May 17, 2025 • 31 mins
Alun employs ChatGPT as his local travel guide, as he tests the latest travel hack trend. On his way to the Philippines but with a 12-hour layover in Shanghai, Alun turns to ChatGPT for his layover travel itinerary. Working smart and not hard, we hear Alun’s experience of using AI as a travel companion. Artificial Intelligence has many uses but controlling the weather isn’t one of them!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I spent 12 hours in Shanghai. Play the theme music.
Shanghai and welcome to this episode of Tripology.
(00:20):
I'm Alan and I'm here with the ever artificial Adam.
Alan, is that because we've beeninundated with emails from
listeners saying that I look like I've had a spray tan and
some bright white veneers fitted?
Yeah, a lot of people are saying, Alan, are you literally
doing the podcast with the sort of physical Android version of
ChatGPT? Because Adam's starting to look
(00:41):
more and more pinged up with metal and spray tan every week.
No, it's just this lamp. It's, you know, the lamp from
the Patreon section a few episodes ago that I bought from
this very kind but shrewd Chinese businessman.
Yeah, well, it's now made it allall its way down to to
Queenstown with me. And it's, it's really, really
bright actually, but it does give me this kind of golden,
almost fake hue that I can't quite shake.
(01:04):
So. So there it is mate.
Yeah, well, a lot of the listeners are worried about you
and included, to be honest. But Speaking of shrewd Chinese
businessmen, Speaking of artificiality and all of that
jazz, on last week's Patreon section we informed the Patreon
subscribers that I was going to Shanghai and then on to the
(01:25):
Philippines, and I had a very problem attic layover to contend
with. Yeah, I remember it well, mate.
It's not an easy 1, not an easy one at all.
We sent a message out on the Instagram should Alan leave the
airport or not, and I hope that's what we're going to talk
about. Yeah, ma'am, Here's the crux of
it. I was in Shanghai by way of
going to the Philippines and I had exactly 8 1/2 hours there.
(01:47):
I know I said 12 in the intro, but that was around up baby.
So I was landing and then flyingout that evening.
I had to sort it all out and andfigure out exactly what to do
and I decided to introduce a little bit of artificiality in
the process. Unanimously, all of the
(02:07):
listeners took to instagraminstagram.com/anthropology
podcast baby. They all sent us a message
saying, Alan, you should, you should definitely, definitely
exit the airport, go an adventure around Shanghai.
I didn't know whether that was what I wanted.
To do, no, I mean, you'd done a little bit of research far more
than I had. And I think you said the customs
(02:28):
process, getting through security and all that sort of
stuff was going to be about 2 1/2 hours.
Is that correct? Well, that's it.
You know what? I googled it and it said it's
going to take you an hour to leave the airport.
Yeah. It's going to take you.
You want to be at the airport atleast two hours early to get
back in. True.
So already that 8 hours is significantly reduced.
I personally didn't really want to leave the airport.
(02:49):
I'm like an expert staying in the airport.
I wanted to just relax. I wanted to arrive in Shanghai.
I wanted to go straight through sterile transit.
I wanted to lay down, not worry about any of that jazz and and
just enjoy my time there and edit an episode of Tripology.
But because the listeners said you've got to go, you've got to
(03:11):
leave the airport. I felt a professional like
pulling. I have to leave the airport.
Well, you have already said the word jazz twice in the 1st 5
minutes, so something, something's, something's up.
But Shanghai is not a city you've been to before and it's
one that I've been to a couple of times.
I absolutely love it and I can certainly see why people are
encouraging you to do so. You'd have a little jaunt around
(03:34):
an East Asian city. I would mate, but do you know
what I decided to do with all these factors spinning around my
head? I took to ChatGPT and I gave it
the absolute lowdown on the situation.
I said, look, I want to stay in the airport.
Please take that into account, ChatGPT.
Just bear in mind, I don't want to leave, all right?
(03:56):
I've got 8 1/2 hours to to spend, but I run a travel
podcast and all the listeners are telling me I have to go.
What should I do? And it got back to me.
It said, listen, I understand you've got an emotional,
personal desire to just relax atthe airport, but you feel a
(04:16):
professional obligation to leave.
Here is an itinerary that guarantees to get you back to
the airport on time and gives you a flavour of Shanghai.
Yeah, I mean, this is when the cart starts pushing the horse.
It's when you're deliberately doing things for the pod.
But fair play to ChatGPT. I wonder if it could dial into
(04:38):
your inner traveller because you're in a very specific moment
in your life where you know you're on to, to live somewhere
like the Philippines for a certain length of time.
And maybe ChatGPT took that intoaccount and thought, let's give
him one, one last, you know, Hail Mary.
Well mate, let me tell you what's really cool about ChatGPT
and why I think it's going to emerge as such an amazing travel
tool. Because not only did it give me
(05:00):
what transpired to be a perfect hour by hour itinerary that
proved to be entirely accurate of what to do when and how to
get back to the airport, but it also gave me things which would
have unstuck me completely had Inot had it.
So for example, it was like you need to get an obfuscated VPN,
otherwise you won't be able to use me once you're in Shanghai.
(05:22):
So I was able to do that at the airport.
It was like, oh, you've got to download Alipay because you
can't use your Visa International cards anywhere in
Shanghai. So I got to download that at the
airport. These things would have been
horrible problems when I landed or required an intense amount of
Googling were really really simple because ChatGPT was just
(05:43):
like listen mate, I know you basically don't want to leave
the airport. Let me make it as simple as
possible for you. That is class, that is class I,
I'm always very cynical about this sort of stuff.
And Alan, if there's anyone on this earth that knows that I'm a
technophobe, my goodness is it you.
And I do apologise profusely forthat, but I would always be a
little bit worried that maybe Alipay are investors in ChatGPT
(06:05):
or something like that. Do you know what I mean?
Like you could see how that could work quite well.
I feel, yeah. But do you know what The thing
is? They actually just don't accept
international Visa cards in anywhere but like hotels.
And for the maglev, I was able to do it.
I'll talk about that in a second, But it was actually an
essential to have AQR scanning pay function.
So yeah, yeah, cool. Where the Alipay we're like
(06:29):
behind the behind the computer posing as ChatGPT going go on,
go on. And why not use Ali VPN, the
brand new VPN service? Yeah, we've got this tourist
package, especially for people that go to Shanghai for less
than 24 hours. We wrapped it up in a nice
little bunch and it only cost you how much?
It's a lot of money in China these days.
Yeah, well, do you know what? It was actually very, very
(06:51):
useful. So I I decided to I do it.
I decided to go for it. I got my 24 hour tourist visa
and I ran out of the airport andgot onto the fastest commercial
train in the world. Have you ever heard of it?
It's called the Maglev. Magnetic levitation, is that
(07:13):
what It's what it's an abbreviation of.
I hope so mate, otherwise I don't know what was going on
because that thing has no physical contact with the track
at all and it goes at speeds up to like 430 kilometres an hour.
I'm not surprised that the fastest train in the world or
commercial train is in China. I'm a bit disappointed it's not
(07:34):
in Japan. But I mean, what sort of
experience was it? Like how long were you on it
for? Oh, wherever so fast.
That was my experience of it. It's basically basically as 4.
100 miles. Machine comes in is almost as
fast as this maglev, so they're very, very similar, but this one
(07:55):
just dares to go faster in a commercial setting.
The journey from the airport allthe way into central Shanghai is
only 7 minutes, so that's nice, isn't it?
7 minutes, yeah, I suppose it would be at those speeds, yeah.
Does it reach top speed on the way in?
Yeah, yeah, It goes all, I mean,right up to 400 kilometers an
hour. I suppose it could push out an
(08:16):
extra 30 if it really tried. Yeah, yeah, my goodness, that's
absolutely incredible. And then in terms of the
interior of the train, I mean, I've been on my fair few
Shinkans ends with a little EckyBen little Beto box there.
What's what's the experience like on the train?
Is it fairly, you know, futuristic and screens
everywhere? Alipay adverts all over the
shop. Yeah, there's scarcely an icky
(08:36):
Ben inside. You know, it's basically just a
stark internal environment, everyone's hair flying back in
the window as you fly at 430 kilometers into Shanghai, it's
almost so fast that you can't really process what's happening
out of the window. Right, Yeah, fair enough.
(08:56):
I mean 7 minutes already. ChatGPT is winning.
You're sitting on that train thinking, all right, this was
the right move. Yeah, ChatGPT was like you
almost don't have to count for transit time in your equation,
you'll get back to the airport in no time, just fly into
central Shanghai. It was only once I'd arrived,
all excited, bright eyed and bushy tailed by the experience
(09:18):
on the maglev. I arrived in Shanghai, and the
majesty of that beautiful train was quickly replaced by the
annoyance of tapping on with Alipay and getting on to an
incredibly slow subway system toinch a little bit closer to East
Nanjing, which is where I wantedto start my journey.
Somewhat ruins the beauty of thefastest train in the world,
(09:39):
where it's immediately succeededby one of the slowest subway
systems. Yeah, I mean, they've invested
all their money in into one areaand totally neglected another.
But I mean, I've not been to Shanghai for a really long time.
I definitely rode the subway there.
And I wonder if you came across any, any photographers, any sort
of very friendly photographers that, that were, you know, they
(10:04):
walk around sort of proactively asking if people would like a
photo with them. Did you come across any people
like that? Because I'm absolutely certain
not unlike the tea house scam that we've mentioned a few times
on the pod all those years ago. I think it's, I think it's one
of those. It'd be interesting to see
whether that still exists. I think because I'd just been on
an 8 hour flight and actually longer, goodness me, it was like
an 11 hour flight. ChatGPT How long was my flight?
(10:31):
No one wanted to speak to me or or try to engage me or even made
eye contact. And I think that was because I
was sort of losing consciousnesson the subway, like someone who
basically didn't want to be bothered.
So didn't see any photographers.I felt, you know, it's really
annoying going on somewhere. It's a bit like taking a Ferrari
to a bus stop, isn't it? You're suddenly just in a cage,
(10:53):
sort of spinning down the down the inner tubes of Shanghai.
But mate, when I left the subwayI realised that everything had
gone wrong and I actually messaged ChatGPT, my new travel
buddy, a single sentence. Right, go on.
What was the sentence? I said ChatGPT.
(11:13):
We forgot to account for the weather.
Oh, you had no idea about the weather had you not done a
little? I suppose that's that's the
trouble mate. You've got to be careful when
you use chat ChatGPT to that level.
There are things that maybe you fall short on because you you
wanted to give you every single piece of information it possibly
can. I don't know if that's a a
failure of ChatGPT or maybe you got a little bit lost there just
(11:34):
putting all your racing one basket.
Well, I'm trying a new type of travel.
You know, I'm a very experiencedtraveller, Adam, so I'm so used
to doing all this planning, but this just seemed like such a
holistic bit of micro planning that it seemed to make perfect
sense. And I said to my generative
processing model that I love so dearly, I said, you know, you
(11:56):
remember the obfuscated VPN, youremembered Ali Pay, you
remembered all that jazz. Why didn't you account for the
weather? And it said, no trouble, Sir.
Here's a new weather itinerary for times in Shanghai where the
rains coming down thick and fast.
And it's a bit late for that ChatGPT.
I'm already in the midst of the sunshine plan.
(12:18):
So we just had a bit of a disagreement, me huddled in the
rain, typing frantically to my little.
Server what? What sort of rain we talking
about? Is it absolutely thrashing down
or is it just a bit of a? Spit with the kind of rain that
meant the pedestrian section of Nanjing, which is the central
downtown of Shanghai. The Bund right, was almost empty
(12:39):
because it was so rainy. Oh dear.
OK, fair enough. And a lot of your activities
that ChatGPT had recommended obviously were outdoors.
So we what, what do you do in that situation?
Then you surely you looked at what was offered to you and you
thought maybe I could take a couple of these off.
I just copped it, mate. I obviously have my backpack
with me. I have everything, you know,
it's all there. I just thought, we're in this
(13:01):
now let's get wet. So you went out and got wet,
took a couple of pictures which I've seen.
What do you think of the Bund the first time you've seen it in
the rain? I mean, you can't can't change
it. Ever so dark and soggy in it.
The Bund. Goodness me, it was like a.
Talking sucky. I like the bun.
(13:21):
I like it. As I was walking along the
Riverside, there was a an absolute crash of lightning the
likes of which I'd never heard before.
You know, in like war movies where a bomb goes off near
someone and it kind of the wholeaudio goes quiet and there's
like ringing and there's dust everywhere and there's searching
(13:44):
to get their bearings. It was honestly like that, this
lightning flash and the noise ofThunder all at once happened to
the point where everyone on the bond, everyone walking down the
Riverside started screaming because it honestly sounded like
an act of war. Shit.
Well, that must have been reallyscary.
(14:04):
My God. So what do you do?
You just huddled in the under a building, Try to stay dry, seek
out some good food. Well, by that.
Point, I was so reliant on AI I was just quickly just getting
chat GPTL. What do I do?
There's lightning. I'm scared.
Can you like get in contact withmy friends and family?
Why am I here? But then I took a deep breath
(14:24):
and remembered that although ChatGPT is useful, I have also
travelled for a decade prior to its creation.
So I thought can handle this no problem, yeah?
That's fair enough. I, I, I love the bun mate.
I do like it and I remember whenI was in Shanghai, I was with a
dear old friend of mine, Francois, who has got mentioned
on the podcast before. I believe different story in in
(14:45):
China, but he's an architect andit was really cool to be in
Shanghai with him, especially around the bun because there's a
number of different buildings ifyou've never seen the bun.
I I absolutely love a cityscape and a skyline just as much as
any mountain range. But even though I think all of
the buildings have been designedby different architects and they
are wildly different through different eras as well, it
(15:07):
almost looks like a little bit in the same way that Hong Kong
skyline does. It looks like they've been
designed as one piece and I absolutely love that.
Like I I know that it was obviously pissing down.
I'm sorry, didn't get to enjoy it in its full glory, but in
it's an amazing thing to see. Yeah, I liked it.
And you know what? I was very, very, very glad that
I did leave the airport in the end.
(15:29):
I thought as I was meandering around Shanghai, what an
absolute shame it would be to not have just made the effort to
go out. And I understand the attraction
of staying in the airport. And that was what my instincts
told me to do. Because once you've accounted
for the time into the city, the time getting back in and doing
security again, I really only had four hours to enjoy
(15:50):
Shanghai, but I made the most ofit.
I went to EW gardens. I'd had some amazing soup
dumplings. I really felt like China was the
1st place I ever travelled to back in 2015.
So yeah, well, I. Realised I missed it and I was
so glad that I made the journey.Yeah, it's it is a place I wish
I'd been more. You know, obviously I had a
(16:11):
layover when I was on my way back from from East Asia just
before Christmas. Just quickly before we go to the
Med break talking about your entry into China for this 24
hour visa. Were you, you know, listeners of
the pod will know that I had a hell of a time trying to get in
when I had a layover there in Beijing.
Was yours pretty smooth sailing?Do you ever strategically look
at the security offers officers and think who you'd have the
(16:35):
best time with? I mean, I've been doing that
recently with the cashiers in supermarkets in New Zealand
because I often forget my passport.
So a little tip for you guys. If you're a foreigner in New
Zealand, they don't accept non New Zealand pieces of identity.
So I basically go to the person I think I can intimidate the
(16:56):
most. So you go, yeah, I'm 35, please
don't ask me because I I really want the alcohol.
But no, I certainly know what you mean.
In my case I only had two to choose from and I was almost
escorted to the one who denied me entry.
So go on. How did it happen?
I basically just looked down therow, saw this young Chinese girl
who I thought basically she'll let me in.
I queued behind her and I almosthad the visa before I'd got to
(17:18):
the counter so it was easy. Fair enough, it's just a more
more charming. That's travel experience for
you, Adam. That's travel experience for
you. And with that, let's go on a
brief meditation break. I hate arriving at an airport
and needing to prove I have an onward ticket before boarding
(17:39):
the plane. It's the worst.
I don't know when I'm going to leave the country.
OK, I'm the traveller. That's why instead of buying a
flight, we use a flight rental service.
Yeah, it's so convenient. You just find a flight, rent it
for 48 hours. So it's the assistant, they let
you on the. Planeonwardticket.com They're a
great company. Click the link in the
description. Support the podcast.
(18:00):
Like a Shanganese woman stampinga visa in a passport before the
client even steps up to the podium.
Allow your conscious mind to return into your brain, Adam.
That's the kind of thing that only experience can account for.
Being able to source out who which God is going to give you
the easiest entry, the easiest ride.
But I did make a crucial mistakewhen I was in Shanghai.
(18:22):
Oh dear. And now these, these are few and
far between the travel mistakes that you make and I love
travelling with you because it rarely happens.
You know, we usually pretty gooddecision makers between us,
quite a good team. So I'm I'm keen to hear what
this was. You'd have absolutely hated this
one mate. Finished in EU Gardens, the EU
gardens, these absolutely beautiful, ornate, you guessed
(18:46):
it, they're gardens in Shanghai that you can go and explore and
experiences, right? It's just picturesque in the
city. And I'd done all that.
That was one of the things that ChatGPT recommended, you know
what I mean? And then I just pushed it.
The weather had calmed down. I'd already had some great soup
dumplings, but there was this one place and it'd become like
(19:07):
my white whale in the IT was a bit off the beaten track, but
had just enough time spare to get it the best soup dumpling in
all of Shanghai. So I thought, oh, I can just
about get to this soup dumpling and then get back on the maglev
with enough time to feel comfortable at the airport.
You feeling me? Yeah, yeah, I like it.
(19:28):
Sounds a little bit dangerous. Sounds like there's a bit of
pressure and a bit of tension. But to get the best dumplings in
Shanghai, I mean, of course, of course.
Why not give it a go? Now I've got to ask if someone
who would be doing something very similar to this himself.
Where did you find this information that they were the
best dumplings in Shanghai? Who?
Who's voting voting. This restaurant that was a.
Google job, you know, Like initially I went on Google Maps.
(19:53):
I was sort of certain around thearea, but then I went on Reddit.
Reddit's really good for personal recommendations I tend
to find, because you get actual local people typing out what's
the best one. Yeah, agree.
But this was supposed to be one of the.
It's called Jia Jia, OK? It's just renowned for having
great soup dump things. So I bookended it all the way to
(20:15):
this. Can you say bookended it or is
it just booked it? I don't know how that slang work
but I literally bookended it as well because it was the end of
my journey. Yeah, I think in Canada they say
booked it, but I quite like booking.
If you say anything with enough confidence, mate, it makes its
way into vocabulary. It might not be now, but it
might be in five years, so. As I was on the way there, the
rain starts again, but heavier this time.
I'm just absolutely soaked. I'm drenched.
(20:38):
I meander all the way up to thisdumpling shop.
I see it. But the sign is all in Chinese,
right? So what a shock.
Google Maps is showing me. Well, I thought there'd be an
English translation, but Google Maps is showing me.
This is the spot, right? There's rain falling on my
phone, so I can't operate the screen properly.
(20:59):
I go in there, I order this soupdumpling.
This lady brings it and like it,brings it with a straw.
And I've had soup dumplings where you chop, stick them into
the mouth. It's like a bursting soupy
pleasure in your mouth. This was like you stab the
dumpling with the straw and thensuck out the crab Roe.
That sounds pretty hardcore. Yeah, I've not had those myself.
(21:22):
I mean, I watch a lot of YouTubevideos and specifically some
people who travel all around China or live in China.
I don't know if I've ever seen the straw, the straw dumpling.
So I'm interested. So she gives me the straw and
makes the well, I mean it's inconfusable, the mime of
sucking up the internal this dumpling.
And I go, all right, OK, there'sonly two ways to interpret that
(21:48):
and I'm going to and. We don't need a translation.
And let's suck the dumpling. That's fine.
So I mean, I think this dumplingain't that good though.
I mean, I appreciate, I appreciate that it's, you know,
a little bit of a challenging concept, slurping out the
innards of a dumpling, but it's not the most amazing.
I think the dumplings I had earlier were much better.
So I go on Google Maps, I'm looking at the reviews and I see
(22:12):
someone's posted a picture. And I'm like, hold on, that
wasn't the front of this restaurant.
And I look out the window. I'm only gone and I'm opposite,
I'm opposite. I'm across the street, Adam.
Oh, no, I mean, it's easily done.
It's easily done. But I mean, was there any point
leading up to that where you youthought, I don't think this is
(22:32):
it. It just doesn't feel right, you
know, was there no queue or anything?
Is this not? This restaurant was packed,
absolutely packed. Whereas the one across the
street, not a soul in there. So I can only assume, but either
the one across the streets had asevere decline in popularity or
that woman's soup mimes reached viral success.
(22:57):
Chang and these people just absolutely adore her.
People don't go to the shop for the dumplings.
There you go. Were you left feeling a little
bit demoralised, like you'd missed a missed a trick almost,
you know. Do you regret not going into the
other? Hang on, If we were there
together, we would have just gone in the other shop and had
that as well. I had that thought.
I was like, I'm so glad Adam's not here because I want now to
(23:19):
go back to the airport because it's time.
And he would not be able to psychologically deal with the
fact that he'd not had the best stumble.
As per the Internet, Yeah, Yeah,yeah.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
Well, I mean, yeah, it sounds like they were.
They were. There's a thing about Chinese
food, and this is just from my own experience, is that that I
(23:41):
think we have maybe slightly different palates, you know,
people from the West and and people over in East Asia.
But Chinese food, when it's good, is some of the best food
on earth. I really believe that.
I agree. Yeah, yeah, totally.
And it's I'm, I'm afraid to say it, guys, but it's not the sweet
and sour pork balls you're getting down the local Chinese
in your in your town in the UK, I can promise you that much.
(24:03):
It's not the chicken chow Mein or the sweet and sour sweet and.
Sour pork balls. It's not the bloody cashew Kung
pao, any of that other bullshit.It's like Chinese food.
And and let's not forget it is an enormous country that's
incredibly diverse and has, you know, sensational cuisine all
over it and with regional differences.
And, you know, it's amazing history as well.
(24:25):
It's so, so interesting, the food and food culture there.
So get if. If you're just going to eat,
then by all means. I honestly think it was worth
leaving the airport just for theculinary experiences.
So thank you Tribological audience for keeping me honest
and true but making that mistakegoing into the wrong dumpling
shop. It made me think about travel in
(24:45):
a wider context and the experiences I had whilst taking
the flight to Shanghai and then on to the Philippines where I am
now. I wanted to play a little sort
of mind game with you while we analyse, you know, what are the
tell tale signs of someone's like an absolute expert expert
or a bit of a nomadic twat? OK, OK, my go.
(25:06):
I don't know where this is going, but I'm, you know, I'm
getting my putting my shoulders back here, getting ready to use
my brain. Come on.
Well, it's often been a lament of mine, and I know that me and
you have slightly differing opinions on this, but I want to
talk it through. What is your hardline
perspective on people standing up as soon as the plane lands?
Because it honestly makes me angrier than almost anything
(25:30):
else in travel. And I think it's the, I think
it's the surefire telltale sign of someone not being good at
travelling. Right.
Yeah, Yeah. Well, I think we we probably are
down the same end of the spectrum.
It's just I'm slightly closer tothe middle than you are.
And it isn't the reason why you think it's ridiculous because
(25:51):
you, you're saving almost no time.
You get up, you stand up to basically wait the same amount
of time, right? Yeah, just.
Absolutely sick the fuck down, what are you doing is my basic
perspective so I want to talk. We have a lot of long term
really skilled travellers in ouraudience and I know just from
personal experience from talkingto a lot of backpackers.
(26:13):
Some of the good travellers in our community will do this and I
apologise for offending, but letme just lay down my perspective.
The plane lands. You know, you absolutely know
that those doors aren't going toopen straight away and you're
going to be able to get off the plane and go and collect your
bags or go through immigration or that you know that that's not
(26:35):
how it works. What happens is the plane lands,
everyone stands up and inevitably waits in the aisle
for five to 10 minutes. Yeah, it is.
So why? So why bother?
Just stay in your seat. Yeah, it's the the cluster, the
claustrophobia then ensues, doesn't it?
And I remember the first time I took a flight in India, it was
almost comical, like I don't want to be calling out One
(26:57):
Nation here, but it is so funny to listen to the person on the
Tanner, you know, whether it's the air stewardess or the pilot
say, you know, we are going to be opening the door soon, please
remain seated while the seat belt sign is illuminated.
And then inevitably, you know, 1-2.
But and I, it happens almost every flight, doesn't it?
Let's be honest, doesn't matter where you are almost every
flight. And I always think to myself as
(27:18):
soon as someone and does it because I'm, I'm never the
first. I mean, I rarely do it, but but
yeah, I I just say to myself, like, are they deaf?
I've never been on a fight whereit's not happened.
And also it's so, it's so my least favorite thing of all is
when I'm in the aisle seat and the person next to me starts
like sort of getting up. So like looking at me like I'm
(27:40):
blocking them from being able toget up and I want to turn around
and say, no, sorry. The one, the one privilege I get
for not having the window is that I am absolutely in control
of whether I'm standing up or not.
And I'm not. You are sitting here until the
bitter end. Because everyone, the one
argument that you could make that you could potentially have
some leeway in my mind is, is that you've been sat down for a
(28:03):
long time and it's like finally the chance to get up.
But to those people, I would sayget up and have a walk around
during the flight. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, it's, it makes total sense.
I'm normally for a long haul, I am up on my feet walking around
and doing some, you know, something akin to a yoga stretch
at the back for for probably 40%of the flight I would say.
(28:25):
Yeah, I would argue that's some of the extreme end of things,
but to each their own. You're doing pull ups on the
bathroom door. I think, I think what maybe
makes it even more strange is that it's so it's such a simple
thing. It's just a such a simple rule
to follow and people just can't do it.
It almost compounds the issue ormakes it more frustrating.
(28:47):
The people aren't, they're just not willing to sit down for
another couple of minutes while while the plane, you know, while
the doors open, while people sort themselves out and you
know, what are you going to do? You're going to get your bag
maybe 30 seconds earlier. But then you always have to hold
it in a really awkward position And some people are putting
their backpack on their back and, you know, annoying the
people that are sitting down still or I don't know.
(29:07):
I'm, I'm with you mate, I am with you.
If it's a hard and fast yes or no, should should it be allowed?
Then no, Just stay seated until we're told otherwise.
It's a surefire sign that someone's a bit of a travel
rookie to me, Adam, if, if our audience wants to get in touch
about whether they do this and why try and justify it to me?
If there's one way to goad me into a very personal e-mail
(29:28):
response is by providing me withsome justification of why it is
that you stand up as soon as theplane lands.
I want to hear it. That's tripologypodcast.com.
And there's a hostel common roomform where you can write to us.
Then, Adam, I have a story of how I was the biggest travel
rookie of all on a plane. But I'm going to save it for our
(29:49):
Patreon section, which comes after the show.
You can listen to it at patreon.com/tropology Podcast.
Amazing. And also you're more than
welcome to get in touch via Instagram at Tropology podcast.
Send us a message on there as well.
We're pretty active on it and wehope you enjoy the content.
So yeah, I'm looking forward to going to the Lost and found and
yeah, what an what an amazing time.
(30:09):
Don't stand up before we're toldto do so.
Yeah, hear about all how I'm a travel rookie and that, but on
the next week of Tripology, we have ever such a surprise for
you guys. So make sure you tune in next
week. It's going to be an absolute
blinder of an episode. We'll see you there.
See you there. Bye.
(30:59):
None.
I spent 12 hours in Shanghai. Play the theme music.
Shanghai and welcome to this episode of Tripology.
(00:20):
I'm Alan and I'm here with the ever artificial Adam.
Alan, is that because we've beeninundated with emails from
listeners saying that I look like I've had a spray tan and
some bright white veneers fitted?
Yeah, a lot of people are saying, Alan, are you literally
doing the podcast with the sort of physical Android version of
ChatGPT? Because Adam's starting to look
(00:41):
more and more pinged up with metal and spray tan every week.
No, it's just this lamp. It's, you know, the lamp from
the Patreon section a few episodes ago that I bought from
this very kind but shrewd Chinese businessman.
Yeah, well, it's now made it allall its way down to to
Queenstown with me. And it's, it's really, really
bright actually, but it does give me this kind of golden,
almost fake hue that I can't quite shake.
(01:04):
So. So there it is mate.
Yeah, well, a lot of the listeners are worried about you
and included, to be honest. But Speaking of shrewd Chinese
businessmen, Speaking of artificiality and all of that
jazz, on last week's Patreon section we informed the Patreon
subscribers that I was going to Shanghai and then on to the
(01:25):
Philippines, and I had a very problem attic layover to contend
with. Yeah, I remember it well, mate.
It's not an easy 1, not an easy one at all.
We sent a message out on the Instagram should Alan leave the
airport or not, and I hope that's what we're going to talk
about. Yeah, ma'am, Here's the crux of
it. I was in Shanghai by way of
going to the Philippines and I had exactly 8 1/2 hours there.
(01:47):
I know I said 12 in the intro, but that was around up baby.
So I was landing and then flyingout that evening.
I had to sort it all out and andfigure out exactly what to do
and I decided to introduce a little bit of artificiality in
the process. Unanimously, all of the
(02:07):
listeners took to instagraminstagram.com/anthropology
podcast baby. They all sent us a message
saying, Alan, you should, you should definitely, definitely
exit the airport, go an adventure around Shanghai.
I didn't know whether that was what I wanted.
To do, no, I mean, you'd done a little bit of research far more
than I had. And I think you said the customs
(02:28):
process, getting through security and all that sort of
stuff was going to be about 2 1/2 hours.
Is that correct? Well, that's it.
You know what? I googled it and it said it's
going to take you an hour to leave the airport.
Yeah. It's going to take you.
You want to be at the airport atleast two hours early to get
back in. True.
So already that 8 hours is significantly reduced.
I personally didn't really want to leave the airport.
(02:49):
I'm like an expert staying in the airport.
I wanted to just relax. I wanted to arrive in Shanghai.
I wanted to go straight through sterile transit.
I wanted to lay down, not worry about any of that jazz and and
just enjoy my time there and edit an episode of Tripology.
But because the listeners said you've got to go, you've got to
(03:11):
leave the airport. I felt a professional like
pulling. I have to leave the airport.
Well, you have already said the word jazz twice in the 1st 5
minutes, so something, something's, something's up.
But Shanghai is not a city you've been to before and it's
one that I've been to a couple of times.
I absolutely love it and I can certainly see why people are
encouraging you to do so. You'd have a little jaunt around
(03:34):
an East Asian city. I would mate, but do you know
what I decided to do with all these factors spinning around my
head? I took to ChatGPT and I gave it
the absolute lowdown on the situation.
I said, look, I want to stay in the airport.
Please take that into account, ChatGPT.
Just bear in mind, I don't want to leave, all right?
(03:56):
I've got 8 1/2 hours to to spend, but I run a travel
podcast and all the listeners are telling me I have to go.
What should I do? And it got back to me.
It said, listen, I understand you've got an emotional,
personal desire to just relax atthe airport, but you feel a
(04:16):
professional obligation to leave.
Here is an itinerary that guarantees to get you back to
the airport on time and gives you a flavour of Shanghai.
Yeah, I mean, this is when the cart starts pushing the horse.
It's when you're deliberately doing things for the pod.
But fair play to ChatGPT. I wonder if it could dial into
(04:38):
your inner traveller because you're in a very specific moment
in your life where you know you're on to, to live somewhere
like the Philippines for a certain length of time.
And maybe ChatGPT took that intoaccount and thought, let's give
him one, one last, you know, Hail Mary.
Well mate, let me tell you what's really cool about ChatGPT
and why I think it's going to emerge as such an amazing travel
tool. Because not only did it give me
(05:00):
what transpired to be a perfect hour by hour itinerary that
proved to be entirely accurate of what to do when and how to
get back to the airport, but it also gave me things which would
have unstuck me completely had Inot had it.
So for example, it was like you need to get an obfuscated VPN,
otherwise you won't be able to use me once you're in Shanghai.
(05:22):
So I was able to do that at the airport.
It was like, oh, you've got to download Alipay because you
can't use your Visa International cards anywhere in
Shanghai. So I got to download that at the
airport. These things would have been
horrible problems when I landed or required an intense amount of
Googling were really really simple because ChatGPT was just
(05:43):
like listen mate, I know you basically don't want to leave
the airport. Let me make it as simple as
possible for you. That is class, that is class I,
I'm always very cynical about this sort of stuff.
And Alan, if there's anyone on this earth that knows that I'm a
technophobe, my goodness is it you.
And I do apologise profusely forthat, but I would always be a
little bit worried that maybe Alipay are investors in ChatGPT
(06:05):
or something like that. Do you know what I mean?
Like you could see how that could work quite well.
I feel, yeah. But do you know what The thing
is? They actually just don't accept
international Visa cards in anywhere but like hotels.
And for the maglev, I was able to do it.
I'll talk about that in a second, But it was actually an
essential to have AQR scanning pay function.
So yeah, yeah, cool. Where the Alipay we're like
(06:29):
behind the behind the computer posing as ChatGPT going go on,
go on. And why not use Ali VPN, the
brand new VPN service? Yeah, we've got this tourist
package, especially for people that go to Shanghai for less
than 24 hours. We wrapped it up in a nice
little bunch and it only cost you how much?
It's a lot of money in China these days.
Yeah, well, do you know what? It was actually very, very
(06:51):
useful. So I I decided to I do it.
I decided to go for it. I got my 24 hour tourist visa
and I ran out of the airport andgot onto the fastest commercial
train in the world. Have you ever heard of it?
It's called the Maglev. Magnetic levitation, is that
(07:13):
what It's what it's an abbreviation of.
I hope so mate, otherwise I don't know what was going on
because that thing has no physical contact with the track
at all and it goes at speeds up to like 430 kilometres an hour.
I'm not surprised that the fastest train in the world or
commercial train is in China. I'm a bit disappointed it's not
(07:34):
in Japan. But I mean, what sort of
experience was it? Like how long were you on it
for? Oh, wherever so fast.
That was my experience of it. It's basically basically as 4.
100 miles. Machine comes in is almost as
fast as this maglev, so they're very, very similar, but this one
(07:55):
just dares to go faster in a commercial setting.
The journey from the airport allthe way into central Shanghai is
only 7 minutes, so that's nice, isn't it?
7 minutes, yeah, I suppose it would be at those speeds, yeah.
Does it reach top speed on the way in?
Yeah, yeah, It goes all, I mean,right up to 400 kilometers an
hour. I suppose it could push out an
(08:16):
extra 30 if it really tried. Yeah, yeah, my goodness, that's
absolutely incredible. And then in terms of the
interior of the train, I mean, I've been on my fair few
Shinkans ends with a little EckyBen little Beto box there.
What's what's the experience like on the train?
Is it fairly, you know, futuristic and screens
everywhere? Alipay adverts all over the
shop. Yeah, there's scarcely an icky
(08:36):
Ben inside. You know, it's basically just a
stark internal environment, everyone's hair flying back in
the window as you fly at 430 kilometers into Shanghai, it's
almost so fast that you can't really process what's happening
out of the window. Right, Yeah, fair enough.
(08:56):
I mean 7 minutes already. ChatGPT is winning.
You're sitting on that train thinking, all right, this was
the right move. Yeah, ChatGPT was like you
almost don't have to count for transit time in your equation,
you'll get back to the airport in no time, just fly into
central Shanghai. It was only once I'd arrived,
all excited, bright eyed and bushy tailed by the experience
(09:18):
on the maglev. I arrived in Shanghai, and the
majesty of that beautiful train was quickly replaced by the
annoyance of tapping on with Alipay and getting on to an
incredibly slow subway system toinch a little bit closer to East
Nanjing, which is where I wantedto start my journey.
Somewhat ruins the beauty of thefastest train in the world,
(09:39):
where it's immediately succeededby one of the slowest subway
systems. Yeah, I mean, they've invested
all their money in into one areaand totally neglected another.
But I mean, I've not been to Shanghai for a really long time.
I definitely rode the subway there.
And I wonder if you came across any, any photographers, any sort
of very friendly photographers that, that were, you know, they
(10:04):
walk around sort of proactively asking if people would like a
photo with them. Did you come across any people
like that? Because I'm absolutely certain
not unlike the tea house scam that we've mentioned a few times
on the pod all those years ago. I think it's, I think it's one
of those. It'd be interesting to see
whether that still exists. I think because I'd just been on
an 8 hour flight and actually longer, goodness me, it was like
an 11 hour flight. ChatGPT How long was my flight?
(10:31):
No one wanted to speak to me or or try to engage me or even made
eye contact. And I think that was because I
was sort of losing consciousnesson the subway, like someone who
basically didn't want to be bothered.
So didn't see any photographers.I felt, you know, it's really
annoying going on somewhere. It's a bit like taking a Ferrari
to a bus stop, isn't it? You're suddenly just in a cage,
(10:53):
sort of spinning down the down the inner tubes of Shanghai.
But mate, when I left the subwayI realised that everything had
gone wrong and I actually messaged ChatGPT, my new travel
buddy, a single sentence. Right, go on.
What was the sentence? I said ChatGPT.
(11:13):
We forgot to account for the weather.
Oh, you had no idea about the weather had you not done a
little? I suppose that's that's the
trouble mate. You've got to be careful when
you use chat ChatGPT to that level.
There are things that maybe you fall short on because you you
wanted to give you every single piece of information it possibly
can. I don't know if that's a a
failure of ChatGPT or maybe you got a little bit lost there just
(11:34):
putting all your racing one basket.
Well, I'm trying a new type of travel.
You know, I'm a very experiencedtraveller, Adam, so I'm so used
to doing all this planning, but this just seemed like such a
holistic bit of micro planning that it seemed to make perfect
sense. And I said to my generative
processing model that I love so dearly, I said, you know, you
(11:56):
remember the obfuscated VPN, youremembered Ali Pay, you
remembered all that jazz. Why didn't you account for the
weather? And it said, no trouble, Sir.
Here's a new weather itinerary for times in Shanghai where the
rains coming down thick and fast.
And it's a bit late for that ChatGPT.
I'm already in the midst of the sunshine plan.
(12:18):
So we just had a bit of a disagreement, me huddled in the
rain, typing frantically to my little.
Server what? What sort of rain we talking
about? Is it absolutely thrashing down
or is it just a bit of a? Spit with the kind of rain that
meant the pedestrian section of Nanjing, which is the central
downtown of Shanghai. The Bund right, was almost empty
(12:39):
because it was so rainy. Oh dear.
OK, fair enough. And a lot of your activities
that ChatGPT had recommended obviously were outdoors.
So we what, what do you do in that situation?
Then you surely you looked at what was offered to you and you
thought maybe I could take a couple of these off.
I just copped it, mate. I obviously have my backpack
with me. I have everything, you know,
it's all there. I just thought, we're in this
(13:01):
now let's get wet. So you went out and got wet,
took a couple of pictures which I've seen.
What do you think of the Bund the first time you've seen it in
the rain? I mean, you can't can't change
it. Ever so dark and soggy in it.
The Bund. Goodness me, it was like a.
Talking sucky. I like the bun.
(13:21):
I like it. As I was walking along the
Riverside, there was a an absolute crash of lightning the
likes of which I'd never heard before.
You know, in like war movies where a bomb goes off near
someone and it kind of the wholeaudio goes quiet and there's
like ringing and there's dust everywhere and there's searching
(13:44):
to get their bearings. It was honestly like that, this
lightning flash and the noise ofThunder all at once happened to
the point where everyone on the bond, everyone walking down the
Riverside started screaming because it honestly sounded like
an act of war. Shit.
Well, that must have been reallyscary.
(14:04):
My God. So what do you do?
You just huddled in the under a building, Try to stay dry, seek
out some good food. Well, by that.
Point, I was so reliant on AI I was just quickly just getting
chat GPTL. What do I do?
There's lightning. I'm scared.
Can you like get in contact withmy friends and family?
Why am I here? But then I took a deep breath
(14:24):
and remembered that although ChatGPT is useful, I have also
travelled for a decade prior to its creation.
So I thought can handle this no problem, yeah?
That's fair enough. I, I, I love the bun mate.
I do like it and I remember whenI was in Shanghai, I was with a
dear old friend of mine, Francois, who has got mentioned
on the podcast before. I believe different story in in
(14:45):
China, but he's an architect andit was really cool to be in
Shanghai with him, especially around the bun because there's a
number of different buildings ifyou've never seen the bun.
I I absolutely love a cityscape and a skyline just as much as
any mountain range. But even though I think all of
the buildings have been designedby different architects and they
are wildly different through different eras as well, it
(15:07):
almost looks like a little bit in the same way that Hong Kong
skyline does. It looks like they've been
designed as one piece and I absolutely love that.
Like I I know that it was obviously pissing down.
I'm sorry, didn't get to enjoy it in its full glory, but in
it's an amazing thing to see. Yeah, I liked it.
And you know what? I was very, very, very glad that
I did leave the airport in the end.
(15:29):
I thought as I was meandering around Shanghai, what an
absolute shame it would be to not have just made the effort to
go out. And I understand the attraction
of staying in the airport. And that was what my instincts
told me to do. Because once you've accounted
for the time into the city, the time getting back in and doing
security again, I really only had four hours to enjoy
(15:50):
Shanghai, but I made the most ofit.
I went to EW gardens. I'd had some amazing soup
dumplings. I really felt like China was the
1st place I ever travelled to back in 2015.
So yeah, well, I. Realised I missed it and I was
so glad that I made the journey.Yeah, it's it is a place I wish
I'd been more. You know, obviously I had a
(16:11):
layover when I was on my way back from from East Asia just
before Christmas. Just quickly before we go to the
Med break talking about your entry into China for this 24
hour visa. Were you, you know, listeners of
the pod will know that I had a hell of a time trying to get in
when I had a layover there in Beijing.
Was yours pretty smooth sailing?Do you ever strategically look
at the security offers officers and think who you'd have the
(16:35):
best time with? I mean, I've been doing that
recently with the cashiers in supermarkets in New Zealand
because I often forget my passport.
So a little tip for you guys. If you're a foreigner in New
Zealand, they don't accept non New Zealand pieces of identity.
So I basically go to the person I think I can intimidate the
(16:56):
most. So you go, yeah, I'm 35, please
don't ask me because I I really want the alcohol.
But no, I certainly know what you mean.
In my case I only had two to choose from and I was almost
escorted to the one who denied me entry.
So go on. How did it happen?
I basically just looked down therow, saw this young Chinese girl
who I thought basically she'll let me in.
I queued behind her and I almosthad the visa before I'd got to
(17:18):
the counter so it was easy. Fair enough, it's just a more
more charming. That's travel experience for
you, Adam. That's travel experience for
you. And with that, let's go on a
brief meditation break. I hate arriving at an airport
and needing to prove I have an onward ticket before boarding
(17:39):
the plane. It's the worst.
I don't know when I'm going to leave the country.
OK, I'm the traveller. That's why instead of buying a
flight, we use a flight rental service.
Yeah, it's so convenient. You just find a flight, rent it
for 48 hours. So it's the assistant, they let
you on the. Planeonwardticket.com They're a
great company. Click the link in the
description. Support the podcast.
(18:00):
Like a Shanganese woman stampinga visa in a passport before the
client even steps up to the podium.
Allow your conscious mind to return into your brain, Adam.
That's the kind of thing that only experience can account for.
Being able to source out who which God is going to give you
the easiest entry, the easiest ride.
But I did make a crucial mistakewhen I was in Shanghai.
(18:22):
Oh dear. And now these, these are few and
far between the travel mistakes that you make and I love
travelling with you because it rarely happens.
You know, we usually pretty gooddecision makers between us,
quite a good team. So I'm I'm keen to hear what
this was. You'd have absolutely hated this
one mate. Finished in EU Gardens, the EU
gardens, these absolutely beautiful, ornate, you guessed
(18:46):
it, they're gardens in Shanghai that you can go and explore and
experiences, right? It's just picturesque in the
city. And I'd done all that.
That was one of the things that ChatGPT recommended, you know
what I mean? And then I just pushed it.
The weather had calmed down. I'd already had some great soup
dumplings, but there was this one place and it'd become like
(19:07):
my white whale in the IT was a bit off the beaten track, but
had just enough time spare to get it the best soup dumpling in
all of Shanghai. So I thought, oh, I can just
about get to this soup dumpling and then get back on the maglev
with enough time to feel comfortable at the airport.
You feeling me? Yeah, yeah, I like it.
(19:28):
Sounds a little bit dangerous. Sounds like there's a bit of
pressure and a bit of tension. But to get the best dumplings in
Shanghai, I mean, of course, of course.
Why not give it a go? Now I've got to ask if someone
who would be doing something very similar to this himself.
Where did you find this information that they were the
best dumplings in Shanghai? Who?
Who's voting voting. This restaurant that was a.
Google job, you know, Like initially I went on Google Maps.
(19:53):
I was sort of certain around thearea, but then I went on Reddit.
Reddit's really good for personal recommendations I tend
to find, because you get actual local people typing out what's
the best one. Yeah, agree.
But this was supposed to be one of the.
It's called Jia Jia, OK? It's just renowned for having
great soup dump things. So I bookended it all the way to
(20:15):
this. Can you say bookended it or is
it just booked it? I don't know how that slang work
but I literally bookended it as well because it was the end of
my journey. Yeah, I think in Canada they say
booked it, but I quite like booking.
If you say anything with enough confidence, mate, it makes its
way into vocabulary. It might not be now, but it
might be in five years, so. As I was on the way there, the
rain starts again, but heavier this time.
I'm just absolutely soaked. I'm drenched.
(20:38):
I meander all the way up to thisdumpling shop.
I see it. But the sign is all in Chinese,
right? So what a shock.
Google Maps is showing me. Well, I thought there'd be an
English translation, but Google Maps is showing me.
This is the spot, right? There's rain falling on my
phone, so I can't operate the screen properly.
(20:59):
I go in there, I order this soupdumpling.
This lady brings it and like it,brings it with a straw.
And I've had soup dumplings where you chop, stick them into
the mouth. It's like a bursting soupy
pleasure in your mouth. This was like you stab the
dumpling with the straw and thensuck out the crab Roe.
That sounds pretty hardcore. Yeah, I've not had those myself.
(21:22):
I mean, I watch a lot of YouTubevideos and specifically some
people who travel all around China or live in China.
I don't know if I've ever seen the straw, the straw dumpling.
So I'm interested. So she gives me the straw and
makes the well, I mean it's inconfusable, the mime of
sucking up the internal this dumpling.
And I go, all right, OK, there'sonly two ways to interpret that
(21:48):
and I'm going to and. We don't need a translation.
And let's suck the dumpling. That's fine.
So I mean, I think this dumplingain't that good though.
I mean, I appreciate, I appreciate that it's, you know,
a little bit of a challenging concept, slurping out the
innards of a dumpling, but it's not the most amazing.
I think the dumplings I had earlier were much better.
So I go on Google Maps, I'm looking at the reviews and I see
(22:12):
someone's posted a picture. And I'm like, hold on, that
wasn't the front of this restaurant.
And I look out the window. I'm only gone and I'm opposite,
I'm opposite. I'm across the street, Adam.
Oh, no, I mean, it's easily done.
It's easily done. But I mean, was there any point
leading up to that where you youthought, I don't think this is
(22:32):
it. It just doesn't feel right, you
know, was there no queue or anything?
Is this not? This restaurant was packed,
absolutely packed. Whereas the one across the
street, not a soul in there. So I can only assume, but either
the one across the streets had asevere decline in popularity or
that woman's soup mimes reached viral success.
(22:57):
Chang and these people just absolutely adore her.
People don't go to the shop for the dumplings.
There you go. Were you left feeling a little
bit demoralised, like you'd missed a missed a trick almost,
you know. Do you regret not going into the
other? Hang on, If we were there
together, we would have just gone in the other shop and had
that as well. I had that thought.
I was like, I'm so glad Adam's not here because I want now to
(23:19):
go back to the airport because it's time.
And he would not be able to psychologically deal with the
fact that he'd not had the best stumble.
As per the Internet, Yeah, Yeah,yeah.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
Well, I mean, yeah, it sounds like they were.
They were. There's a thing about Chinese
food, and this is just from my own experience, is that that I
(23:41):
think we have maybe slightly different palates, you know,
people from the West and and people over in East Asia.
But Chinese food, when it's good, is some of the best food
on earth. I really believe that.
I agree. Yeah, yeah, totally.
And it's I'm, I'm afraid to say it, guys, but it's not the sweet
and sour pork balls you're getting down the local Chinese
in your in your town in the UK, I can promise you that much.
(24:03):
It's not the chicken chow Mein or the sweet and sour sweet and.
Sour pork balls. It's not the bloody cashew Kung
pao, any of that other bullshit.It's like Chinese food.
And and let's not forget it is an enormous country that's
incredibly diverse and has, you know, sensational cuisine all
over it and with regional differences.
And, you know, it's amazing history as well.
(24:25):
It's so, so interesting, the food and food culture there.
So get if. If you're just going to eat,
then by all means. I honestly think it was worth
leaving the airport just for theculinary experiences.
So thank you Tribological audience for keeping me honest
and true but making that mistakegoing into the wrong dumpling
shop. It made me think about travel in
(24:45):
a wider context and the experiences I had whilst taking
the flight to Shanghai and then on to the Philippines where I am
now. I wanted to play a little sort
of mind game with you while we analyse, you know, what are the
tell tale signs of someone's like an absolute expert expert
or a bit of a nomadic twat? OK, OK, my go.
(25:06):
I don't know where this is going, but I'm, you know, I'm
getting my putting my shoulders back here, getting ready to use
my brain. Come on.
Well, it's often been a lament of mine, and I know that me and
you have slightly differing opinions on this, but I want to
talk it through. What is your hardline
perspective on people standing up as soon as the plane lands?
Because it honestly makes me angrier than almost anything
(25:30):
else in travel. And I think it's the, I think
it's the surefire telltale sign of someone not being good at
travelling. Right.
Yeah, Yeah. Well, I think we we probably are
down the same end of the spectrum.
It's just I'm slightly closer tothe middle than you are.
And it isn't the reason why you think it's ridiculous because
(25:51):
you, you're saving almost no time.
You get up, you stand up to basically wait the same amount
of time, right? Yeah, just.
Absolutely sick the fuck down, what are you doing is my basic
perspective so I want to talk. We have a lot of long term
really skilled travellers in ouraudience and I know just from
personal experience from talkingto a lot of backpackers.
(26:13):
Some of the good travellers in our community will do this and I
apologise for offending, but letme just lay down my perspective.
The plane lands. You know, you absolutely know
that those doors aren't going toopen straight away and you're
going to be able to get off the plane and go and collect your
bags or go through immigration or that you know that that's not
(26:35):
how it works. What happens is the plane lands,
everyone stands up and inevitably waits in the aisle
for five to 10 minutes. Yeah, it is.
So why? So why bother?
Just stay in your seat. Yeah, it's the the cluster, the
claustrophobia then ensues, doesn't it?
And I remember the first time I took a flight in India, it was
almost comical, like I don't want to be calling out One
(26:57):
Nation here, but it is so funny to listen to the person on the
Tanner, you know, whether it's the air stewardess or the pilot
say, you know, we are going to be opening the door soon, please
remain seated while the seat belt sign is illuminated.
And then inevitably, you know, 1-2.
But and I, it happens almost every flight, doesn't it?
Let's be honest, doesn't matter where you are almost every
flight. And I always think to myself as
(27:18):
soon as someone and does it because I'm, I'm never the
first. I mean, I rarely do it, but but
yeah, I I just say to myself, like, are they deaf?
I've never been on a fight whereit's not happened.
And also it's so, it's so my least favorite thing of all is
when I'm in the aisle seat and the person next to me starts
like sort of getting up. So like looking at me like I'm
(27:40):
blocking them from being able toget up and I want to turn around
and say, no, sorry. The one, the one privilege I get
for not having the window is that I am absolutely in control
of whether I'm standing up or not.
And I'm not. You are sitting here until the
bitter end. Because everyone, the one
argument that you could make that you could potentially have
some leeway in my mind is, is that you've been sat down for a
(28:03):
long time and it's like finally the chance to get up.
But to those people, I would sayget up and have a walk around
during the flight. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, it's, it makes total sense.
I'm normally for a long haul, I am up on my feet walking around
and doing some, you know, something akin to a yoga stretch
at the back for for probably 40%of the flight I would say.
(28:25):
Yeah, I would argue that's some of the extreme end of things,
but to each their own. You're doing pull ups on the
bathroom door. I think, I think what maybe
makes it even more strange is that it's so it's such a simple
thing. It's just a such a simple rule
to follow and people just can't do it.
It almost compounds the issue ormakes it more frustrating.
(28:47):
The people aren't, they're just not willing to sit down for
another couple of minutes while while the plane, you know, while
the doors open, while people sort themselves out and you
know, what are you going to do? You're going to get your bag
maybe 30 seconds earlier. But then you always have to hold
it in a really awkward position And some people are putting
their backpack on their back and, you know, annoying the
people that are sitting down still or I don't know.
(29:07):
I'm, I'm with you mate, I am with you.
If it's a hard and fast yes or no, should should it be allowed?
Then no, Just stay seated until we're told otherwise.
It's a surefire sign that someone's a bit of a travel
rookie to me, Adam, if, if our audience wants to get in touch
about whether they do this and why try and justify it to me?
If there's one way to goad me into a very personal e-mail
(29:28):
response is by providing me withsome justification of why it is
that you stand up as soon as theplane lands.
I want to hear it. That's tripologypodcast.com.
And there's a hostel common roomform where you can write to us.
Then, Adam, I have a story of how I was the biggest travel
rookie of all on a plane. But I'm going to save it for our
(29:49):
Patreon section, which comes after the show.
You can listen to it at patreon.com/tropology Podcast.
Amazing. And also you're more than
welcome to get in touch via Instagram at Tropology podcast.
Send us a message on there as well.
We're pretty active on it and wehope you enjoy the content.
So yeah, I'm looking forward to going to the Lost and found and
yeah, what an what an amazing time.
(30:09):
Don't stand up before we're toldto do so.
Yeah, hear about all how I'm a travel rookie and that, but on
the next week of Tripology, we have ever such a surprise for
you guys. So make sure you tune in next
week. It's going to be an absolute
blinder of an episode. We'll see you there.
See you there. Bye.
(30:59):
None.
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