ee's
100 Buc-ee's.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
A hundred percent.
Especially if you could getsomeone from Buc-ee's, that
would be amazing to get all thetips and tricks.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
Oh yeah, Totally, Totally.
I've got five Buc-ee's left tovisit Josh.
That's all, oh my God.
Well, that number is going upbecause Buc-ee's is known as a
southern kind of a southernthing, but get ready to add some

(53:51):
more to your list, becausethey're building one in
wisconsin as we speak.
Oh wow, so that's far thisnorth, I think.
Well, rumor has it too.
They're actually building upone in new jersey, apparently.
Have you heard that rumor?
I have not okay that's, and upnear your way too, in the north,
in the north of jersey so thereyou go, the cold part of jersey
, yes.
Exactly when people actually sayJersey anyway.
Oh man, I know, bring him on asa guest, joshua.

(54:15):
Look, I'm ribbing him already.
So, there you go.
All right, mate, moving on.
What else do you need to do?
What are we up?

Speaker 2 (54:21):
to.
We're up to number eight.
I think eight and nine kind ofgo together, but so it's really
making the most of your time,especially if you're only there
for like a night or a day.
So, going back to San Antonio,I was there for a couple of days
and so my first night there Ihad nothing to do and so I just
went for a walk and ended upwalking by the Alamo and so I

(54:44):
went to go check out the Alamoand then across from there was a
Ripley's, believe it or not?
So I went to the Ripley's and Ijust, like you know, you're by
yourself, you find things to do.
I was in Atlanta and there was aindoor skydiving place right
across the street from the hotel.
So I like I'm not going to sitin my hotel room, let's go do
something fun.
So I went to go indoorskydiving, but and or skydiving,

(55:06):
but they're not planned,they're almost like your
equivalent to the golden nugget.
They're my little goldennuggets of inspiration when I'm
on the road.
So just kind of identifyingwhat's around you in the area
and just doing something cool.
I mean, don't be stuck in yourhotel room.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
No, definitely not.
And watching the movies andstuff that's on there.
That's it.
That's all you do, really.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
And your hair, josh speaking of the animal alamo,
I've been there myself and um,anthony, you've been there as
well.
Isn't the basement part of it?
Awesome?
The basement.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
It's like the best part, like there's so much to
explore there in the basementit's almost like

Speaker 1 (55:50):
you could find missing things there missing
things and then as we're talkingas we're talking, josh
anthony's in his own basement, Idare say, like you know.
Let's be honest.

Speaker 3 (55:59):
I don't even know if craig uh, anthony, I don't know
if craig even knows what we'rereferencing, right?
Now no see, I told you becausehe didn't have cable.
He doesn't know you didn't havecable.
Yeah, look look it up, craig.
After the podcast, look up umbasement of the alamo, exactly.

Speaker 1 (56:16):
All right, I'll look it up there are listeners right
now laughing their heads off andyou're just so lost and I and I
love it and what I'll do iswhatever I find, josh, I'll put
a link for everyone else in theworld apart from the US in the
show notes Smart.

Speaker 2 (56:35):
All your bicycle fans will really appreciate it.
Yes for sure, yeah for sure.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
Oh, is this the thing you always talk about?
With that, unfortunately, theguy God rest his soul.
He just passed away, didn't he?
Josh?

Speaker 3 (56:46):
Yes, okay, you got it .
There you go.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
I got it.
Sorry, I spoiled it, it's okay.
No, I still haven't seen it.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
I still haven't seen it, but Josh, I know what Josh
is like.
You can't say his name, becauseJosh will start to do it, oh
yeah.
Oh my God, so ready for this.

Speaker 3 (57:09):
Ready for this Peewee Herman?

Speaker 1 (57:11):
Let's go to the Alamo .
That is good, and whenever hehears that name, he has to do
him.
That's just in his nature.
He can't even.
It's like he's being hypnotizedto some degree, whereby he
hears that word and that's whatcomes out of his mouth.
So that's what he does.

Speaker 3 (57:25):
I'm proud to say I not only have one Peewee Herman
doll, I have two.
Oh my God.
One of them is a puppet.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
Wow, you're like deep in the Pee Wee, herman, okay
cool and it's not even.

Speaker 3 (57:40):
that's not even my top three fandoms.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
It's not.
It really isn't Well, and Imean speaking of nerdy fandoms
and things like that.
That kind of leads into numbernine, which is find nerdy things
to do.
So one of the things that Ilike to do when I'm in my hotel
room and nothing immediately inmy vision is inspiring me to go
do something.
I will actually Google nerdythings to do in Houston.

(58:05):
Nerdy things to do in.
San Diego.
Oh, and what's great is thatbecause of Reddit and because of
TripAdvisor and all these otheryou know kind of crowdsourced
data places, lots of nerds havekind of contributed to little
guides of what nerdy things todo.
So like, for example, I was inTexas a few weeks back and I was

(58:26):
in Corpus Christi.
I was like nerdy things to doin Corpus Christi and like the
number one thing was check outthe Harry Potter coffee shop and
so I like went out of my wayand I went to this.
It's literally like in thisweird strip mall in a very
depressed area, almost like avery war zone-y feeling kind of
place in Corpus Christi.

(58:46):
But then you walk in and it's Iforget what it was called, it's
.
It's like it's like the HarryPotter coffee shop.
That's the thing.
I don't remember the names ofthese places, but I remember
being there and I have thepictures.
But you walk in and they havelike big stuffed spiders on the
walls and they have like theHarry Potter houses flags up and
they all the menu items orspells or character names.

(59:08):
Like you feel like you're in aharry potter world coffee shop,
anthony, yes sir anthony, dothey serve the coffee in a
muggle?
oh, oh.
Yes, I know there is the tie-inwith the, with your world, in
the harry potter world.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
Yes, exactly and feel free, anthony, uh, to use that
on your next podcast.
Just saying because I know youdo.
They start, josh.
They start their podcast with adad joke, normally.

Speaker 3 (59:35):
Yes, yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 (59:37):
Thank you for the inspiration.
I will absolutely make thathappen, you're welcome.
Houston has a Lord of the Ringsthemed restaurant.
They have an 80s themedrestaurant.
So, like just finding nerdythings to do to check out,
highly recommend it.
And then also, like when I'm intown I'm also a collector of

(59:59):
nerdy ephemera I'll go to likeFacebook, marketplace or
Craigslist and I'll search like,therefore, sales sections like
star Wars or movie props orthings like that, just to see if
there's anything unique in thearea that I might want to pick
up and take home.
I haven't yet.
I've seen some interestingthings, but I haven't yet
actually purchased anything.
But that's a good tip for likecard collectors or even like

(01:00:22):
smaller antique collectors, tosee what's for sale in your area
.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
Yeah that's a great tip and also that way you can
actually physically see itbefore you actually purchase it
and it gets shipped over andthen it's not the right card or
not as good a quality as what itlooked and all that sort of
stuff.
So, yeah, that's a that's agreat tip as well.
So, there you go, there you go.
So is that your number 10,anthony I have I have one more.
I have one more, all right,this is it, number 10.

Speaker 2 (01:00:47):
Catch up with old friends, all right.
So, yes, this is something soFacebook.
Obviously, you know you get toconnect with people, but, like
we have, I have friends that Igrew up with that are living all
over the country, all of theworld.
Now, if I'm going to an areawhere I know someone's at, I'll
reach out to them, say, hey,want to grab a cup of coffee,
and then I'll see someone that Ihaven't seen in 15, 20 years.

(01:01:08):
The same thing about being partof the 501st Legion, the Star
Wars costuming group.
We have 10,000, 15,000 membersacross the globe.
We have representation in everystate, and so it's a great way
to also reach out to them andsay, hey, I'm going to be in
your town, would love to connect, and so you have, like your
fellow nerds, that you can meetup for a beer with and talk
about Star Wars.

(01:01:29):
So, really taking advantage ofFacebook, linkedin or any like
you know kind of groups thatyou're part of and connecting
with people while you're on theroad.

Speaker 3 (01:01:39):
That's.
That's a really also a greattip for geocachers as well,
because as a geocacher, you knowsomebody all over the world and
the geocaching community, I'msure, like a lot of communities,
is just really friendly.
So you could be looking forgeocaches that are really
amazing geocaches.
You can literally on thewebsite, click on their name and

(01:02:00):
that could take you to amessaging center where you could
actually connect with them and,if you know you're going to be
going to a place two weeks inadvance, you can actually create
an event in a coffee shop wherea bunch of locals will just
show up and and hang out withyou, um, wherever you are in the
world.
That's awesome, which so ingeocaching, the, the ecosystem

(01:02:22):
is set up for that, which isreally cool.
Love that, love that and it's.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
It's similar with other games as well, like, for
instance, in munzee.
I myself I'll be travelingthrough and as soon as you, as
soon as you're capping orfinding these munzees, the owner
gets a notification that you'vecapped it or found it, etc.
So I've been going in mytravels, I go through a town or
whatever, and this person getslike you know a hundred caps
from me and they're like youknow, oh, are you still in my

(01:02:46):
area?
I'll meet you for coffeesomewhere.
I'm like, oh, sorry, I'm justpassing through.
Or you know, yes, I am sayingyou know where can we meet up
for coffee?
So that's a yeah, great thing.

Speaker 3 (01:02:54):
So any community I like.
When that happens to me, I justsay stop stalking me no, you
don't.

Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
Josh normally says you know.
Oh yeah, follow me on myyoutube channel, anthony.
Thank you so much, mate, butbefore we, before we leave you
and before we end the actual,follow me on my YouTube channel,
anthony.
Thank you so much, mate.
But before we leave you andbefore we end the actual, this
episode itself, we said beforeat the beginning of this episode
, that you do know a little bitabout geocaching and that is all
thanks to me.
I'll say, now I sound like Josh.

(01:03:23):
Josh, it was a few years agonow.
You would remember this too,and you probably remember
Anthony's face now, and that is.
I reached out to Anthony becauseobviously he's a great actor as
well and he's a good nerd, sohe was geocaching accepting,
I'll say that.
And I wanted to film my GIF myGeocaching International Film

(01:03:45):
Festival theme one at abeautiful silver diner Like it
was old school diner up nearwhere Anthony lives as well, up
in North New Jersey, and I helda geocaching event there for
extras.
But then Anthony and then I hadanother girl as well who were
my two co-stars.
They played the role, andAnthony played the role as the

(01:04:07):
main character for a geocachingvideo that he's not actually a
geocacher for.
So there you go what do youthink?

Speaker 3 (01:04:15):
yeah, that was one of my.
That was my favorites, craig,that was a great video.
Thank you, mate.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
Thank you it was a lot of fun and I and I and I
loved being part of it.
Thank you for including me.
Uh, it was nice to meet someother geocachers, so so I got to
see that you weren't the onlygeocacher in the world which was
really cool.
There was a bunch of you,there's a bunch of you, but it
was a really.
It was a really fun day and youknow it's funny.
Every time I do travel I dothink of you and I'm like you

(01:04:39):
know I should install that app,will?

Speaker 3 (01:04:41):
I will commit to you both on this podcast right now.

Speaker 2 (01:04:50):
The next next work trip I go, I'm going to get the
app and I'm going to look for ageocache, Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:04:57):
There we go All right , all right, and you will have
to when we go on your podcast,you'll have to tell us a little
bit about the experience.

Speaker 2 (01:05:05):
Yes, how many strange looks I get while I'm creeping
on someone's barn, you know, tofind a pill bottle and it's
interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:05:17):
You know there is a little bit of a learning curve.
You know a lot of people thefirst cache they look for, they
just can't find it because theyjust don't know what they're
looking for.
And so it'll be interesting tosee.
But you know you're kind ofgeeky, so I think you're going
to figure it out, and and andvery observant to Anthony.

Speaker 1 (01:05:33):
You're very observant person, so he, you do make and
build great things, so we doappreciate that.
So thank you again, josh andAnthony, thank you so much.
And links are in the show notesfrom the geeky go-go podcast to
his youtube channel, to thegeeky website uh, the made by ap
website as well, um, the fixedby ap youtube channel, like

(01:05:56):
everything.
And even josh, I've even got alink.
I've even got ready for this.
I've even got a link to hisimdb page.
There you go, whoa, and I willsay this as well i'm'm very
proud, josh, that one of ourcollaborative works is actually
featured upon his IMDB page.
So there you go.

Speaker 3 (01:06:13):
Wait a minute, is the geocaching film on there?

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
No, no, no, we did.
It's not non-geocache related.
I actually did all the filmingand editing and Anthony was one
of the main star of thisparticular monologue.
So there, or scene study, itwas, I think.
So there you go.
So, yeah, that's what it is.
So thank you again, anthony.
Anything else you want to addbefore we?

Speaker 2 (01:06:32):
finish up, mate.
No, thank you so much forhaving me.
This was a lot of fun.
Like I said before we startedrecording, I feel like I am in
the presence of geocaching andtravel royalty, so it's been an
honor to share these tips, andthanks again, we'll have you on
our show very soon.
Thank you very much, mate.

Speaker 1 (01:06:50):
And Josh.
As I said before, anthony veryproud for us as well to have him
as a patron.
Anyone else that they want tobe a patron?
How do they do that?

Speaker 3 (01:06:58):
Yeah, if you've been enjoying our podcast, we'd
really appreciate your support.
By supporting us, you'rehelping us create even better
content.
Keep it free for everyone.
No annoying commercials, butdelta if you're listening.
United, I'm united.
I'm willing to cross over ifyou give me a free pass into

(01:07:20):
your whatever.
It's called lounge lounge,thank you.
So anyway.
But we don't need them becausewe have amazing patron patrons.
So join us at patreoncombackslash treasures of our town
and how else can people find us?
josh, feel free to reach out tous at treasures of our town
podcast at gmailcom, or you canfollow us on facebook, instagram
, x and youtube.

Speaker 1 (01:07:40):
so that's it for our show today.

Speaker 3 (01:07:42):
Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite
podcasting app and, as always,josh, may your travels always
lead you to the most unexpectedand amazing hidden gems around
the world.
Thanks, anthony, I bet you are.
You know you're from jersey andI bet you.
You know you travel all over.
But I bet you and the reasonyou stay in jersey because
you're proud of your town andthat is a damn rare thing these
days.
All right, I got it in there.

(01:08:03):
See you later.
Bye.