July 26, 2025 • 31 mins
In this episode of Tripology: Travel Podcast, the stakes are higher than ever before, as Alun puts it all on the line in the most nerve-wracking edition of Tripping Point yet. If he fails, he'll quit travelling! Will Alun be crowned travel quiz champion or will he be on the next flight home?
We discuss how to stay fit whilst backpacking, and share how we build exercise into our travel plans. We also hear a heartfelt message from a listener in this week's Tales of a Trip, proving that travel gives you the time and space to gain new perspectives.
Tune in for travel trivia, backpacking tips, and stories from the road... This episode is not to be missed!
How many Tripping Point questions did you answer correctly? Submit your travel stories to: https://www.tripologypodcast.com/talesofatrip
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hello and welcome to this episode of Tripology, the only
show where the hosts are moving about the globe constantly.
I'm Alan and I'm here with one of the travel great.
It's my best friend. It's the ever departing Adam.
Yeah, mate, this is the last onewe're going to be recording
together in person. It's a bit of a sad one, but a
bit of a fun one nonetheless. On this week's show, we've got
(00:23):
everyone's favorite travel quiz,a little tripping point, and
then we've got quickly. What is becoming the best
segment of the show is Tales of a Trip at the end.
Tales of a trip, where travellers from all over the
globe send in their favorite travel stories.
New listeners of the show, of which there are many, won't do
this, but sometimes we record the show remotely because we're
both travelling about all over the place.
(00:45):
I'm now we're going to stay in the Philippines, You're going to
go off back to New Zealand. The show doesn't suffer from the
absence. If anything, absence makes the
show grow stronger. You're off doing your thing.
It's seamlessly edited so it seems like we're in the same
room. So enjoy that I.
Love the way that we've built this show.
I love the way that we've built this sort of around the globe,
so that actually necessitates usto travel in order to record it
(01:08):
together. Yes, a hungry, ravenous
tropological beast, isn't it? But I like the show when we're
together because obviously we'vegot that in person rapport.
But when we're in remote I quitelike it as well because it's a
weekly catch up. I would call you once a week
anyway so it feels like I'm justcalling my best friend but there
just happens to be a microphone there.
I like it, but. When the camera's not rolling
and when the microphone's not recording, for the rest of the
(01:30):
time we're pretty much just walking around talking about the
show. Or we're in a cafe, not walking,
but still talking about the show.
I mean, it really is an absolutely full time job.
But fingers crossed when I leave.
I think you've got some pretty exciting things coming up and
you. There is some exciting stuff
planned for the tripological future.
I mean, if you're not on our patreonpatreon.com/tripology
podcast, I'd say now's the time because we're releasing a
(01:52):
special Genesis episode. Yeah, Yeah.
Where we talk all about how we met, and it is fundamentally a
crazy story. There's animals.
There's drugs, there's pandemic travel, there's bending of all
sorts of crazy travel rules, notgovernment rules.
Don't panic. Some would argue it's a little
bit irresponsible, However, if it wasn't for that, if it wasn't
(02:15):
for the aforementioned bending of the rules, yeah, maybe
Tripology wouldn't. Exist.
It was all legal. It was all legal.
What happened? But we were just taking some
liberties. There's I I was on a game show
in the UK. Yeah, some of our fans know
about. That's why it's called tripping
point, you know, coming up lateron.
Actually, the further you go back, the more incredible it
gets. So I'm really looking forward
to, if you haven't signed up to the Patreon yet, do because
(02:36):
immediately after this recording, we are going to be
recording that episode and then it's going to be up by the time
you hear this anyway. But it is in when you think
about what's happened as a result of that one fateful
evening. There's many hours of audio in
it that's happened as a result. That one thing, like, you know,
when scientists go, oh, The Big Bang, it created all this stuff.
(02:57):
All matter and existence exploded across the universe
from that one moment. It was that one moment on the
farm that resulted in all of these audio recordings and
thousands of you listening in totalk about travel with us.
It's really amazing. Yeah.
The. People go God you 2, the dynamic
between you, the chemistry you have, the bonds that you have as
two best mates. I mean, in fairness, we don't
(03:17):
really have a choice. No, it's literally an essential
thing. And we'll talk about that in
Patreon. But Adam, I'm gonna miss you,
mate. You're leaving going
back-to-back Packer Mecca, Backpacker Haven, one of the
most touristically beautiful places in New Zealand.
You're off to Queenstown. I am a bit of a dirty travel
journey. I'm going from here, from
Manila, somewhere that's pretty warm, almost oppressively hot
(03:40):
and humid. I've really enjoyed being here,
but I'm going all the way back to Australia.
I'm going to Brisbane, I've got a horrible 21 hour layover.
Maybe I'll ask ChatGPT AKA Vagabot 3000 on what I should be
doing. Apart from getting a haircut
obviously. Thank you for noticing.
Yeah. And then on to Queenstown.
So it's just a little 3 1/2 hourflight the day after.
And then there I'm going to be for the next sort of six months.
(04:02):
So if you are in Queenstown and you are listening to this, come
and say hello. That'd be amazing if you're a.
Hairdresser maybe, Who fancies doing some charity work.
We've got a host going begging. And if you're a fan of the show,
great. If you're not, still come and
say hi. That'll be fine.
I'll convert you. Yeah, exactly.
He will, mate. You're off doing that.
So we'll hear stories about Queenstown in the near future.
I'm going to basically set up shop in the Philippines.
(04:25):
I'm going to set up podcast recording studio somewhere like
Saarjao, maybe Powder. I'm going to, I'm going to kind
of focus on recording and growing the show and getting
some much needed rigorous exercise in.
Because as you know, the whole of 2024, I was just travelling.
(04:45):
I was going around India, I was going around Pakistan, Omar.
And then I was in Brazil for thefirst half of this year.
I really want to buckle down. You know that I love jiu jitsu.
I know you love it. I love.
Surfing. I love keeping fit on the road.
Yeah, I'm, I'm basically going to buckle down and just get some
jiu jitsu surfing in, man. I'm going to focus on work and
fitness. That's what an amazing way to
(05:06):
stay fit while you're travellingas well.
I'm worried I'm not going to be able to recognize you.
To be honest, I'm going to become unrecognizable either
through the post process of muscular hypertrophy or sun
tanning. Sun tanning as well.
I'm going to get all sun becauseof the surfing.
What about the wet suit? I won't be wearing one.
Some of those are no wet suit for me, just straight naked.
But what I'm wondering is how doyou feel about staying fit on
(05:28):
the road? I know it's a hot topic because
travellers, we like to eat all the local foods.
We like to go crazy getting immersed in the culture.
And it's sometimes difficult to fit in going to the gym, doing
those things. I love jiu jitsu.
I mean, I've not done it for about two years because I didn't
really been that long. Yeah.
Oh. My goodness, just because, where
do you? Go.
Do you drop into jiu jitsu gyms and say hi?
(05:49):
I don't speak the language. Can I get some tuition?
I just found it. I should be better at it.
It's a floor of mine. Yeah.
I just don't know what to do. Well, I think you've set
yourself up for success because you already don't drink hardly
ever, no. And I would say that that's
probably the downfall. Water or anything, I'm just
dehydrated as a man. I would say honestly, on this
trip in the Philippines, we've probably had as much coconut
(06:10):
water as we had have actual water.
Yeah, easily, fair to say. And coffee.
Maybe it's a 33%. Split.
I'm hyperglycemic. I don't know what that means,
but it sounded funny. It means.
Sugar's going through my veins, all right.
So yeah, you don't have a lot ofsugar either.
So maybe you're not the best representation of most
backpackers because, you know, if we think about 1820 year olds
(06:31):
right, the way through to 3035 year olds, if you're
backpacking, that comes hand in hand with partying.
And if you're partying, you're not up at 8:00 the next morning
in the gym or doing a run. It is pretty difficult I think.
Perhaps some balance. The best way to stay fit whilst
you're travelling is if you are interested in things like my Tai
jujitsu. Like me on my bike in Taiwan.
(06:52):
I was shredded to shit. Man, hiking as well, right?
So many travellers love to hike and it kind of keeps them fit.
Rarely do you like, I think travellers in general, they're
in good shape because of all thelike hiking and things like that
they're doing, but it's difficult to do focused exercise
activities. Yeah, yeah, for.
For a whole year, and some of that year I spent in travelling,
(07:14):
I got really into calisthenics. Oh yeah.
And I think that's quite good for travellers because you can
drop and do some push ups and sit ups anywhere in the world,
right? It takes a lot of motivation
though, doesn't it? It does, yeah.
Do you know what I do? I like challenges.
I'm a very goal oriented person.And once I got into a streak of
doing 100 push ups and 100 sellsevery single day, Yeah, Once
(07:35):
you're three months in, you can't bear to break the streak.
I was camping out in the wilderness and the person I was
with, I was like, I'm just goingto do 100 sit ups if you don't
mind, because it's like day 300 and I don't want to break the
streak. So I was just there in the tent
doing crunches, and it's good toget into habits like that.
You just tweaked a memory of mine.
Remember, we were on the farm and we were doing chin UPS on
(07:55):
the barn. Yeah.
Beam that was going across the barn, we would climb up
haystacks that were probably like 7 or 8 stories tall right
up until the top so we could getthe the beams that would go
across the supporting beams in the barn and we would sit there
and do sort of chin UPS, you know, 15 at a time or.
Finished collecting the chickenseggs and then much to the
chicken's dismay, I mean, imagine it from their
perspective, you've laid these eggs and these homo sapien
(08:18):
simian creatures, these primateshave gone and taken your eggs,
right? Put them in a bucket and then
gone into your house, your home,your barn, gripped the ceiling
and they're just doing, they're just lifting their own weight.
I mean it was must have a wild thing for a chicken to observe.
God, I missed that farm. Do that barn.
So funny, isn't it? Do you remember the the feeling
of elation when you found a secret stash of chickens eggs?
(08:40):
Sometimes you would find like a secret trail of chickens, feet
not not severed, just the just the footprints of a chicken
going through one of the haystacks.
And then you'd find a clutch of like 10/15/20 eggs all scurried
behind the hay bales. Yeah, I mean, I'll never forget
the the sort of screech of thosehens because they don't want you
(09:01):
to find their eggs. They're incredibly protective
over the eggs, aren't they? But God, I miss those days.
I miss those days when we just go out in the morning or of an
evening searching the hay bales for those eggs.
Yeah, sweet, sweet, sweet eggs. Well.
We weren't good at looking for those eggs as well because the
owner once said to you somethingquite derogatory, didn't they,
about your egg finding abilities.
If I ever came back with a loweramount of eggs, much lower than
(09:23):
the estimated catch for that day, yeah, I would often get the
comment. Oh, you've you've looked like a
man would you haven't looked properly.
You've just done a man check. You've.
Searched like a male, yeah. And then she would go out and
inevitably be able to know exactly where the hidden
clutches were. I'm pretty sure she was planting
those eggs, Alan. Yeah.
Exactly, man, She was sneaking in at night.
Oh, they won't look. Yeah, it was like Easter
(09:45):
morning. Every day on that farm wasn't.
It they're just the same 11 eggsthat they would plant every day.
But I mean, imagine if we could find a way to keep fit on that
farm by doing pull ups in a hay barn.
Yeah, then I imagine, you know, we can really do better as
travellers. I'm glad that I've got the time
to focus on jiu jitsu. But maybe I'll start like
calisthenics routine, maybe the tripological audience.
And join me if you're in hostelslistening to this right now, Get
(10:07):
down and give me 50 push ups. Well, we're not going to work
your body right now, mate, but we are going to work your mind.
I'm looking forward to the next section of the episode where
we're going to have a backpacking special.
It's tripping point. Let's go tripping point straight
into everyone's favorite travel quiz is Tripping Point mate.
(10:30):
How do you feel? I feel nervous as I normally do
when we enter tripping point, soI'm ready.
What kind of topic are we dealing with today?
It's. Just a general backpacking,
especially because you've been on the road 1011 years now
you're in a backpacking hub suchas the Philippines, very, very
popular destination and I'm leaving.
I thought, why not get a load ofquestions that are just about
(10:50):
your general backpacking knowledge.
Even through osmosis, you shouldknow all of the answers to these
questions. OK, so it's almost like a
backpacker rating that I get after doing this.
You're like testing how good of a backpacker I really AM.
Yeah, yeah. How much you've been
concentrating over the last 10 years of your travel?
Well, I fancy my chances. Is there a prize or any steaks
that you've prepared for me or are we just free balling it?
We're going to have to come up with one on the spot.
(11:12):
I mean, we are hopefully going to a nice market.
Later on, you'll buy me dinner if I get more than three.
Yeah, how hungry are you? Fairly.
OK. OK, dinner's on you.
If I get more than three, let's go.
And we'll take pictures of it asusual.
I also want you to review my backpacker experience.
If I get 5 out of five, I want you to tell me that you think
I'm great, OK travelling. If I get 4, I want you to say,
(11:34):
oh, you know, there's room for improvement.
You know those quizzes you do online?
Yeah. You're like, oh, what kind of
vampire are you? So and you ask some questions,
it's like, oh, you're a, a pure blood vampire.
I love the fact that this is what it boils down to.
It's not reductive in any way, shape or form.
Even if you get one out of five,which completely erases your 10
years of travel. If I get one out of five.
(11:54):
You go no. I'm quitting travelling.
I'm done. I'm going to, I'm going to go to
the airport with you this evening and fly back to
Manchester if I get one out of five.
So the stakes are high, the highest stakes of tripping,
whatever. Oh my goodness.
OK. Well, I'm going to look straight
at the camera, Adam, because I can see you've got some
questions up on your laptop downthere in the corner.
I don't want to look at them. On your headbeat.
(12:15):
Yeah, here we go. Question number one, what is the
origin of the term digital nomad?
Is it a a marketing slogan by Apple in the 1990s?
Is it be a term coined in 1997 in a 1997 book about remote
working? Is it a travel blog post that
went viral in 2010 or AUN tourism category for remote?
(12:36):
Workers. I think, Adam, it's from a blog
post. You know why I think that?
I think it's as new as 2010. I'd not heard the word before
that. Really.
Digital nomad. Yeah, I think it's from a blog
post in 2010. I'm afraid it's incorrect.
Wow, earlier than that. Yeah, the correct answer is that
(12:56):
it was a term coined in a 1997 book about remote working.
The book, Digital Nomad by TugiaMakimoto and David Manners
predicted predicted how technology would allow people to
work from anywhere long before it became mainstream.
I. Found that really interesting
because I, you know, started travelling in 2015 and I wasn't
hearing the word digital nomads bandied around at all, I guess
(13:18):
because. It didn't exist.
Well, it did though, didn't it? Apparently it was coined.
Yeah, yeah, the term did. But maybe the culture didn't.
OK, well interesting. I'm a little bit scared now
because I've basically got 4 opportunities to avoid a plane
ride this evening. And you are a man of your word.
We have heard on previous episodes you talking about what
are the odds? Yeah, I do what I say I will do
almost all the time. So let's go.
(13:39):
I've got. If we get, if we get to 4
questions and and you still haven't got one right, I think
the the next question is going to be what's my name?
Oh God, the pressure, Steve. You're not really my cousin.
So anyway, here we go. Question number two.
Yeah. Which country has the most
official languages at the national level?
(14:02):
Is it a Switzerland? Is it B South Africa?
Is it C Bolivia? Or is it D India?
The most official languages at the national level, I think.
So this is one of those confusing things, right?
Because Switzerland surely is. No, no, I, I think, I think the
answer's got to be India. I worry that India might go, no,
(14:24):
it's just Hindi in English. It's just Hindi in English.
And and don't worry about all those states in the South, the
West, all that stuff. So I'm worried.
Up in the northwest where they might speak a bit.
Whereas Switzerland might go listen everyone, we're just
neutral. We've got a bit of English, a
little bit of German, a little bit of French and a little bit
(14:44):
of Polish. But no, I'm going to say India.
I think at fair is fair. It's Indian.
Yeah, shortly. It's Bolivia, and I know this is
incredible. It's a curve.
It's a curveball. Bolivia officially recognizes
Spanish 37 languages, including.Tribal languages.
Quechua. Yes mate, Spanish, Quechua,
(15:05):
Aymara and 34 other indigenous tongues all at national level.
I can't believe it. This is crazy.
Oh my God, goodness, you wouldn't have got that, would
you? No, I wouldn't miss me.
I wouldn't have got it. I wouldn't have got it.
What would I have gone for? Actually, maybe I would have
said. India, most people would say
India, surely there's so many. It is just Hindi and English
isn't That's the only ones they recognize.
(15:26):
Obviously there's Carolyn, there's Tamil Nadu.
I don't know what they speak in Tamil Nadu, Tamil, Tamil.
I'm pretty sure I. Do obviously I do obviously
maybe don't mention that on the show.
Goodness me. OK, here we go #3 which UNESCO
World Heritage site receives themost annual visitors?
Is it a the Great Wall of China?Is it B the Eiffel Tower in
(15:47):
France? Is it C Machu Picchu in Peru?
Or is it D the historic centre of Rome?
I'm breathing a sigh of relief, Adam, because I happen to know
that France receives more tourism than any other country
in the world, so it has to be the Eiffel Tower.
I'm afraid the answer is the Great Wall of China.
(16:07):
How can that possibly be true? Because France receives the most
tourism. Because the question is which
UNESCO World Heritage site receives the most annual
visitors? Oh, and Eiffel Tower is not a
UNESCO World Heritage site. I mean, maybe it is, but it
doesn't necessarily specify international visitors.
What? Say it again.
Oh, right, because there it. Could be visitors from elsewhere
(16:28):
in China. Just question you sneaky Chinese
going to their own monuments. I don't know how far away you
have to live from a UNESCO WorldHeritage site to be called a
visitor if you visit it. I just don't have those figures
available. To me, hold on, have I got no
questions right so far? You've got no questions right so
(16:49):
far. Do you know what the horrible
thing is? I like the last two.
I was so confident I opposed them.
Like what? Is there two questions left?
There's two questions left. I've even included a bonus
question so we might be able. To because my claim at the start
of this was if I get one out of five, I'm getting on a plane to
Manchester. Oh crap.
So I actually have to get 100%. So I hope they get easier.
(17:14):
I hope, unlike any other quiz intripological history, these
questions get easier as they go on.
Yeah, I mean, do I say what do you want me to do?
Can I maybe make a signal under the table?
No, we've got fair is fair. Fair is fair.
You know the rules. Fair is fair.
I mean I would be interested to hear link to our socials down in
the description. How is the audience doing?
Because I've been confident withsome of my answers and I do
(17:35):
consider myself a back backing expert.
Yeah, well, yeah, play along at home by all means.
I'm sure you guys do. Who?
Wrote these questions if vagabotright this.
I had some help from that. Right.
I was going to say, because these seem like the kind of
questions that Vagabot would do to trip me up.
Vagabot, of course, is our backpacking AI here on
Tropology. Yeah.
So I work together with Vagabot,Yeah.
And I basically over, over a short time, I just come up with
(17:56):
loads of questions that things that I want to know things that
bag about things are interesting.
Yeah. And then we basically Max the
difficulty. Yeah, well, you know, I can tell
because that fucking Eiffel Tower question is the kind of
devious bullshit that that AI comes up with.
What's that he's Are we sure he's listening?
OK, let's go. Here we go. #4 What is the
longest non-stop commercial flight in the world as of 2025?
(18:20):
OK. Is it a New York to Singapore,
is it B Dubai to Auckland? Is it C London to Sydney or is
it D Doha to Los Angeles now? New York to Singapore final
answer. Nailed it.
Nailed it. Really.
Yeah, really. I knew that one.
Yeah. I actually think we talked about
(18:41):
it in a very early episode of Tripology, really like way, way
back, like a year and a half ago.
That's an amazing memory. Thank you.
So I've got the total. I mean, I'm not going to tell
you the kilometers because no one cares, but I can tell you
how long it is. How long do you think it is?
And you have any idea? 20 hours.
It's less. It's 18 hours and 40.
That is a bloody long time to spend on a plane.
(19:02):
My goodness. Couple of movies for sure.
All right. So that's one in the bank.
Yeah, I feel. Good about that, man.
Yeah, you shouldn't because I'm just in the next question.
OK, well, there's a bonus question as well, though.
Thank goodness. I'm going to count that.
If I get this one and a bonus one, then it's all right.
All right, nice, because Manchester is not that
attractive. Here we go #5 which of the
following cities is not a part of the traditional Silk Road?
(19:26):
Now, this is something, this is something that's dear to my
heart, the Silk Road. It's something I said to myself
1015 years ago. I will walk, cycle, hitchhike
something the Silk Road one day,and that will most likely be
with you. OK, All right.
So which one of the following cities not part of the
traditional Silk Road? Is it A Samarkand in Uzbekistan?
Is it B Bukhara in Uzbekistan? Is it C Xi'an in China or is it
(19:52):
D Istanbul in Turkey? Wow, listen mate, this ain't my
strong point all I guess. I guess my only thing to go on
here is that I know Uzbekistan features.
There's a lot of Silk Road goingthrough that country.
OK, Yeah, cool. So I'm going to say both those
(20:13):
Uzbeki cities are part of the Silk Road.
Strong methodology, OK. I like your reaction to that.
I also know. I have my heart on my sleeve.
It's easy to tell I'm. Pretty confident that that I'm
pretty confident that that's theIstanbul was like big part of
the Silk Road and trade. So I'm going to say it's that
Chinese one. It's wrong.
(20:36):
It's wrong. The Silk Road started somewhere
around Xi'an. Of course, the Istanbul is not
in the silk. Road, it says, while Istanbul is
a historic trade hub, but the classical Silk Road terminated
in Antioch, modern day Turkey, Syria border.
Did you go anywhere near there, by the way, when you were in
Turkey? Yeah.
No, I did go to the Syrian border, Yeah.
Around Antioch, does that ring any bells?
(20:56):
No. Well, it was near where Abraham
was born. I've forgotten the name of the
place, but yeah, I've been around there.
That's in a different quiz. Goodness me.
OK, the pressure's on. The pressure's on.
It really is, isn't it? It's like.
What's strange about this as well is the question that I've
lined up as the bonus question, which I rarely do.
Is. It's almost as if you knew.
It's so up your street it's crazy.
(21:18):
And it is. It is about modern day travel.
It forms an integral, integral part of modern day travel, not
just for the average backpacker,but for you specifically.
OK. Here we are.
I'm ready. If you don't know this, I am
going to shed a tear in digital nomad communities.
What does the acronym VPN stand for?
(21:39):
Is it a virtual personal node? Is it B virtual private network?
Is it C verified payment networkor D virtual public Nexus?
OK, well, thank. I'm pretty confident unless,
unless you and Vagabart have like it's one of those things
(22:02):
where like people think it's a virtual private network, but
actually it's something else. I feel quite sure there is
virtual hold on private network though, because it's not
private. I think, I think it's not.
If there's ever a time, you should go with your gut.
Yeah, Well, this is the first tripping point we've done in the
(22:23):
history of the show where the audience are sweating bullets.
No, no, I'm, I'm pretty. Do you know what it is, though,
is you doubt yourself when you're in moments like this
where your whole life and your livelihood is on the line.
But I didn't know straight away there was virtual private
network. But it's weird because because
not private because it's like you can just sign in like Nord
VPN. They have a bunch of them and
(22:44):
everyone goes to one of them. But it is, I know it's virtual
private network. We've literally sold ads for
AVPN company on this show. So I'm going to say virtual
private network. I really want to keep on
travelling, Adam. We can all breathe a sigh of
relief, guys. There it is 2 out of 6.
You're safe. You don't have to go back to
Manchester. You can stay in the Philippines.
You can do your jujitsu. You can do your.
(23:05):
Surfing, but I'm buying you dinner tonight.
And but for a bonus point question, which was gifted by
you and Vagaboot, I mean, thank you.
So much my goodness. How's it feel?
Sickening. OK recovering slowly from the
sickening feeling in my stomach of having nearly lost my whole
(23:27):
life and livelihood on the road,I am going to move swiftly on to
my favorite item on the show, Tales of a Trip, where listeners
can send in their greatest travel stories.
You go to tripology.com, tripologypodcast.com/tales of
the trip can record a 3 minute message.
There. Your best travel story.
And one listener has done just that.
Let's listen to what they have to say.
(23:50):
My name is B and I'm from British Columbia, Canada.
At 30 years old I went on my first backpacking trip.
My partner and I travelled Central America and Mexico for 3
1/2 months. He is a well travelled
individual, having been on many family holiday trips as a child,
moving from Scotland to Canada and travelling South America for
nine months. I on the other hand have been on
(24:10):
the plane a few times in my adult life within Canada and
mostly just Victoria and Vancouver.
He has grandiose stories from all his travels.
Well, I have the check mark stories of the career route,
getting a job right out of university, signing on to a
continuing contract and getting my masters during COVID to
further solidify my permanent position.
(24:31):
When I turned 30 I decided I needed to travel.
I was jealous of these experiences he had and wanted
the same. In retrospect, not the best
mindset to have while planning atrip.
We started our trip in Costa Rica and many people were
travelling S while we were heading north.
He gave lots of amazing recommendations to these people,
sharing incredible stories of the mountains he summited in
(24:51):
Patagonia, the breathtaking views in Machu Picchu and the
culture and party life in La Paz.
All the while we have been visiting beach after beach,
failing miserably, trying to surf and eating rice and beans
daily. I felt the green eyed monster
taking over and began comparing these fantastical adventure
stories he was sharing with me to me in the moment of jealousy
(25:12):
underwhelming experiences we were having.
I felt like I wasn't a good travel partner and our trip
would never measure up to what he's experienced and that he'd
realized that I ultimately didn't measure up.
With each story he shared, the more I began to doubt myself and
the choice of our destination. I lived in this moment for a
while during our trip, watching his reaction to the places we
(25:33):
visited, the histories we learned, and the people we
became friends with. It wasn't until I was standing
in the streets of Santa Ana and El Salvador on New Year's Eve,
with fireworks lighting up the sky and tears in my eyes that I
realized I had bought into the glamorized version of travel
that isn't real. Well, he had had incredible
experiences. He also had moments we were
(25:54):
having on ours. Waiting for hours in a bus
station, missing events we wanted to go to, sleeping in an
airport and getting sick from food poisoning.
In that moment, I knew that it was enough that I was with my
partner, exploring the places we've never been.
I forgot about how important that experience was to me,
having learned how to pack a backpack quickly and
(26:15):
efficiently, speak broken Spanish to get around, and get
used to constantly being on the go.
It was also in this moment that I realized the partner I was
travelling with is the love of my life.
Travel opens up parts of you that are vulnerable.
I showed him my insecurities, myfears, and spoke truth I'd never
shared with anyone. And for that, I will forever be
(26:36):
thankful for travel. Thanks for listening.
What a beautiful, beautiful message.
Thank you B for sending that in.That was really lovely to listen
to. Yeah, absolutely incredible,
Heartfelt and vulnerable, like she said, and just beautiful.
I mean what? What an amazing speaker first
and foremost. Yeah, what an amazing speaker.
What an amazing speech, and my goodness if it doesn't say
(26:59):
something very poignant about travel itself, because we all
strive for travel to be the thing we think it's going to be.
I know that I did when I first went travelling.
I was looking at travel to be the thing which solved all of my
problems. I thought it was going to be
that thing with which I could perform all the things I wanted
to be and and be shared that shehad that same thought.
(27:23):
She thought it was going to be the exact kind of trip that
she'd heard her partner talk about before.
When actually all that travel needs to be is experience.
A continuation of your life, a place where you can take a
breath and realize the fundamental things that you need
to learn about yourself as you go through.
Yeah, I mean, I can relate completely because I do fall
(27:45):
victim to living in the past or living in the future.
And I remember many times, I mean, it even happens to be now
be where, you know, I, I regret not having done more.
Or maybe I arrived to a place. I remember when I started
travelling when I was 2425 and I, I used to regret not having
started earlier. So it's pretty difficult.
And I think what this, what thishighlights is that you've gone
away for a number of months withsomeone who, OK, they are more
(28:06):
well travelled, your partner's more well travelled than you
are. Maybe that added to your
experience. I hope it was a benefit in
general, but the kind of trips now that we're seeing big, big
tour companies put together hugetravel companies that offer
this, you know, tightly packaged, nice and shiny, three
weeks in Colombia, all that sortof stuff.
Trip for two and a half, $3000, whatever.
(28:29):
I'm not sure whether you've reached that level when you go
on these trips in order to in order to feel what Bee is
feeling emotionally and the attachment to travel or, you
know, even these dark and dirty moments, You're not going to get
that on a trip if you just go away with a Tour Company for two
or three weeks. It sounds like she's really
experienced what travel means tous.
(28:49):
Yeah, well, what I think the listeners can take away from
Bees message is that I mean, what maturity and introspection
it takes, and this is something we should all strive to is for
for her to have taken a moment and being like, OK, I'm feeling
this thing that's not positive. Let me think about that,
meditate on it and perceive thatdeeply and then find work my way
(29:12):
to communicating a solution to that, be it with myself or with
my partner. Think about, oh, hold on, I'm
kind of feeling jealous. Does that really matter?
Analysing that feeling, coming to a conclusion and ultimately
having this declaration of like,yeah, OK, this is the person I
meant to be with. That's beautiful.
And I think travel fundamentallyawards you that space to think
(29:33):
deeply like that if you allow itto.
Yeah, I also think as well with with social media and technology
and stuff we've seen it's incredibly reductive when it
comes to travel in general, certainly backpacking.
It's all of the highlights that make it onto social media and
just because the rest of it simply isn't sexy.
But maybe in the same way that her partner was meeting people
as they were passing and tellingthese amazing stories.
(29:54):
And maybe you're more likely to focus on the good stuff than you
are the bad. So I mean, what I absolutely
love about that story as well iswaiting until maybe slightly
later in life, but still making the decision.
How many people do we talk to ona regular basis that have
already reached 253035? They're in maybe a decent job or
a more secure position, or they've already put a load down
(30:15):
on a house or whatever it might be, and that prohibits them from
having this experience. This is exactly what travel is
for me. I absolutely love that be still
took the plunge, went away and had an amazing time as a result.
Yeah, yeah. Any age, any lifestyle, any life
situation, I think there's always a place for travel.
If you approach it in that cerebral, beautiful, open way,
ready to have new experiences, expand your horizons, I think
(30:37):
it's a beautiful thing. Thank you so much for sending
your message. If you have a wonderful travel
story, topologypodcast.com/talesof a trip.
If you want to send us an e-mailor get into our social media,
have a look at what we have to offer.
All the links for that are down in the description right now.
We're going to go off to our Patreon section.
Yeah, it's the lost and found where Alan's going to turn the
table on me a little a little Patreon special.
(30:59):
It's going to be a little 10 quick fire question quiz on
world cuisines. If you want to hear that, check
it out, go to patreon.com/tripology podcast.
We'll see you. There, yes, we'll see you there.
Because if your desire for more quizzing hasn't been sated, let
me turn the tables on him. Get some revenge.
Maybe if you don't get more thantwo right, you'll have to go
home. And apart from that, we'll see
you all on the next episode. We'll see you there.
(31:21):
Bye.
Hello and welcome to this episode of Tripology, the only
show where the hosts are moving about the globe constantly.
I'm Alan and I'm here with one of the travel great.
It's my best friend. It's the ever departing Adam.
Yeah, mate, this is the last onewe're going to be recording
together in person. It's a bit of a sad one, but a
bit of a fun one nonetheless. On this week's show, we've got
(00:23):
everyone's favorite travel quiz,a little tripping point, and
then we've got quickly. What is becoming the best
segment of the show is Tales of a Trip at the end.
Tales of a trip, where travellers from all over the
globe send in their favorite travel stories.
New listeners of the show, of which there are many, won't do
this, but sometimes we record the show remotely because we're
both travelling about all over the place.
(00:45):
I'm now we're going to stay in the Philippines, You're going to
go off back to New Zealand. The show doesn't suffer from the
absence. If anything, absence makes the
show grow stronger. You're off doing your thing.
It's seamlessly edited so it seems like we're in the same
room. So enjoy that I.
Love the way that we've built this show.
I love the way that we've built this sort of around the globe,
so that actually necessitates usto travel in order to record it
(01:08):
together. Yes, a hungry, ravenous
tropological beast, isn't it? But I like the show when we're
together because obviously we'vegot that in person rapport.
But when we're in remote I quitelike it as well because it's a
weekly catch up. I would call you once a week
anyway so it feels like I'm justcalling my best friend but there
just happens to be a microphone there.
I like it, but. When the camera's not rolling
and when the microphone's not recording, for the rest of the
(01:30):
time we're pretty much just walking around talking about the
show. Or we're in a cafe, not walking,
but still talking about the show.
I mean, it really is an absolutely full time job.
But fingers crossed when I leave.
I think you've got some pretty exciting things coming up and
you. There is some exciting stuff
planned for the tripological future.
I mean, if you're not on our patreonpatreon.com/tripology
podcast, I'd say now's the time because we're releasing a
(01:52):
special Genesis episode. Yeah, Yeah.
Where we talk all about how we met, and it is fundamentally a
crazy story. There's animals.
There's drugs, there's pandemic travel, there's bending of all
sorts of crazy travel rules, notgovernment rules.
Don't panic. Some would argue it's a little
bit irresponsible, However, if it wasn't for that, if it wasn't
(02:15):
for the aforementioned bending of the rules, yeah, maybe
Tripology wouldn't. Exist.
It was all legal. It was all legal.
What happened? But we were just taking some
liberties. There's I I was on a game show
in the UK. Yeah, some of our fans know
about. That's why it's called tripping
point, you know, coming up lateron.
Actually, the further you go back, the more incredible it
gets. So I'm really looking forward
to, if you haven't signed up to the Patreon yet, do because
(02:36):
immediately after this recording, we are going to be
recording that episode and then it's going to be up by the time
you hear this anyway. But it is in when you think
about what's happened as a result of that one fateful
evening. There's many hours of audio in
it that's happened as a result. That one thing, like, you know,
when scientists go, oh, The Big Bang, it created all this stuff.
(02:57):
All matter and existence exploded across the universe
from that one moment. It was that one moment on the
farm that resulted in all of these audio recordings and
thousands of you listening in totalk about travel with us.
It's really amazing. Yeah.
The. People go God you 2, the dynamic
between you, the chemistry you have, the bonds that you have as
two best mates. I mean, in fairness, we don't
(03:17):
really have a choice. No, it's literally an essential
thing. And we'll talk about that in
Patreon. But Adam, I'm gonna miss you,
mate. You're leaving going
back-to-back Packer Mecca, Backpacker Haven, one of the
most touristically beautiful places in New Zealand.
You're off to Queenstown. I am a bit of a dirty travel
journey. I'm going from here, from
Manila, somewhere that's pretty warm, almost oppressively hot
(03:40):
and humid. I've really enjoyed being here,
but I'm going all the way back to Australia.
I'm going to Brisbane, I've got a horrible 21 hour layover.
Maybe I'll ask ChatGPT AKA Vagabot 3000 on what I should be
doing. Apart from getting a haircut
obviously. Thank you for noticing.
Yeah. And then on to Queenstown.
So it's just a little 3 1/2 hourflight the day after.
And then there I'm going to be for the next sort of six months.
(04:02):
So if you are in Queenstown and you are listening to this, come
and say hello. That'd be amazing if you're a.
Hairdresser maybe, Who fancies doing some charity work.
We've got a host going begging. And if you're a fan of the show,
great. If you're not, still come and
say hi. That'll be fine.
I'll convert you. Yeah, exactly.
He will, mate. You're off doing that.
So we'll hear stories about Queenstown in the near future.
I'm going to basically set up shop in the Philippines.
(04:25):
I'm going to set up podcast recording studio somewhere like
Saarjao, maybe Powder. I'm going to, I'm going to kind
of focus on recording and growing the show and getting
some much needed rigorous exercise in.
Because as you know, the whole of 2024, I was just travelling.
(04:45):
I was going around India, I was going around Pakistan, Omar.
And then I was in Brazil for thefirst half of this year.
I really want to buckle down. You know that I love jiu jitsu.
I know you love it. I love.
Surfing. I love keeping fit on the road.
Yeah, I'm, I'm basically going to buckle down and just get some
jiu jitsu surfing in, man. I'm going to focus on work and
fitness. That's what an amazing way to
(05:06):
stay fit while you're travellingas well.
I'm worried I'm not going to be able to recognize you.
To be honest, I'm going to become unrecognizable either
through the post process of muscular hypertrophy or sun
tanning. Sun tanning as well.
I'm going to get all sun becauseof the surfing.
What about the wet suit? I won't be wearing one.
Some of those are no wet suit for me, just straight naked.
But what I'm wondering is how doyou feel about staying fit on
(05:28):
the road? I know it's a hot topic because
travellers, we like to eat all the local foods.
We like to go crazy getting immersed in the culture.
And it's sometimes difficult to fit in going to the gym, doing
those things. I love jiu jitsu.
I mean, I've not done it for about two years because I didn't
really been that long. Yeah.
Oh. My goodness, just because, where
do you? Go.
Do you drop into jiu jitsu gyms and say hi?
(05:49):
I don't speak the language. Can I get some tuition?
I just found it. I should be better at it.
It's a floor of mine. Yeah.
I just don't know what to do. Well, I think you've set
yourself up for success because you already don't drink hardly
ever, no. And I would say that that's
probably the downfall. Water or anything, I'm just
dehydrated as a man. I would say honestly, on this
trip in the Philippines, we've probably had as much coconut
(06:10):
water as we had have actual water.
Yeah, easily, fair to say. And coffee.
Maybe it's a 33%. Split.
I'm hyperglycemic. I don't know what that means,
but it sounded funny. It means.
Sugar's going through my veins, all right.
So yeah, you don't have a lot ofsugar either.
So maybe you're not the best representation of most
backpackers because, you know, if we think about 1820 year olds
(06:31):
right, the way through to 3035 year olds, if you're
backpacking, that comes hand in hand with partying.
And if you're partying, you're not up at 8:00 the next morning
in the gym or doing a run. It is pretty difficult I think.
Perhaps some balance. The best way to stay fit whilst
you're travelling is if you are interested in things like my Tai
jujitsu. Like me on my bike in Taiwan.
(06:52):
I was shredded to shit. Man, hiking as well, right?
So many travellers love to hike and it kind of keeps them fit.
Rarely do you like, I think travellers in general, they're
in good shape because of all thelike hiking and things like that
they're doing, but it's difficult to do focused exercise
activities. Yeah, yeah, for.
For a whole year, and some of that year I spent in travelling,
(07:14):
I got really into calisthenics. Oh yeah.
And I think that's quite good for travellers because you can
drop and do some push ups and sit ups anywhere in the world,
right? It takes a lot of motivation
though, doesn't it? It does, yeah.
Do you know what I do? I like challenges.
I'm a very goal oriented person.And once I got into a streak of
doing 100 push ups and 100 sellsevery single day, Yeah, Once
(07:35):
you're three months in, you can't bear to break the streak.
I was camping out in the wilderness and the person I was
with, I was like, I'm just goingto do 100 sit ups if you don't
mind, because it's like day 300 and I don't want to break the
streak. So I was just there in the tent
doing crunches, and it's good toget into habits like that.
You just tweaked a memory of mine.
Remember, we were on the farm and we were doing chin UPS on
(07:55):
the barn. Yeah.
Beam that was going across the barn, we would climb up
haystacks that were probably like 7 or 8 stories tall right
up until the top so we could getthe the beams that would go
across the supporting beams in the barn and we would sit there
and do sort of chin UPS, you know, 15 at a time or.
Finished collecting the chickenseggs and then much to the
chicken's dismay, I mean, imagine it from their
perspective, you've laid these eggs and these homo sapien
(08:18):
simian creatures, these primateshave gone and taken your eggs,
right? Put them in a bucket and then
gone into your house, your home,your barn, gripped the ceiling
and they're just doing, they're just lifting their own weight.
I mean it was must have a wild thing for a chicken to observe.
God, I missed that farm. Do that barn.
So funny, isn't it? Do you remember the the feeling
of elation when you found a secret stash of chickens eggs?
(08:40):
Sometimes you would find like a secret trail of chickens, feet
not not severed, just the just the footprints of a chicken
going through one of the haystacks.
And then you'd find a clutch of like 10/15/20 eggs all scurried
behind the hay bales. Yeah, I mean, I'll never forget
the the sort of screech of thosehens because they don't want you
(09:01):
to find their eggs. They're incredibly protective
over the eggs, aren't they? But God, I miss those days.
I miss those days when we just go out in the morning or of an
evening searching the hay bales for those eggs.
Yeah, sweet, sweet, sweet eggs. Well.
We weren't good at looking for those eggs as well because the
owner once said to you somethingquite derogatory, didn't they,
about your egg finding abilities.
If I ever came back with a loweramount of eggs, much lower than
(09:23):
the estimated catch for that day, yeah, I would often get the
comment. Oh, you've you've looked like a
man would you haven't looked properly.
You've just done a man check. You've.
Searched like a male, yeah. And then she would go out and
inevitably be able to know exactly where the hidden
clutches were. I'm pretty sure she was planting
those eggs, Alan. Yeah.
Exactly, man, She was sneaking in at night.
Oh, they won't look. Yeah, it was like Easter
(09:45):
morning. Every day on that farm wasn't.
It they're just the same 11 eggsthat they would plant every day.
But I mean, imagine if we could find a way to keep fit on that
farm by doing pull ups in a hay barn.
Yeah, then I imagine, you know, we can really do better as
travellers. I'm glad that I've got the time
to focus on jiu jitsu. But maybe I'll start like
calisthenics routine, maybe the tripological audience.
And join me if you're in hostelslistening to this right now, Get
(10:07):
down and give me 50 push ups. Well, we're not going to work
your body right now, mate, but we are going to work your mind.
I'm looking forward to the next section of the episode where
we're going to have a backpacking special.
It's tripping point. Let's go tripping point straight
into everyone's favorite travel quiz is Tripping Point mate.
(10:30):
How do you feel? I feel nervous as I normally do
when we enter tripping point, soI'm ready.
What kind of topic are we dealing with today?
It's. Just a general backpacking,
especially because you've been on the road 1011 years now
you're in a backpacking hub suchas the Philippines, very, very
popular destination and I'm leaving.
I thought, why not get a load ofquestions that are just about
(10:50):
your general backpacking knowledge.
Even through osmosis, you shouldknow all of the answers to these
questions. OK, so it's almost like a
backpacker rating that I get after doing this.
You're like testing how good of a backpacker I really AM.
Yeah, yeah. How much you've been
concentrating over the last 10 years of your travel?
Well, I fancy my chances. Is there a prize or any steaks
that you've prepared for me or are we just free balling it?
We're going to have to come up with one on the spot.
(11:12):
I mean, we are hopefully going to a nice market.
Later on, you'll buy me dinner if I get more than three.
Yeah, how hungry are you? Fairly.
OK. OK, dinner's on you.
If I get more than three, let's go.
And we'll take pictures of it asusual.
I also want you to review my backpacker experience.
If I get 5 out of five, I want you to tell me that you think
I'm great, OK travelling. If I get 4, I want you to say,
(11:34):
oh, you know, there's room for improvement.
You know those quizzes you do online?
Yeah. You're like, oh, what kind of
vampire are you? So and you ask some questions,
it's like, oh, you're a, a pure blood vampire.
I love the fact that this is what it boils down to.
It's not reductive in any way, shape or form.
Even if you get one out of five,which completely erases your 10
years of travel. If I get one out of five.
(11:54):
You go no. I'm quitting travelling.
I'm done. I'm going to, I'm going to go to
the airport with you this evening and fly back to
Manchester if I get one out of five.
So the stakes are high, the highest stakes of tripping,
whatever. Oh my goodness.
OK. Well, I'm going to look straight
at the camera, Adam, because I can see you've got some
questions up on your laptop downthere in the corner.
I don't want to look at them. On your headbeat.
(12:15):
Yeah, here we go. Question number one, what is the
origin of the term digital nomad?
Is it a a marketing slogan by Apple in the 1990s?
Is it be a term coined in 1997 in a 1997 book about remote
working? Is it a travel blog post that
went viral in 2010 or AUN tourism category for remote?
(12:36):
Workers. I think, Adam, it's from a blog
post. You know why I think that?
I think it's as new as 2010. I'd not heard the word before
that. Really.
Digital nomad. Yeah, I think it's from a blog
post in 2010. I'm afraid it's incorrect.
Wow, earlier than that. Yeah, the correct answer is that
(12:56):
it was a term coined in a 1997 book about remote working.
The book, Digital Nomad by TugiaMakimoto and David Manners
predicted predicted how technology would allow people to
work from anywhere long before it became mainstream.
I. Found that really interesting
because I, you know, started travelling in 2015 and I wasn't
hearing the word digital nomads bandied around at all, I guess
(13:18):
because. It didn't exist.
Well, it did though, didn't it? Apparently it was coined.
Yeah, yeah, the term did. But maybe the culture didn't.
OK, well interesting. I'm a little bit scared now
because I've basically got 4 opportunities to avoid a plane
ride this evening. And you are a man of your word.
We have heard on previous episodes you talking about what
are the odds? Yeah, I do what I say I will do
almost all the time. So let's go.
(13:39):
I've got. If we get, if we get to 4
questions and and you still haven't got one right, I think
the the next question is going to be what's my name?
Oh God, the pressure, Steve. You're not really my cousin.
So anyway, here we go. Question number two.
Yeah. Which country has the most
official languages at the national level?
(14:02):
Is it a Switzerland? Is it B South Africa?
Is it C Bolivia? Or is it D India?
The most official languages at the national level, I think.
So this is one of those confusing things, right?
Because Switzerland surely is. No, no, I, I think, I think the
answer's got to be India. I worry that India might go, no,
(14:24):
it's just Hindi in English. It's just Hindi in English.
And and don't worry about all those states in the South, the
West, all that stuff. So I'm worried.
Up in the northwest where they might speak a bit.
Whereas Switzerland might go listen everyone, we're just
neutral. We've got a bit of English, a
little bit of German, a little bit of French and a little bit
(14:44):
of Polish. But no, I'm going to say India.
I think at fair is fair. It's Indian.
Yeah, shortly. It's Bolivia, and I know this is
incredible. It's a curve.
It's a curveball. Bolivia officially recognizes
Spanish 37 languages, including.Tribal languages.
Quechua. Yes mate, Spanish, Quechua,
(15:05):
Aymara and 34 other indigenous tongues all at national level.
I can't believe it. This is crazy.
Oh my God, goodness, you wouldn't have got that, would
you? No, I wouldn't miss me.
I wouldn't have got it. I wouldn't have got it.
What would I have gone for? Actually, maybe I would have
said. India, most people would say
India, surely there's so many. It is just Hindi and English
isn't That's the only ones they recognize.
(15:26):
Obviously there's Carolyn, there's Tamil Nadu.
I don't know what they speak in Tamil Nadu, Tamil, Tamil.
I'm pretty sure I. Do obviously I do obviously
maybe don't mention that on the show.
Goodness me. OK, here we go #3 which UNESCO
World Heritage site receives themost annual visitors?
Is it a the Great Wall of China?Is it B the Eiffel Tower in
(15:47):
France? Is it C Machu Picchu in Peru?
Or is it D the historic centre of Rome?
I'm breathing a sigh of relief, Adam, because I happen to know
that France receives more tourism than any other country
in the world, so it has to be the Eiffel Tower.
I'm afraid the answer is the Great Wall of China.
(16:07):
How can that possibly be true? Because France receives the most
tourism. Because the question is which
UNESCO World Heritage site receives the most annual
visitors? Oh, and Eiffel Tower is not a
UNESCO World Heritage site. I mean, maybe it is, but it
doesn't necessarily specify international visitors.
What? Say it again.
Oh, right, because there it. Could be visitors from elsewhere
(16:28):
in China. Just question you sneaky Chinese
going to their own monuments. I don't know how far away you
have to live from a UNESCO WorldHeritage site to be called a
visitor if you visit it. I just don't have those figures
available. To me, hold on, have I got no
questions right so far? You've got no questions right so
(16:49):
far. Do you know what the horrible
thing is? I like the last two.
I was so confident I opposed them.
Like what? Is there two questions left?
There's two questions left. I've even included a bonus
question so we might be able. To because my claim at the start
of this was if I get one out of five, I'm getting on a plane to
Manchester. Oh crap.
So I actually have to get 100%. So I hope they get easier.
(17:14):
I hope, unlike any other quiz intripological history, these
questions get easier as they go on.
Yeah, I mean, do I say what do you want me to do?
Can I maybe make a signal under the table?
No, we've got fair is fair. Fair is fair.
You know the rules. Fair is fair.
I mean I would be interested to hear link to our socials down in
the description. How is the audience doing?
Because I've been confident withsome of my answers and I do
(17:35):
consider myself a back backing expert.
Yeah, well, yeah, play along at home by all means.
I'm sure you guys do. Who?
Wrote these questions if vagabotright this.
I had some help from that. Right.
I was going to say, because these seem like the kind of
questions that Vagabot would do to trip me up.
Vagabot, of course, is our backpacking AI here on
Tropology. Yeah.
So I work together with Vagabot,Yeah.
And I basically over, over a short time, I just come up with
(17:56):
loads of questions that things that I want to know things that
bag about things are interesting.
Yeah. And then we basically Max the
difficulty. Yeah, well, you know, I can tell
because that fucking Eiffel Tower question is the kind of
devious bullshit that that AI comes up with.
What's that he's Are we sure he's listening?
OK, let's go. Here we go. #4 What is the
longest non-stop commercial flight in the world as of 2025?
(18:20):
OK. Is it a New York to Singapore,
is it B Dubai to Auckland? Is it C London to Sydney or is
it D Doha to Los Angeles now? New York to Singapore final
answer. Nailed it.
Nailed it. Really.
Yeah, really. I knew that one.
Yeah. I actually think we talked about
(18:41):
it in a very early episode of Tripology, really like way, way
back, like a year and a half ago.
That's an amazing memory. Thank you.
So I've got the total. I mean, I'm not going to tell
you the kilometers because no one cares, but I can tell you
how long it is. How long do you think it is?
And you have any idea? 20 hours.
It's less. It's 18 hours and 40.
That is a bloody long time to spend on a plane.
(19:02):
My goodness. Couple of movies for sure.
All right. So that's one in the bank.
Yeah, I feel. Good about that, man.
Yeah, you shouldn't because I'm just in the next question.
OK, well, there's a bonus question as well, though.
Thank goodness. I'm going to count that.
If I get this one and a bonus one, then it's all right.
All right, nice, because Manchester is not that
attractive. Here we go #5 which of the
following cities is not a part of the traditional Silk Road?
(19:26):
Now, this is something, this is something that's dear to my
heart, the Silk Road. It's something I said to myself
1015 years ago. I will walk, cycle, hitchhike
something the Silk Road one day,and that will most likely be
with you. OK, All right.
So which one of the following cities not part of the
traditional Silk Road? Is it A Samarkand in Uzbekistan?
Is it B Bukhara in Uzbekistan? Is it C Xi'an in China or is it
(19:52):
D Istanbul in Turkey? Wow, listen mate, this ain't my
strong point all I guess. I guess my only thing to go on
here is that I know Uzbekistan features.
There's a lot of Silk Road goingthrough that country.
OK, Yeah, cool. So I'm going to say both those
(20:13):
Uzbeki cities are part of the Silk Road.
Strong methodology, OK. I like your reaction to that.
I also know. I have my heart on my sleeve.
It's easy to tell I'm. Pretty confident that that I'm
pretty confident that that's theIstanbul was like big part of
the Silk Road and trade. So I'm going to say it's that
Chinese one. It's wrong.
(20:36):
It's wrong. The Silk Road started somewhere
around Xi'an. Of course, the Istanbul is not
in the silk. Road, it says, while Istanbul is
a historic trade hub, but the classical Silk Road terminated
in Antioch, modern day Turkey, Syria border.
Did you go anywhere near there, by the way, when you were in
Turkey? Yeah.
No, I did go to the Syrian border, Yeah.
Around Antioch, does that ring any bells?
(20:56):
No. Well, it was near where Abraham
was born. I've forgotten the name of the
place, but yeah, I've been around there.
That's in a different quiz. Goodness me.
OK, the pressure's on. The pressure's on.
It really is, isn't it? It's like.
What's strange about this as well is the question that I've
lined up as the bonus question, which I rarely do.
Is. It's almost as if you knew.
It's so up your street it's crazy.
(21:18):
And it is. It is about modern day travel.
It forms an integral, integral part of modern day travel, not
just for the average backpacker,but for you specifically.
OK. Here we are.
I'm ready. If you don't know this, I am
going to shed a tear in digital nomad communities.
What does the acronym VPN stand for?
(21:39):
Is it a virtual personal node? Is it B virtual private network?
Is it C verified payment networkor D virtual public Nexus?
OK, well, thank. I'm pretty confident unless,
unless you and Vagabart have like it's one of those things
(22:02):
where like people think it's a virtual private network, but
actually it's something else. I feel quite sure there is
virtual hold on private network though, because it's not
private. I think, I think it's not.
If there's ever a time, you should go with your gut.
Yeah, Well, this is the first tripping point we've done in the
(22:23):
history of the show where the audience are sweating bullets.
No, no, I'm, I'm pretty. Do you know what it is, though,
is you doubt yourself when you're in moments like this
where your whole life and your livelihood is on the line.
But I didn't know straight away there was virtual private
network. But it's weird because because
not private because it's like you can just sign in like Nord
VPN. They have a bunch of them and
(22:44):
everyone goes to one of them. But it is, I know it's virtual
private network. We've literally sold ads for
AVPN company on this show. So I'm going to say virtual
private network. I really want to keep on
travelling, Adam. We can all breathe a sigh of
relief, guys. There it is 2 out of 6.
You're safe. You don't have to go back to
Manchester. You can stay in the Philippines.
You can do your jujitsu. You can do your.
(23:05):
Surfing, but I'm buying you dinner tonight.
And but for a bonus point question, which was gifted by
you and Vagaboot, I mean, thank you.
So much my goodness. How's it feel?
Sickening. OK recovering slowly from the
sickening feeling in my stomach of having nearly lost my whole
(23:27):
life and livelihood on the road,I am going to move swiftly on to
my favorite item on the show, Tales of a Trip, where listeners
can send in their greatest travel stories.
You go to tripology.com, tripologypodcast.com/tales of
the trip can record a 3 minute message.
There. Your best travel story.
And one listener has done just that.
Let's listen to what they have to say.
(23:50):
My name is B and I'm from British Columbia, Canada.
At 30 years old I went on my first backpacking trip.
My partner and I travelled Central America and Mexico for 3
1/2 months. He is a well travelled
individual, having been on many family holiday trips as a child,
moving from Scotland to Canada and travelling South America for
nine months. I on the other hand have been on
(24:10):
the plane a few times in my adult life within Canada and
mostly just Victoria and Vancouver.
He has grandiose stories from all his travels.
Well, I have the check mark stories of the career route,
getting a job right out of university, signing on to a
continuing contract and getting my masters during COVID to
further solidify my permanent position.
(24:31):
When I turned 30 I decided I needed to travel.
I was jealous of these experiences he had and wanted
the same. In retrospect, not the best
mindset to have while planning atrip.
We started our trip in Costa Rica and many people were
travelling S while we were heading north.
He gave lots of amazing recommendations to these people,
sharing incredible stories of the mountains he summited in
(24:51):
Patagonia, the breathtaking views in Machu Picchu and the
culture and party life in La Paz.
All the while we have been visiting beach after beach,
failing miserably, trying to surf and eating rice and beans
daily. I felt the green eyed monster
taking over and began comparing these fantastical adventure
stories he was sharing with me to me in the moment of jealousy
(25:12):
underwhelming experiences we were having.
I felt like I wasn't a good travel partner and our trip
would never measure up to what he's experienced and that he'd
realized that I ultimately didn't measure up.
With each story he shared, the more I began to doubt myself and
the choice of our destination. I lived in this moment for a
while during our trip, watching his reaction to the places we
(25:33):
visited, the histories we learned, and the people we
became friends with. It wasn't until I was standing
in the streets of Santa Ana and El Salvador on New Year's Eve,
with fireworks lighting up the sky and tears in my eyes that I
realized I had bought into the glamorized version of travel
that isn't real. Well, he had had incredible
experiences. He also had moments we were
(25:54):
having on ours. Waiting for hours in a bus
station, missing events we wanted to go to, sleeping in an
airport and getting sick from food poisoning.
In that moment, I knew that it was enough that I was with my
partner, exploring the places we've never been.
I forgot about how important that experience was to me,
having learned how to pack a backpack quickly and
(26:15):
efficiently, speak broken Spanish to get around, and get
used to constantly being on the go.
It was also in this moment that I realized the partner I was
travelling with is the love of my life.
Travel opens up parts of you that are vulnerable.
I showed him my insecurities, myfears, and spoke truth I'd never
shared with anyone. And for that, I will forever be
(26:36):
thankful for travel. Thanks for listening.
What a beautiful, beautiful message.
Thank you B for sending that in.That was really lovely to listen
to. Yeah, absolutely incredible,
Heartfelt and vulnerable, like she said, and just beautiful.
I mean what? What an amazing speaker first
and foremost. Yeah, what an amazing speaker.
What an amazing speech, and my goodness if it doesn't say
(26:59):
something very poignant about travel itself, because we all
strive for travel to be the thing we think it's going to be.
I know that I did when I first went travelling.
I was looking at travel to be the thing which solved all of my
problems. I thought it was going to be
that thing with which I could perform all the things I wanted
to be and and be shared that shehad that same thought.
(27:23):
She thought it was going to be the exact kind of trip that
she'd heard her partner talk about before.
When actually all that travel needs to be is experience.
A continuation of your life, a place where you can take a
breath and realize the fundamental things that you need
to learn about yourself as you go through.
Yeah, I mean, I can relate completely because I do fall
(27:45):
victim to living in the past or living in the future.
And I remember many times, I mean, it even happens to be now
be where, you know, I, I regret not having done more.
Or maybe I arrived to a place. I remember when I started
travelling when I was 2425 and I, I used to regret not having
started earlier. So it's pretty difficult.
And I think what this, what thishighlights is that you've gone
away for a number of months withsomeone who, OK, they are more
(28:06):
well travelled, your partner's more well travelled than you
are. Maybe that added to your
experience. I hope it was a benefit in
general, but the kind of trips now that we're seeing big, big
tour companies put together hugetravel companies that offer
this, you know, tightly packaged, nice and shiny, three
weeks in Colombia, all that sortof stuff.
Trip for two and a half, $3000, whatever.
(28:29):
I'm not sure whether you've reached that level when you go
on these trips in order to in order to feel what Bee is
feeling emotionally and the attachment to travel or, you
know, even these dark and dirty moments, You're not going to get
that on a trip if you just go away with a Tour Company for two
or three weeks. It sounds like she's really
experienced what travel means tous.
(28:49):
Yeah, well, what I think the listeners can take away from
Bees message is that I mean, what maturity and introspection
it takes, and this is something we should all strive to is for
for her to have taken a moment and being like, OK, I'm feeling
this thing that's not positive. Let me think about that,
meditate on it and perceive thatdeeply and then find work my way
(29:12):
to communicating a solution to that, be it with myself or with
my partner. Think about, oh, hold on, I'm
kind of feeling jealous. Does that really matter?
Analysing that feeling, coming to a conclusion and ultimately
having this declaration of like,yeah, OK, this is the person I
meant to be with. That's beautiful.
And I think travel fundamentallyawards you that space to think
(29:33):
deeply like that if you allow itto.
Yeah, I also think as well with with social media and technology
and stuff we've seen it's incredibly reductive when it
comes to travel in general, certainly backpacking.
It's all of the highlights that make it onto social media and
just because the rest of it simply isn't sexy.
But maybe in the same way that her partner was meeting people
as they were passing and tellingthese amazing stories.
(29:54):
And maybe you're more likely to focus on the good stuff than you
are the bad. So I mean, what I absolutely
love about that story as well iswaiting until maybe slightly
later in life, but still making the decision.
How many people do we talk to ona regular basis that have
already reached 253035? They're in maybe a decent job or
a more secure position, or they've already put a load down
(30:15):
on a house or whatever it might be, and that prohibits them from
having this experience. This is exactly what travel is
for me. I absolutely love that be still
took the plunge, went away and had an amazing time as a result.
Yeah, yeah. Any age, any lifestyle, any life
situation, I think there's always a place for travel.
If you approach it in that cerebral, beautiful, open way,
ready to have new experiences, expand your horizons, I think
(30:37):
it's a beautiful thing. Thank you so much for sending
your message. If you have a wonderful travel
story, topologypodcast.com/talesof a trip.
If you want to send us an e-mailor get into our social media,
have a look at what we have to offer.
All the links for that are down in the description right now.
We're going to go off to our Patreon section.
Yeah, it's the lost and found where Alan's going to turn the
table on me a little a little Patreon special.
(30:59):
It's going to be a little 10 quick fire question quiz on
world cuisines. If you want to hear that, check
it out, go to patreon.com/tripology podcast.
We'll see you. There, yes, we'll see you there.
Because if your desire for more quizzing hasn't been sated, let
me turn the tables on him. Get some revenge.
Maybe if you don't get more thantwo right, you'll have to go
home. And apart from that, we'll see
you all on the next episode. We'll see you there.
(31:21):
Bye.
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