April 4, 2025 • 32 mins
Don't hold your breath! Adam's road trip around New Zealand was just as adventurous as it was law-abiding. This week he relives an embarrassing interaction with a New Zealand Police Officer, and tells the story of him picking up a French hitchhiker who's all too happy to put his French to the test!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I made a complete fool of myselfin front of the police.
Play the theme music. Hello and welcome to this
episode of Topology. I'm Alan and I'm here with the
(00:23):
ever bashful Adam. I've gone completely red mate,
and it's not because I'm standing directly under the hole
in the ozone layer. Bashful, the most nervous, the
most scared, perhaps the weakestof all those seven Dwarfios.
And I've described you as being a bit like him.
What's been going on? It's just been a few things that
have happened recently mate, over the last say week or so and
(00:45):
they've been interactions with anumber of people and they've
made me all shy and go into my shell.
I don't like to hear that because I think of you as quite
an outgoing man May probably actually socially wise.
This might be a surprise to someof the listeners.
Adam is by far the more outgoingmember of Tripology.
If you were to meet us in a hostel, you might see me slumped
in a corner playing chess while Adam would be going into each
(01:09):
member of the hostel and introducing himself and going
yeah, that's my mate over there.What?
What The one slumped in a cornerwith dribble in his bed?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean, it's funny you
should mention that actually, because I was at the bank
earlier trying to open a bank account.
And naturally we started speaking about the podcast
because they asked me if I was employed.
(01:30):
I said yes, I am employed. Thank you very much.
And I showed the the lady, the bank manager a few of our reels
and you come across incredibly well on the reels, mate.
I've got to say, she says, God, he sounds like such a character.
He's amazing. I said he's amazing you.
Should meet him in real life where his character is slightly
more morose. I said you play chess even mate.
(01:55):
Something even just an hour ago,right?
I came back into my hotel room where I now AM and walked in
after being out for, you know, the afternoon.
I walked in and there was a crisp white towel on my bed.
I mean, it was like brighter than the sun.
And I thought to myself, did I do that?
Did I fold the towel like, like a swan?
(02:16):
Doesn't seem like something I would do.
Hotels do do that sometimes. But I hadn't asked for room
service. I deliberately, you know, booked
it for a couple of days. So I just wasn't expecting the
bed sheets or, or a new towel oranything like that to be
changed. So it took me by surprise and I
started kind of like questioningmy own memory and I nipped
(02:36):
downstairs just to talk to reception to see what was going
on, make sure I wasn't going mental.
I walked up to the reception desk and I said excuse me, just
a quickie and the the lady behind the desk.
Suddenly not. Probably in her early 50s.
She said, oh, a quickie. OK, then.
Sure. And I was, I just went so red
(02:57):
and embarrassed. I just realized what I just
said. And there, there obviously is
this parallel universe in which that turns into a porn film and
I go behind. There is, yeah.
There's many parallel universes.I think in many ways that was
probably a pivotal moment in your life that sparked so many
parallel universes that right now you're living in a very
(03:19):
plain timeline indeed. There was one parallel universe
where she went. I can't do that, Sir.
But what I can do is make swan towels and summon the sort of
fleet of sartorial Swans to your.
So basically it turned out that it was her that made the Swan
Tower I presume? She said it's absolutely
possible that one of the housekeepers just came into your
(03:39):
room and changed your towel. Yeah, I've got to say, have you
ever stayed in a hotel before? Because that's not that.
That's not that uncovered. No, no, no.
But the, the crazy thing is not the fact it was a swan.
I've seen that, but it was the fact that there was a brand new
towel in what was a very messy room that I didn't remember
ordering. Or, you know, it's just, I
wasn't expecting anyone to be inthe room at all.
(04:00):
And then all of a sudden it was like someone had just tiptoed in
place to it's like when someone changes one thing and what you
know, you, you're wondering whether anything's different or
not. It just spun me out a little
bit. That was all, but it was a nice
interest. Oh right, I see.
So the room wasn't like turned down, it was just the tower.
Exactly. Yeah, the room looked absolutely
identical, which was, I've tidied it up for the show, but
(04:21):
the room, it was a bit of a tip,I've got to be honest, because I
wasn't expecting any guests. Yeah, certainly not the lady on
reception, but yeah, it was, it was good, mate.
It was really good. But yeah, you know, a few things
have happened, one of which I'llI'll tell you about now.
And it does involve my beloved vehicle.
And I made a big fool of myself in front of a very nice
policeman. OK, yeah, I'd like to hear the
(04:43):
story. I've no strangers to the New
Zealand Police. Stopped for it being too rainy
to drive, stopped because we forgot to switch the headlights
on once I've interacted with them.
And of course I lived in a crackden, so they'd be around every
week shaking for crack. But you know, so I have seen my
fair share. But what was your experience
like? Hang on a minute, we can't just
(05:04):
gloss over that. Too rainy to drive?
Yeah, well, I mentioned it on anepisode a couple of weeks back
that me and my friend went on a road trip and a cop pulled us
over and said you can't be getting out east today mate,
it's too rainy. Yeah.
I mean, that is, that's very conscientious.
I think of the police officer. It's very, you know, caring.
But in this case, it involved drink driving and.
(05:26):
Oh, dear. Yeah.
And the story will unfold, of course, over the next few
minutes. But I just want to talk about my
lovely car that I returned just yesterday, you know, still very
sensitive, very sore subject forme because I did fall in love
with that thing. The lovely Lulu number plate was
luu, so I dubbed her Lulu and she became a very good friend of
mine. And obviously somewhere I slept
(05:47):
and had some amazing experienceswith my cousin, who
unfortunately has now gone home.But I want to preface this by
saying I've driven in probably 15 countries different Rd.
vehicles. Yeah, over over the last.
Well I hate to date myself but you know, more than 15 years now
and I have never ever once been stopped to be breathalysed.
(06:10):
OK, well I hope this story isn'tdoesn't involve you during
driving because I think it's oneof the stupidest things a person
can do. I know that it goes on, I know
that it happens all the time, but it was really not good.
It puts everyone in danger. No, no, you're absolutely right.
I mean, it's I'm not sure if I was caught drink driving, I'd
just be all chipper and announcing it on the podcast.
(06:31):
I was sweating bullets for a second, Adam, I got to be.
Honest, No, I don't know. It'd be in the Patriot section.
Yeah, but but just just, it goesto show, right, how sort of on
it the police here are. Because I've been stopped in the
last three weeks, I've been stopped three times to be
breathalysed. Wow.
Which is a lot. I mean, I've become somewhat of
a professional. It says a lot about your
driving. No, no, these, these are at cop
(06:55):
stops, these are, you know, roadblocks where they're
stopping every single car for them to be breathalysed.
You know, it's, it's a systematic type thing that
happens. And I guess it's just to make
sure that people stay safe on the roads.
But the, the interesting thing here is the, the rules and
regulations. Now I know that in New Zealand
you can have a little drink and then you can drive, I think the
(07:16):
same as in the UK, varying amounts.
And it also depends on the sort of build you are and how long
ago you ate and all that sort ofstuff.
So I'm just going to read off for anyone who's interested
because Rd. trips around New Zealand are a huge part of the
culture here and certainly something that people do on a
regular basis. They even come to New Zealand
specifically for that. So it is important that you know
the rules. Yeah.
Now, if you don't mind, Alan, I am going to read these out.
(07:38):
It's going to be a rare piece ofinformation on the podcast.
OK, if you're there, if you're sat at home, you're thinking
about drink driving. Let Adam persuade you.
Not in the only way he knows how, with legislation.
Let's go. Right, so the New Zealand legal
alcohol limits for driving, the law says you must not drive if
the amount of alcohol in your blood or breath exceeds certain
(08:01):
age-related limits. These limits are if you're under
20, there is a 0 alcohol limit if you are under 20.
So basically if you if you're under 20 and you're driving, you
cannot have any alcohol whatsoever.
Yeah, not a sip of wine. You can't chew any alcohol
flavoured gum. You can't even have those little
chocolates that have rum in it. Just stay away.
(08:22):
Stop. It Yeah, it's not good.
That means that if you drive after consuming even 1 drink you
can be charged with drink driving.
That's pretty black and white. I quite like that yeah.
Now, if you're over 20, you mustnot drive if you've had more
than 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath or more than
50 milligrams of alcohol per 100millilitres of blood.
(08:42):
OK, sounds good to me. Sensible legislation based on
evidence based science backed research.
Yeah, you can be disqualified, given a fine on the spot, you
know, this sort of stuff, which is obviously going to make your
time incredibly well. It's just going to be awful.
But you are also putting yourself and other people in
danger. That absolutely no excuse in my
(09:03):
opinion to drink. Drive well, that's it.
I believe in free liberty mate. I think you know, as long as the
only person you're harming is yourself, you should be able to
make smart choices as long as you are smart enough to do so.
But with drink driving, of course you're putting other
people at risk. Innocent pedestrians, other
drivers, people who have just gone to a local shop and get
into real trouble when you come careering down the road in your
(09:26):
drunk drive. Mobile.
So not good. Don't do it.
Yeah, I mean, obviously it's a very serious topic.
It is horrendous. Absolutely don't do it.
There's no way that you can makean excuse for it or justify it.
But it does happen. Where I was living in Canada,
it's rife. Where we are in New Zealand, I'm
sure it happens, which is why the police are so hot Now.
You mentioned the word smart, making smart decisions.
(09:48):
That word can't be used given myreaction to being breathalysed
for the first time when I was driving down the road did.
You breathe in instead of out. I, I, it was probably even more
stupid than that mate. So there I am.
I picked up the car. This is only day 2 by the way.
We're, we're just outside of Auckland.
We turn around the corner and there we see a huge roadblock.
(10:09):
Loads of police. The cars are lined up, they're
pulling people over left, right and centre.
A few people have been stopped and are now out of the car.
And I start sweating now. It's not because I've had a
drink. I hadn't had a drink.
But it's just like there is something that happens when you
see, you know, authority, military or, or the police where
you already feel like you've done something wrong.
I don't know if you'd concur with that.
(10:30):
I don't know if you would. You know, you just know that you
haven't done anything wrong at all.
So why is there a reason to worry, right?
Right, yeah. I, I always feel a sense of
Glee, like they're pulling me over and I ain't done nothing
wrong. So search away baby.
Well, anyway, we, we pull up andI thought, I thought, I've got
this in the bag. I've got this in the bag.
(10:51):
No problem at all. I had had the opportunity to
have a drink earlier that day and decided not to.
And I was so thankful that I decided not to have a drink
because I at this point I hadn'tread the rules.
I hadn't digested them. You thought you could have get
away with a little tip? No, no.
Yeah, And anyway, we pulled up, wound down the window, a lovely
(11:12):
guy. He said to me, hello, Hello,
mate, how are you? I said, yeah, good, thanks.
He said, have you had a drink today?
I said, no, I haven't. He said, all right, fantastic.
Well, if you could just count to10.
And he put the breathalyzer up to my mouth and then I waited a
few seconds and he said, can you?
Can you count to 10? I said yeah, I did.
He said. He said no, no.
(11:33):
Can you count to 10 out loud? Do you do it in your head?
I said, oh shit, yeah, because of the breath thing.
You want me to breathe into the thing?
And he was like, yeah, that would be great.
Are you sure you haven't had a drink?
And I was like, I have, but I haven't.
And because I was talking into the breathalyzer it then you
know, I passed and obviously. Wait wait, so you don't have to
(11:53):
blow into the breathalyzer, you just count to 10 and the
aspiration made by counting is enough for it to detect the
alcohol in? It all they do now the police,
certainly in New Zealand, there's a new piece of
technology which looks very similar to a breathalyzer.
It's like a small dictaphone or something like that.
They hold it up to your mouth and they just ask you a few
questions and the aspiration will will ensure that the you
know, the there's some sort of detection there and you're
(12:15):
allowed to go on your way if youpass, obviously, but.
It was wow. So did you have a conscious
thought about why you thought hewanted you to count to 10 before
you did it? No, I I think I was just so, you
know, wrapped up in the moment, he said.
Could you count to 10? I didn't even think for one
second that he must want me to count to 10 out loud because he
(12:36):
said it's so, so quick. Like what he was, what he was
saying to me was in quick succession.
I didn't really have time. I thought, I thought like you, I
would have to blow onto something because I thought
that's how breathalyzers, breathalyzers worked.
You're like, can you count to 10?
This is one of those old crank breathalyzers.
I'm just going to wind it up andin a minute I'm going to ask you
to blow into it. I wouldn't have been surprised
(12:57):
if he was like, look mate, you've passed but we're going to
have to take you down to the station to do some blood test.
Yeah, well, I'm very proud of you for obeying the rules.
I'm very thankful that we all are in agreement.
Don't drink and drive. And it's pertinent because we've
got a lot of travellers doing Rd. trips and I know a lot of
travellers as well having a little drink in Southeast Asia
and hopping on a moped. So don't do that either.
(13:19):
Yeah, it's, it's difficult. That's obviously the message
that we that we want to send outand what we, what we believe in.
I don't even know how you can navigate that because the two
things, not that they come hand in hand, but they absolutely
happen in the same place, don't they?
There is lots of drinking when you, when you go abroad, when
you backpack. Obviously drinking is a huge
part of the culture and renting motorbikes or scooters and
(13:41):
driving is also a huge part of the culture.
So it's a, it's a tough one mate.
I don't really know how to avoidit apart from just saying to
people you've got to be as careful as possible and be as
smart as possible. Yeah, I think with like alcohol
and travel, I think a lot of travellers like go hand in hand
with developing this odd dependence on alcohol.
And there's so there's so many like travel hubs that it's just
(14:04):
alcohol every day, right? Southeast Asia is known for its
parties, for its drinking, and it's also a place in which
people kind of get their first vehicle.
I bought my first motorbike in Southeast Asia and it's just
part of the the culture there. So it's a time where you have to
really have your head switched on and consider is it worth it?
(14:26):
Obviously there's been cases in the news and the media recently
about, you know, free drinks andpeople getting into awful
situations with high alcohol content and methylene and all
that sort of stuff. So I just think with alcohol in
general, be a little bit carefulwhen you're travelling.
Yeah, yes, I've made my fair share of mistakes.
You know, I remember one time when I was in Kotel and you
(14:50):
know, it's 5:00 in the morning after a big night out and.
You hopped on a bike. And I don't have a hot, a hot
girl in a bath. And I've got a quad bike.
Do you want to jump on the back?And I was like, yeah, let's,
yeah, go to the beach, whatever.And, you know, it happens, It
happens. We've all made those mistakes.
But, you know, thank goodness nothing has happened to me.
And I almost felt like after that, that breathalyzer thing,
(15:13):
the next police stop I went to, which was only a few days after
that, I thought, I already know the drill here, I'm going to
nail it. So there I was, ready to count
to 10 out loud, and they asked me a completely different series
of questions. You all proud of yourself like
123456 loud enough for you. Yeah, the the policewoman said.
(15:33):
Excuse me mate, can you just saythe first line of your address?
I said Yep, a 12345. I live in a very, very big
apartment. Blocked.
Yeah. Yeah, when I first arrived in
New Zealand, of course I'd had that mugging in Johannesburg and
I was crashing on a friend's sofa for a bit.
And some of her housemates, she was out at work.
They were absolutely drunk and they desperately wanted to go
(15:56):
and get a packet of cigarettes. And they were like, oh, Alan,
you jump in and navigate. And I did.
And I regretted it so much. They were so drunk.
They were careering all about. It was like such an absolute
mess. And I wanted to be anywhere but
in that car. Sometimes social pressure and
pliability just forces you into situations but doesn't force
(16:17):
you, right? You've always got a choice, and
it really is a mess. So just be careful out there,
you know what I'm saying? Yeah, Yeah.
It's difficult, mate, to get it right.
And I think that maybe this touches on something that we
have spoken about in the past when you are backpacking and
that's kind of that you feel like rules back home don't apply
to you. I know that we've had
(16:38):
conversations about that in the past.
You you would never do that in your own country, I don't think.
I mean, maybe in extreme circumstances there are people
that have, but I just feel like certainly backpacking around
places like South America and Southeast Asia, we feel
sometimes like we can bend the rules a little bit more than we
otherwise would. And I don't think that's a great
thing. Not a great, I think, at all.
There you go. Tripological public service
(16:59):
announcement. We'll think on that during a
brief meditation break. Alan, we should make a place
where fans of the show can listen to episodes, read
articles and maybe contact us. Done it.
What tripologypodcast.com. Should we put a link in the
description? It's already there.
You are good. Like a number being passed over
(17:23):
in the mind of a sober driver, allow your conscious mind to
return into your brain. As we continue, I want to hear
more about driving stories, You Beautiful sober vehicular man.
Well mate, there's something that you're able to do with a
car that you're not able to do without one, and that is pick up
hitchhikers. Yeah, pick up those hitchhikers,
baby. Have you been doing that?
(17:45):
I've been trying to do it, you know, proactively.
I've been scouting around kerb crawling looking for.
Are you a hitchhiker? No, no, I'm just walking around.
All right, get in. Get in the back.
No, that's, that's so funny. Are you a hitchhiker?
Can you imagine it? Can you imagine being asked that
(18:05):
question by the side of the road?
Are you a hitchhiker? Excuse me, are you a hitchhiker?
Oh crazy mate, that is so funny is it?
What a chat I'm like that would be.
I know well, God. So it's not been that you've
been waiting until you've got visual confirmation that they're
definitely hitchhiker. I've lost all composure.
(18:27):
I'm actually sweating. I found that so funny.
Just the thought of me crawling around, you know, going super
slow and I'm just side of the road, just chatting out the
window. Hey, are you a hitchhiker?
Because I've got a car. Are you a hitchhiker?
Because I got a travel podcast. I'm looking for interesting
stories. How could it be, though, Alan,
think about how could it be carpooling?
(18:47):
You drive around with the microphones and the camera
going. You say, look, I'll pick you up,
but just so you know, you're going to be on my channel.
Yeah, that'd be pretty cool. Well.
That's it. Yeah.
I mean, that's how you're essentially just an Uber driver
offering free rides and making content out of it.
I think people will be out for that.
I think that's quite a cool idea, yeah.
But yeah, I mean, look, I even tried and this is because it's
(19:07):
happened to me when I returned the car, I had to return the car
to the airport, which as you know is about 30 minute drive
from Auckland now the city you've.
Got to take the sky bus, haven'tyou, To get back into the city
and there's an expensive old trip.
Well, I don't know how much, Howmuch did it cost when you were?
Here $30 something like. That $30.00 and it's gone down,
it's $20. Yeah, New Zealand, of course,
(19:30):
reverse inflation, the only country in the world it'll be
$10 next year. That's so, yeah.
So anyway, it's, it's quite expensive, right?
So I thought, hang on, I'm goingfrom Auckland over to the
airport anyway. Or, or surrounds.
What would be really nice is if I just whizzed past that very
well known bus stop, the airportshuttle bus stop, and see if
(19:53):
anyone just wants a bloody ride.And I tried to get down to the
bus stop, but they basically sectioned it off and put
barriers there and no cars can go down apart from buses and
taxis. And I thought, are you pesky
bastards stopping people like me?
It must be a bloody rarity. I mean, I'm, I'm not sure
whether I, are you guys going tothe airport?
The people I didn't go, Yeah. Excuse me, you guys here Tigers.
(20:17):
But you can't even do a nice thing in this day and age.
People are so bloody suspicious.But anyway, I did pick up a
hitchhiker. That's where this is going, all
right. And it was from Christchurch.
Have you been to Christchurch? Yeah.
Yeah, like. It I stayed in a prison in
Christchurch, there's a hostel that was a converted bat massive
prison complex and they'd made into each cell had a few dorm
(20:38):
beds and all that sort of stuff.It was pretty cool.
Oh yeah? How'd you get in here?
Drink dry. Picking up hitchhikers.
And yeah, anyway, so I drove outof Christchurch, had a pretty
long drive all the way to Picton, which is where you get
the ferry from the South Island,top of the South Island, over to
Wellington. And I drove past a lady who's
(20:59):
holding a sign. Now the word on our sign said
left field and that is a town that actually isn't that much
further north. So I had to dive into a lay by.
Did a quick Google on my phone to make sure that I was going
the right way for her. Saw that it wasn't anywhere near
as far as where I was going but was in the right direction.
Chucked a UE, then another Yuri.Yuri came up beside her and said
(21:21):
yeah I'm happy to give you a lift.
Absolutely I'm. Really coming out of left field
here, love, but you're a hitchhiking man.
He just. That'd be awful, wouldn't it?
And I was like, yeah, sure, you're hitchhiking again.
She was like, I'm not hitchhiking.
Nope, not for you. Not today.
Is it hide trying to hide the sign behind her back?
(21:45):
OK, well, how was the experiencefor both of you?
It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing.
I felt so not. It's just felt so good to be
able to offer that. I think because we'd been shown
so much generosity and kindness when we were in Pakistan.
And I've done like, I wouldn't say loads of hitchhiking, but I
have hitchhiked in Malaysia, France, tried to in Macedonia,
(22:05):
over to Greece. That'll be a story for another
episode. Didn't go too well,
unfortunately. And and then yeah, of course,
Pakistan with you, mate. We didn't see any actually in
Oman, did we? But there is a culture of
hitchhiking in New Zealand and you do see quite a few people do
it. Much of my hitchhiking
experience has been with you. I have hitchhiked a couple of
(22:26):
times without you, but I like touse you as aforementioned as
kind of like a buffer social buffer.
My ideal hitchhiking scenario isthat I thumb a ride, get in, put
you in the front, and then let you absorb all the social
obligations while I hide in the back seat trying not to be
noticed. Saying chess on your phone?
(22:47):
Yeah. Me and you tried when we were in
Banff together, we thought, you know, we're a couple of guys,
let's pay it forward. We have a car, we're on podcast
business. So it was a, you know, a nice
trip that was being covered. And we went to a bus stop that
was running shuttles from a hostel into town.
And we said, you know, as we're driving past, anyone want to
(23:08):
jump in? And it was very, very difficult
to find someone willing. Why do you think that?
Was, I don't know, I, I think when it's so easy like that,
maybe it's, you know, people just would prefer to err on the
side of caution. I think that that that kind of
culture now people are much better off saying no than they
are getting in and then regretting it.
But. Yeah, hitchhacking can present a
scary scenario, can't it? I mean, you're like engineering
(23:33):
a scenario when you're in a stranger's car.
Yeah, and you know what, that wasn't the case at all because
the lady who who jumped in my car, she was, I noticed
immediately and I'm sure she won't mind me saying that.
She's an awesome woman by the way.
And we'll stay in touch for for a long time.
I'm sure we had an amazing chat the entire way.
It's probably about 5 hours, youknow, the entire journey.
(23:56):
And there was, there was none ofthat, really.
We just felt very comfortable. And I, I, I made the silly
decision again, you know, this is me being embarrassed and
quite bashful. I noticed she was French.
And a lot of French people I've spoken to over the years, they
say that they cannot hide the fact they're French because they
are unable to shift the accent. Yeah, You know, that's, there's
(24:17):
nothing wrong with that. I mean a few French friends, I
know they don't like their accent when they speak English
but. That is a French thing that like
almost universally French peoplefeel like there's an obligation
to speak without an accent, but that is largely impossible.
And also I think it's nice to have your to retain your
European accent or wherever you're from while speaking
(24:40):
English as part of the beautifuldiversity of being able to speak
English. I think yes.
Yeah, I would agree. And I also think, you know, I
love the French accent. I really do, when not just in
French, but also in English. So it was quite easy to pick up
that she was French. And then what this little part
of my brain for some reason said, oh, do you, do you mind if
we speak in French? Because I'd like to practice my
(25:01):
French. And then she switched into
French and we did the entire journey, five hours, and we
covered a lot of subjects, some interesting stuff.
And I was put to the test mate. It was really, really different.
Yeah, but I've experienced French people often, you know,
think you're from France at first, don't they?
Yeah, yeah. And then they find out you've
got no manners and they realise you're from England.
(25:22):
But up until the point where they get to know you, they think
you're French. Yeah, it's usually I'm blushing
now because I'm so it makes me so happy when people say that.
But I've even had a chat, I think in the last week where I
spoke to someone who was French for about 10 minutes in English,
right with my voice. And then I said a few words in
(25:44):
French and they said, oh, sorry,you're French.
I didn't realise it. And, and they were French.
And then we had a little conversation in French.
I said no, no, no, I'm, I'm not French, I'm English.
And they were like, oh, and all confused.
So it happens quick mate. It's just the accent.
It really is the accent that gets me into trouble because my
accent's pretty close to a native French accent, but my
vocabulary obviously is lacking.So the, the drive was really
(26:07):
fantastic. I mean, it was so enjoyable.
And to put my French to the testand have some really sort of
really eye opening conversations, actually one of
which I would like to share withyou because I think it's quite
thought provoking. OK, I'll be her.
Shall I? No.
No, I'm going to, I'm going to do both parts and then I'm going
to get your opinion. OK, what am I, the fucking seat
belt? Then?
No. It's just she won't mind me
(26:28):
sharing this, I'm sure. But it is quite an interesting
observation. Yeah.
She took her nephew to India, right.
And this was like a, a wonderfultrip.
She's, she's very well travelled.
She's hitchhiked. She's, you know, done loads of
really cool stuff all around theworld.
And as a gift to her nephew, shetook him to India.
Right Now when we, when we were talking about India and the fact
(26:49):
that we, you know, spent 6-7 months there last year or
whatever it was, I used the words overstimulating and that
it's almost overwhelming. And you've got things to look at
all that, you know, smells, lights going off, people in your
face, animals in the road. I mean, wherever you turn,
there's something going on, right?
Almost all the time, especially if you're in Mumbai.
I agree, yeah. She said she feels exactly the
(27:10):
same way now. It's not necessarily a negative,
but it is very stimulating and and sometimes exhausting.
But she said that her nephew, who is significantly younger,
obviously didn't really get affected like that.
And perhaps the reason for that is that he is of the generation
that has grown up with things like TikTok and Instagram and
(27:30):
gaming on on this sort of level that we're seeing now.
And the fact that those mediums and types of media are so
intense and overstimulate. Tiktok, for example, is it's
just difficult to watch because you don't know where to look.
There's stuff popping up all over the place and and yeah, I
mean, that was the observation that he didn't, he wasn't really
(27:51):
over stimulated by India or wasn't fazed by how much was
going on there, probably becausehe's grown up with with these
types of social media and whatever else.
And I thought that was really interesting, the psychology
behind it. Yeah, I mean something to be
said for the neuroplasticity of youth as well, just more
adaptable maybe in certain situations.
I imagine there's a diminishing returns as you get older of what
(28:11):
culture shocks you. If you take a six year old who's
never left the UK and plop him down on the busy streets of
Mumbai, it's probably going to cause more damage than if you
take a 5 year old. And just like as long as they've
got a parental guardian with them, they're probably going to
fit in much more and sort of like start to piece together
because they're still forming their worldview.
But I do agree with you. I mean, we're living in a very
(28:33):
ping pong esque online world of dopamine kind of thievery, so
something like the Indian streets might not be that much
of an unusual thing for a for a young man.
Yeah, yeah, I think that's probably true.
Maybe we'll get some psychologists on at some point.
But I guess, you know, let's round off this episode by just
asking the question. I think I already know your
(28:54):
answer. Pro hitchhiking against
hitchhiking. I love hitchhiking.
I think that it's be safe when you're hitchhiking.
I like hitchhiking with a friend, usually Adam, because I
think if you're two people, you know, it just feels much more
safe and relaxed. So that's a barrier of entry to
me that I overcome with friendship.
I think if you at your comfort level, I think hitchhiking is a
(29:17):
great thing. I think whenever you have a car,
you should be smart, but also try and be kind and hitchhiking.
Picking up a hitchhiker might bepart of that.
And likewise, if you feel safe to do so, stick your thumb out.
I think we should bring back a resurgence of that culture if we
can do that safely, because whata cool thing that used to
happen. And then unfortunately, the
media really went after it because of a couple of things
(29:39):
that happened. Why did they do that?
Is it because genuinely it became a very, very unsafe thing
to do in an otherwise unsafe world?
Or could it be that they wanted people to pay for taxis?
Who knows? Be safe, you know.
Be safe and be smart, but also have fun and hitchhike.
Why not? Yeah, and, and I think I'll,
I'll say to you and the listenerwhat I said to to her when she
(30:02):
got in the car and that was thatme, me stopping and allowing you
to get in my vehicle and me dropping you off, you know, in a
couple of hours, whatever, wherever your destination is, it
doesn't change my day. It doesn't change my journey at
all, but it greatly impacts yourday.
So, you know, I just thought about how much I could help her
and the fact it was of absolutely no bother to me so.
(30:24):
I surely improved your journey if anything.
Yeah, it did. I mean, it was a net positive
all round, absolutely. But I could have easily driven
past and my journey would have been roughly the same in terms
of my, my, my expenditure and the.
Right, right. Yeah, pragmatically.
Yeah, but. Other fact, you know you being
here doesn't change my day at all.
Love. To be honest, I might as well
just put a sack of spuds in the seat in my car for all the
(30:44):
impact it's having on my social experience.
No, I didn't mean it like that that way, Obviously appreciated
it. I would much rather have a
hitchhiker than not. But you get what I mean in terms
of the, you know, the way my journey unfolded, I was going in
the same direction regardless, but I, I helped her out and I
changed her day. And, and I think if that's the
sort of mindset you're in, what can you do to help someone else
(31:06):
in their day? You know, maybe we'll all do a
nice thing each day. Absolutely.
Send us your thoughts on hitchhiking or your best
hitchhiking stories. Go to tripologypodcast.com and
use the form there to write to me and Adam all.
Once I got into a car and it turned out it was a sort of semi
aquatic vehicle. We went down to the bottom of
the ocean to see the Mariana Trench stories like that.
(31:27):
Send them tripologypodcast.com. You've got Instagram account at
Tripology Podcast to catch up, with little highlights from the
show and extra bits along the way.
And then we're going to shoot off to the Patreon section.
Lost and Found patreon.com/tropology podcast
where Alan's going to tell us about a crazy conflict he
witnessed on a. Bus oh, ever so harrowing it
was. I'm going to tell you that now.
Let's go. Thank you for listening.
(31:49):
We'll see you there.
I made a complete fool of myselfin front of the police.
Play the theme music. Hello and welcome to this
episode of Topology. I'm Alan and I'm here with the
(00:23):
ever bashful Adam. I've gone completely red mate,
and it's not because I'm standing directly under the hole
in the ozone layer. Bashful, the most nervous, the
most scared, perhaps the weakestof all those seven Dwarfios.
And I've described you as being a bit like him.
What's been going on? It's just been a few things that
have happened recently mate, over the last say week or so and
(00:45):
they've been interactions with anumber of people and they've
made me all shy and go into my shell.
I don't like to hear that because I think of you as quite
an outgoing man May probably actually socially wise.
This might be a surprise to someof the listeners.
Adam is by far the more outgoingmember of Tripology.
If you were to meet us in a hostel, you might see me slumped
in a corner playing chess while Adam would be going into each
(01:09):
member of the hostel and introducing himself and going
yeah, that's my mate over there.What?
What The one slumped in a cornerwith dribble in his bed?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean, it's funny you
should mention that actually, because I was at the bank
earlier trying to open a bank account.
And naturally we started speaking about the podcast
because they asked me if I was employed.
(01:30):
I said yes, I am employed. Thank you very much.
And I showed the the lady, the bank manager a few of our reels
and you come across incredibly well on the reels, mate.
I've got to say, she says, God, he sounds like such a character.
He's amazing. I said he's amazing you.
Should meet him in real life where his character is slightly
more morose. I said you play chess even mate.
(01:55):
Something even just an hour ago,right?
I came back into my hotel room where I now AM and walked in
after being out for, you know, the afternoon.
I walked in and there was a crisp white towel on my bed.
I mean, it was like brighter than the sun.
And I thought to myself, did I do that?
Did I fold the towel like, like a swan?
(02:16):
Doesn't seem like something I would do.
Hotels do do that sometimes. But I hadn't asked for room
service. I deliberately, you know, booked
it for a couple of days. So I just wasn't expecting the
bed sheets or, or a new towel oranything like that to be
changed. So it took me by surprise and I
started kind of like questioningmy own memory and I nipped
(02:36):
downstairs just to talk to reception to see what was going
on, make sure I wasn't going mental.
I walked up to the reception desk and I said excuse me, just
a quickie and the the lady behind the desk.
Suddenly not. Probably in her early 50s.
She said, oh, a quickie. OK, then.
Sure. And I was, I just went so red
(02:57):
and embarrassed. I just realized what I just
said. And there, there obviously is
this parallel universe in which that turns into a porn film and
I go behind. There is, yeah.
There's many parallel universes.I think in many ways that was
probably a pivotal moment in your life that sparked so many
parallel universes that right now you're living in a very
(03:19):
plain timeline indeed. There was one parallel universe
where she went. I can't do that, Sir.
But what I can do is make swan towels and summon the sort of
fleet of sartorial Swans to your.
So basically it turned out that it was her that made the Swan
Tower I presume? She said it's absolutely
possible that one of the housekeepers just came into your
(03:39):
room and changed your towel. Yeah, I've got to say, have you
ever stayed in a hotel before? Because that's not that.
That's not that uncovered. No, no, no.
But the, the crazy thing is not the fact it was a swan.
I've seen that, but it was the fact that there was a brand new
towel in what was a very messy room that I didn't remember
ordering. Or, you know, it's just, I
wasn't expecting anyone to be inthe room at all.
(04:00):
And then all of a sudden it was like someone had just tiptoed in
place to it's like when someone changes one thing and what you
know, you, you're wondering whether anything's different or
not. It just spun me out a little
bit. That was all, but it was a nice
interest. Oh right, I see.
So the room wasn't like turned down, it was just the tower.
Exactly. Yeah, the room looked absolutely
identical, which was, I've tidied it up for the show, but
(04:21):
the room, it was a bit of a tip,I've got to be honest, because I
wasn't expecting any guests. Yeah, certainly not the lady on
reception, but yeah, it was, it was good, mate.
It was really good. But yeah, you know, a few things
have happened, one of which I'llI'll tell you about now.
And it does involve my beloved vehicle.
And I made a big fool of myself in front of a very nice
policeman. OK, yeah, I'd like to hear the
(04:43):
story. I've no strangers to the New
Zealand Police. Stopped for it being too rainy
to drive, stopped because we forgot to switch the headlights
on once I've interacted with them.
And of course I lived in a crackden, so they'd be around every
week shaking for crack. But you know, so I have seen my
fair share. But what was your experience
like? Hang on a minute, we can't just
(05:04):
gloss over that. Too rainy to drive?
Yeah, well, I mentioned it on anepisode a couple of weeks back
that me and my friend went on a road trip and a cop pulled us
over and said you can't be getting out east today mate,
it's too rainy. Yeah.
I mean, that is, that's very conscientious.
I think of the police officer. It's very, you know, caring.
But in this case, it involved drink driving and.
(05:26):
Oh, dear. Yeah.
And the story will unfold, of course, over the next few
minutes. But I just want to talk about my
lovely car that I returned just yesterday, you know, still very
sensitive, very sore subject forme because I did fall in love
with that thing. The lovely Lulu number plate was
luu, so I dubbed her Lulu and she became a very good friend of
mine. And obviously somewhere I slept
(05:47):
and had some amazing experienceswith my cousin, who
unfortunately has now gone home.But I want to preface this by
saying I've driven in probably 15 countries different Rd.
vehicles. Yeah, over over the last.
Well I hate to date myself but you know, more than 15 years now
and I have never ever once been stopped to be breathalysed.
(06:10):
OK, well I hope this story isn'tdoesn't involve you during
driving because I think it's oneof the stupidest things a person
can do. I know that it goes on, I know
that it happens all the time, but it was really not good.
It puts everyone in danger. No, no, you're absolutely right.
I mean, it's I'm not sure if I was caught drink driving, I'd
just be all chipper and announcing it on the podcast.
(06:31):
I was sweating bullets for a second, Adam, I got to be.
Honest, No, I don't know. It'd be in the Patriot section.
Yeah, but but just just, it goesto show, right, how sort of on
it the police here are. Because I've been stopped in the
last three weeks, I've been stopped three times to be
breathalysed. Wow.
Which is a lot. I mean, I've become somewhat of
a professional. It says a lot about your
driving. No, no, these, these are at cop
(06:55):
stops, these are, you know, roadblocks where they're
stopping every single car for them to be breathalysed.
You know, it's, it's a systematic type thing that
happens. And I guess it's just to make
sure that people stay safe on the roads.
But the, the interesting thing here is the, the rules and
regulations. Now I know that in New Zealand
you can have a little drink and then you can drive, I think the
(07:16):
same as in the UK, varying amounts.
And it also depends on the sort of build you are and how long
ago you ate and all that sort ofstuff.
So I'm just going to read off for anyone who's interested
because Rd. trips around New Zealand are a huge part of the
culture here and certainly something that people do on a
regular basis. They even come to New Zealand
specifically for that. So it is important that you know
the rules. Yeah.
Now, if you don't mind, Alan, I am going to read these out.
(07:38):
It's going to be a rare piece ofinformation on the podcast.
OK, if you're there, if you're sat at home, you're thinking
about drink driving. Let Adam persuade you.
Not in the only way he knows how, with legislation.
Let's go. Right, so the New Zealand legal
alcohol limits for driving, the law says you must not drive if
the amount of alcohol in your blood or breath exceeds certain
(08:01):
age-related limits. These limits are if you're under
20, there is a 0 alcohol limit if you are under 20.
So basically if you if you're under 20 and you're driving, you
cannot have any alcohol whatsoever.
Yeah, not a sip of wine. You can't chew any alcohol
flavoured gum. You can't even have those little
chocolates that have rum in it. Just stay away.
(08:22):
Stop. It Yeah, it's not good.
That means that if you drive after consuming even 1 drink you
can be charged with drink driving.
That's pretty black and white. I quite like that yeah.
Now, if you're over 20, you mustnot drive if you've had more
than 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath or more than
50 milligrams of alcohol per 100millilitres of blood.
(08:42):
OK, sounds good to me. Sensible legislation based on
evidence based science backed research.
Yeah, you can be disqualified, given a fine on the spot, you
know, this sort of stuff, which is obviously going to make your
time incredibly well. It's just going to be awful.
But you are also putting yourself and other people in
danger. That absolutely no excuse in my
(09:03):
opinion to drink. Drive well, that's it.
I believe in free liberty mate. I think you know, as long as the
only person you're harming is yourself, you should be able to
make smart choices as long as you are smart enough to do so.
But with drink driving, of course you're putting other
people at risk. Innocent pedestrians, other
drivers, people who have just gone to a local shop and get
into real trouble when you come careering down the road in your
(09:26):
drunk drive. Mobile.
So not good. Don't do it.
Yeah, I mean, obviously it's a very serious topic.
It is horrendous. Absolutely don't do it.
There's no way that you can makean excuse for it or justify it.
But it does happen. Where I was living in Canada,
it's rife. Where we are in New Zealand, I'm
sure it happens, which is why the police are so hot Now.
You mentioned the word smart, making smart decisions.
(09:48):
That word can't be used given myreaction to being breathalysed
for the first time when I was driving down the road did.
You breathe in instead of out. I, I, it was probably even more
stupid than that mate. So there I am.
I picked up the car. This is only day 2 by the way.
We're, we're just outside of Auckland.
We turn around the corner and there we see a huge roadblock.
(10:09):
Loads of police. The cars are lined up, they're
pulling people over left, right and centre.
A few people have been stopped and are now out of the car.
And I start sweating now. It's not because I've had a
drink. I hadn't had a drink.
But it's just like there is something that happens when you
see, you know, authority, military or, or the police where
you already feel like you've done something wrong.
I don't know if you'd concur with that.
(10:30):
I don't know if you would. You know, you just know that you
haven't done anything wrong at all.
So why is there a reason to worry, right?
Right, yeah. I, I always feel a sense of
Glee, like they're pulling me over and I ain't done nothing
wrong. So search away baby.
Well, anyway, we, we pull up andI thought, I thought, I've got
this in the bag. I've got this in the bag.
(10:51):
No problem at all. I had had the opportunity to
have a drink earlier that day and decided not to.
And I was so thankful that I decided not to have a drink
because I at this point I hadn'tread the rules.
I hadn't digested them. You thought you could have get
away with a little tip? No, no.
Yeah, And anyway, we pulled up, wound down the window, a lovely
(11:12):
guy. He said to me, hello, Hello,
mate, how are you? I said, yeah, good, thanks.
He said, have you had a drink today?
I said, no, I haven't. He said, all right, fantastic.
Well, if you could just count to10.
And he put the breathalyzer up to my mouth and then I waited a
few seconds and he said, can you?
Can you count to 10? I said yeah, I did.
He said. He said no, no.
(11:33):
Can you count to 10 out loud? Do you do it in your head?
I said, oh shit, yeah, because of the breath thing.
You want me to breathe into the thing?
And he was like, yeah, that would be great.
Are you sure you haven't had a drink?
And I was like, I have, but I haven't.
And because I was talking into the breathalyzer it then you
know, I passed and obviously. Wait wait, so you don't have to
(11:53):
blow into the breathalyzer, you just count to 10 and the
aspiration made by counting is enough for it to detect the
alcohol in? It all they do now the police,
certainly in New Zealand, there's a new piece of
technology which looks very similar to a breathalyzer.
It's like a small dictaphone or something like that.
They hold it up to your mouth and they just ask you a few
questions and the aspiration will will ensure that the you
know, the there's some sort of detection there and you're
(12:15):
allowed to go on your way if youpass, obviously, but.
It was wow. So did you have a conscious
thought about why you thought hewanted you to count to 10 before
you did it? No, I I think I was just so, you
know, wrapped up in the moment, he said.
Could you count to 10? I didn't even think for one
second that he must want me to count to 10 out loud because he
(12:36):
said it's so, so quick. Like what he was, what he was
saying to me was in quick succession.
I didn't really have time. I thought, I thought like you, I
would have to blow onto something because I thought
that's how breathalyzers, breathalyzers worked.
You're like, can you count to 10?
This is one of those old crank breathalyzers.
I'm just going to wind it up andin a minute I'm going to ask you
to blow into it. I wouldn't have been surprised
(12:57):
if he was like, look mate, you've passed but we're going to
have to take you down to the station to do some blood test.
Yeah, well, I'm very proud of you for obeying the rules.
I'm very thankful that we all are in agreement.
Don't drink and drive. And it's pertinent because we've
got a lot of travellers doing Rd. trips and I know a lot of
travellers as well having a little drink in Southeast Asia
and hopping on a moped. So don't do that either.
(13:19):
Yeah, it's, it's difficult. That's obviously the message
that we that we want to send outand what we, what we believe in.
I don't even know how you can navigate that because the two
things, not that they come hand in hand, but they absolutely
happen in the same place, don't they?
There is lots of drinking when you, when you go abroad, when
you backpack. Obviously drinking is a huge
part of the culture and renting motorbikes or scooters and
(13:41):
driving is also a huge part of the culture.
So it's a, it's a tough one mate.
I don't really know how to avoidit apart from just saying to
people you've got to be as careful as possible and be as
smart as possible. Yeah, I think with like alcohol
and travel, I think a lot of travellers like go hand in hand
with developing this odd dependence on alcohol.
And there's so there's so many like travel hubs that it's just
(14:04):
alcohol every day, right? Southeast Asia is known for its
parties, for its drinking, and it's also a place in which
people kind of get their first vehicle.
I bought my first motorbike in Southeast Asia and it's just
part of the the culture there. So it's a time where you have to
really have your head switched on and consider is it worth it?
(14:26):
Obviously there's been cases in the news and the media recently
about, you know, free drinks andpeople getting into awful
situations with high alcohol content and methylene and all
that sort of stuff. So I just think with alcohol in
general, be a little bit carefulwhen you're travelling.
Yeah, yes, I've made my fair share of mistakes.
You know, I remember one time when I was in Kotel and you
(14:50):
know, it's 5:00 in the morning after a big night out and.
You hopped on a bike. And I don't have a hot, a hot
girl in a bath. And I've got a quad bike.
Do you want to jump on the back?And I was like, yeah, let's,
yeah, go to the beach, whatever.And, you know, it happens, It
happens. We've all made those mistakes.
But, you know, thank goodness nothing has happened to me.
And I almost felt like after that, that breathalyzer thing,
(15:13):
the next police stop I went to, which was only a few days after
that, I thought, I already know the drill here, I'm going to
nail it. So there I was, ready to count
to 10 out loud, and they asked me a completely different series
of questions. You all proud of yourself like
123456 loud enough for you. Yeah, the the policewoman said.
(15:33):
Excuse me mate, can you just saythe first line of your address?
I said Yep, a 12345. I live in a very, very big
apartment. Blocked.
Yeah. Yeah, when I first arrived in
New Zealand, of course I'd had that mugging in Johannesburg and
I was crashing on a friend's sofa for a bit.
And some of her housemates, she was out at work.
They were absolutely drunk and they desperately wanted to go
(15:56):
and get a packet of cigarettes. And they were like, oh, Alan,
you jump in and navigate. And I did.
And I regretted it so much. They were so drunk.
They were careering all about. It was like such an absolute
mess. And I wanted to be anywhere but
in that car. Sometimes social pressure and
pliability just forces you into situations but doesn't force
(16:17):
you, right? You've always got a choice, and
it really is a mess. So just be careful out there,
you know what I'm saying? Yeah, Yeah.
It's difficult, mate, to get it right.
And I think that maybe this touches on something that we
have spoken about in the past when you are backpacking and
that's kind of that you feel like rules back home don't apply
to you. I know that we've had
(16:38):
conversations about that in the past.
You you would never do that in your own country, I don't think.
I mean, maybe in extreme circumstances there are people
that have, but I just feel like certainly backpacking around
places like South America and Southeast Asia, we feel
sometimes like we can bend the rules a little bit more than we
otherwise would. And I don't think that's a great
thing. Not a great, I think, at all.
There you go. Tripological public service
(16:59):
announcement. We'll think on that during a
brief meditation break. Alan, we should make a place
where fans of the show can listen to episodes, read
articles and maybe contact us. Done it.
What tripologypodcast.com. Should we put a link in the
description? It's already there.
You are good. Like a number being passed over
(17:23):
in the mind of a sober driver, allow your conscious mind to
return into your brain. As we continue, I want to hear
more about driving stories, You Beautiful sober vehicular man.
Well mate, there's something that you're able to do with a
car that you're not able to do without one, and that is pick up
hitchhikers. Yeah, pick up those hitchhikers,
baby. Have you been doing that?
(17:45):
I've been trying to do it, you know, proactively.
I've been scouting around kerb crawling looking for.
Are you a hitchhiker? No, no, I'm just walking around.
All right, get in. Get in the back.
No, that's, that's so funny. Are you a hitchhiker?
Can you imagine it? Can you imagine being asked that
(18:05):
question by the side of the road?
Are you a hitchhiker? Excuse me, are you a hitchhiker?
Oh crazy mate, that is so funny is it?
What a chat I'm like that would be.
I know well, God. So it's not been that you've
been waiting until you've got visual confirmation that they're
definitely hitchhiker. I've lost all composure.
(18:27):
I'm actually sweating. I found that so funny.
Just the thought of me crawling around, you know, going super
slow and I'm just side of the road, just chatting out the
window. Hey, are you a hitchhiker?
Because I've got a car. Are you a hitchhiker?
Because I got a travel podcast. I'm looking for interesting
stories. How could it be, though, Alan,
think about how could it be carpooling?
(18:47):
You drive around with the microphones and the camera
going. You say, look, I'll pick you up,
but just so you know, you're going to be on my channel.
Yeah, that'd be pretty cool. Well.
That's it. Yeah.
I mean, that's how you're essentially just an Uber driver
offering free rides and making content out of it.
I think people will be out for that.
I think that's quite a cool idea, yeah.
But yeah, I mean, look, I even tried and this is because it's
(19:07):
happened to me when I returned the car, I had to return the car
to the airport, which as you know is about 30 minute drive
from Auckland now the city you've.
Got to take the sky bus, haven'tyou, To get back into the city
and there's an expensive old trip.
Well, I don't know how much, Howmuch did it cost when you were?
Here $30 something like. That $30.00 and it's gone down,
it's $20. Yeah, New Zealand, of course,
(19:30):
reverse inflation, the only country in the world it'll be
$10 next year. That's so, yeah.
So anyway, it's, it's quite expensive, right?
So I thought, hang on, I'm goingfrom Auckland over to the
airport anyway. Or, or surrounds.
What would be really nice is if I just whizzed past that very
well known bus stop, the airportshuttle bus stop, and see if
(19:53):
anyone just wants a bloody ride.And I tried to get down to the
bus stop, but they basically sectioned it off and put
barriers there and no cars can go down apart from buses and
taxis. And I thought, are you pesky
bastards stopping people like me?
It must be a bloody rarity. I mean, I'm, I'm not sure
whether I, are you guys going tothe airport?
The people I didn't go, Yeah. Excuse me, you guys here Tigers.
(20:17):
But you can't even do a nice thing in this day and age.
People are so bloody suspicious.But anyway, I did pick up a
hitchhiker. That's where this is going, all
right. And it was from Christchurch.
Have you been to Christchurch? Yeah.
Yeah, like. It I stayed in a prison in
Christchurch, there's a hostel that was a converted bat massive
prison complex and they'd made into each cell had a few dorm
(20:38):
beds and all that sort of stuff.It was pretty cool.
Oh yeah? How'd you get in here?
Drink dry. Picking up hitchhikers.
And yeah, anyway, so I drove outof Christchurch, had a pretty
long drive all the way to Picton, which is where you get
the ferry from the South Island,top of the South Island, over to
Wellington. And I drove past a lady who's
(20:59):
holding a sign. Now the word on our sign said
left field and that is a town that actually isn't that much
further north. So I had to dive into a lay by.
Did a quick Google on my phone to make sure that I was going
the right way for her. Saw that it wasn't anywhere near
as far as where I was going but was in the right direction.
Chucked a UE, then another Yuri.Yuri came up beside her and said
(21:21):
yeah I'm happy to give you a lift.
Absolutely I'm. Really coming out of left field
here, love, but you're a hitchhiking man.
He just. That'd be awful, wouldn't it?
And I was like, yeah, sure, you're hitchhiking again.
She was like, I'm not hitchhiking.
Nope, not for you. Not today.
Is it hide trying to hide the sign behind her back?
(21:45):
OK, well, how was the experiencefor both of you?
It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing.
I felt so not. It's just felt so good to be
able to offer that. I think because we'd been shown
so much generosity and kindness when we were in Pakistan.
And I've done like, I wouldn't say loads of hitchhiking, but I
have hitchhiked in Malaysia, France, tried to in Macedonia,
(22:05):
over to Greece. That'll be a story for another
episode. Didn't go too well,
unfortunately. And and then yeah, of course,
Pakistan with you, mate. We didn't see any actually in
Oman, did we? But there is a culture of
hitchhiking in New Zealand and you do see quite a few people do
it. Much of my hitchhiking
experience has been with you. I have hitchhiked a couple of
(22:26):
times without you, but I like touse you as aforementioned as
kind of like a buffer social buffer.
My ideal hitchhiking scenario isthat I thumb a ride, get in, put
you in the front, and then let you absorb all the social
obligations while I hide in the back seat trying not to be
noticed. Saying chess on your phone?
(22:47):
Yeah. Me and you tried when we were in
Banff together, we thought, you know, we're a couple of guys,
let's pay it forward. We have a car, we're on podcast
business. So it was a, you know, a nice
trip that was being covered. And we went to a bus stop that
was running shuttles from a hostel into town.
And we said, you know, as we're driving past, anyone want to
(23:08):
jump in? And it was very, very difficult
to find someone willing. Why do you think that?
Was, I don't know, I, I think when it's so easy like that,
maybe it's, you know, people just would prefer to err on the
side of caution. I think that that that kind of
culture now people are much better off saying no than they
are getting in and then regretting it.
But. Yeah, hitchhacking can present a
scary scenario, can't it? I mean, you're like engineering
(23:33):
a scenario when you're in a stranger's car.
Yeah, and you know what, that wasn't the case at all because
the lady who who jumped in my car, she was, I noticed
immediately and I'm sure she won't mind me saying that.
She's an awesome woman by the way.
And we'll stay in touch for for a long time.
I'm sure we had an amazing chat the entire way.
It's probably about 5 hours, youknow, the entire journey.
(23:56):
And there was, there was none ofthat, really.
We just felt very comfortable. And I, I, I made the silly
decision again, you know, this is me being embarrassed and
quite bashful. I noticed she was French.
And a lot of French people I've spoken to over the years, they
say that they cannot hide the fact they're French because they
are unable to shift the accent. Yeah, You know, that's, there's
(24:17):
nothing wrong with that. I mean a few French friends, I
know they don't like their accent when they speak English
but. That is a French thing that like
almost universally French peoplefeel like there's an obligation
to speak without an accent, but that is largely impossible.
And also I think it's nice to have your to retain your
European accent or wherever you're from while speaking
(24:40):
English as part of the beautifuldiversity of being able to speak
English. I think yes.
Yeah, I would agree. And I also think, you know, I
love the French accent. I really do, when not just in
French, but also in English. So it was quite easy to pick up
that she was French. And then what this little part
of my brain for some reason said, oh, do you, do you mind if
we speak in French? Because I'd like to practice my
(25:01):
French. And then she switched into
French and we did the entire journey, five hours, and we
covered a lot of subjects, some interesting stuff.
And I was put to the test mate. It was really, really different.
Yeah, but I've experienced French people often, you know,
think you're from France at first, don't they?
Yeah, yeah. And then they find out you've
got no manners and they realise you're from England.
(25:22):
But up until the point where they get to know you, they think
you're French. Yeah, it's usually I'm blushing
now because I'm so it makes me so happy when people say that.
But I've even had a chat, I think in the last week where I
spoke to someone who was French for about 10 minutes in English,
right with my voice. And then I said a few words in
(25:44):
French and they said, oh, sorry,you're French.
I didn't realise it. And, and they were French.
And then we had a little conversation in French.
I said no, no, no, I'm, I'm not French, I'm English.
And they were like, oh, and all confused.
So it happens quick mate. It's just the accent.
It really is the accent that gets me into trouble because my
accent's pretty close to a native French accent, but my
vocabulary obviously is lacking.So the, the drive was really
(26:07):
fantastic. I mean, it was so enjoyable.
And to put my French to the testand have some really sort of
really eye opening conversations, actually one of
which I would like to share withyou because I think it's quite
thought provoking. OK, I'll be her.
Shall I? No.
No, I'm going to, I'm going to do both parts and then I'm going
to get your opinion. OK, what am I, the fucking seat
belt? Then?
No. It's just she won't mind me
(26:28):
sharing this, I'm sure. But it is quite an interesting
observation. Yeah.
She took her nephew to India, right.
And this was like a, a wonderfultrip.
She's, she's very well travelled.
She's hitchhiked. She's, you know, done loads of
really cool stuff all around theworld.
And as a gift to her nephew, shetook him to India.
Right Now when we, when we were talking about India and the fact
(26:49):
that we, you know, spent 6-7 months there last year or
whatever it was, I used the words overstimulating and that
it's almost overwhelming. And you've got things to look at
all that, you know, smells, lights going off, people in your
face, animals in the road. I mean, wherever you turn,
there's something going on, right?
Almost all the time, especially if you're in Mumbai.
I agree, yeah. She said she feels exactly the
(27:10):
same way now. It's not necessarily a negative,
but it is very stimulating and and sometimes exhausting.
But she said that her nephew, who is significantly younger,
obviously didn't really get affected like that.
And perhaps the reason for that is that he is of the generation
that has grown up with things like TikTok and Instagram and
(27:30):
gaming on on this sort of level that we're seeing now.
And the fact that those mediums and types of media are so
intense and overstimulate. Tiktok, for example, is it's
just difficult to watch because you don't know where to look.
There's stuff popping up all over the place and and yeah, I
mean, that was the observation that he didn't, he wasn't really
(27:51):
over stimulated by India or wasn't fazed by how much was
going on there, probably becausehe's grown up with with these
types of social media and whatever else.
And I thought that was really interesting, the psychology
behind it. Yeah, I mean something to be
said for the neuroplasticity of youth as well, just more
adaptable maybe in certain situations.
I imagine there's a diminishing returns as you get older of what
(28:11):
culture shocks you. If you take a six year old who's
never left the UK and plop him down on the busy streets of
Mumbai, it's probably going to cause more damage than if you
take a 5 year old. And just like as long as they've
got a parental guardian with them, they're probably going to
fit in much more and sort of like start to piece together
because they're still forming their worldview.
But I do agree with you. I mean, we're living in a very
(28:33):
ping pong esque online world of dopamine kind of thievery, so
something like the Indian streets might not be that much
of an unusual thing for a for a young man.
Yeah, yeah, I think that's probably true.
Maybe we'll get some psychologists on at some point.
But I guess, you know, let's round off this episode by just
asking the question. I think I already know your
(28:54):
answer. Pro hitchhiking against
hitchhiking. I love hitchhiking.
I think that it's be safe when you're hitchhiking.
I like hitchhiking with a friend, usually Adam, because I
think if you're two people, you know, it just feels much more
safe and relaxed. So that's a barrier of entry to
me that I overcome with friendship.
I think if you at your comfort level, I think hitchhiking is a
(29:17):
great thing. I think whenever you have a car,
you should be smart, but also try and be kind and hitchhiking.
Picking up a hitchhiker might bepart of that.
And likewise, if you feel safe to do so, stick your thumb out.
I think we should bring back a resurgence of that culture if we
can do that safely, because whata cool thing that used to
happen. And then unfortunately, the
media really went after it because of a couple of things
(29:39):
that happened. Why did they do that?
Is it because genuinely it became a very, very unsafe thing
to do in an otherwise unsafe world?
Or could it be that they wanted people to pay for taxis?
Who knows? Be safe, you know.
Be safe and be smart, but also have fun and hitchhike.
Why not? Yeah, and, and I think I'll,
I'll say to you and the listenerwhat I said to to her when she
(30:02):
got in the car and that was thatme, me stopping and allowing you
to get in my vehicle and me dropping you off, you know, in a
couple of hours, whatever, wherever your destination is, it
doesn't change my day. It doesn't change my journey at
all, but it greatly impacts yourday.
So, you know, I just thought about how much I could help her
and the fact it was of absolutely no bother to me so.
(30:24):
I surely improved your journey if anything.
Yeah, it did. I mean, it was a net positive
all round, absolutely. But I could have easily driven
past and my journey would have been roughly the same in terms
of my, my, my expenditure and the.
Right, right. Yeah, pragmatically.
Yeah, but. Other fact, you know you being
here doesn't change my day at all.
Love. To be honest, I might as well
just put a sack of spuds in the seat in my car for all the
(30:44):
impact it's having on my social experience.
No, I didn't mean it like that that way, Obviously appreciated
it. I would much rather have a
hitchhiker than not. But you get what I mean in terms
of the, you know, the way my journey unfolded, I was going in
the same direction regardless, but I, I helped her out and I
changed her day. And, and I think if that's the
sort of mindset you're in, what can you do to help someone else
(31:06):
in their day? You know, maybe we'll all do a
nice thing each day. Absolutely.
Send us your thoughts on hitchhiking or your best
hitchhiking stories. Go to tripologypodcast.com and
use the form there to write to me and Adam all.
Once I got into a car and it turned out it was a sort of semi
aquatic vehicle. We went down to the bottom of
the ocean to see the Mariana Trench stories like that.
(31:27):
Send them tripologypodcast.com. You've got Instagram account at
Tripology Podcast to catch up, with little highlights from the
show and extra bits along the way.
And then we're going to shoot off to the Patreon section.
Lost and Found patreon.com/tropology podcast
where Alan's going to tell us about a crazy conflict he
witnessed on a. Bus oh, ever so harrowing it
was. I'm going to tell you that now.
Let's go. Thank you for listening.
(31:49):
We'll see you there.
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