Rants and Raves! Travel Edition

Welcome to our new series! This is a very un-serious episode about our travel must-have's, and all the wild travel experiences we can't help but rant about. We will finish it off with the craziest experience that I ever witnessed in a hostel. Warning… it is NOT kid-friendly !!!

Thank you so much for listening!

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Transcript

Hi. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Unrelatable podcast. The last few episodes, we've kind of been focusing on confidence, on people pleasing, on stopping that. We talked about your guys' birth control experiences. So we've been keeping it more centered around women.

And so to my guy listeners, first of all, I just want to say thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Shout out to you. We love you. And today, I I wanted to keep it light.

I wanted to keep it light and fun because guess what time it is? It's hot girl summer, hot guy summer. We are out here. We are traveling. A lot of you have trips planned.

If you don't have trips planned, you have weekend getaways, which are which are trips in my mind? Honestly, when I lived in Logan, going to Salt Lake City for a weekend, that's a trip. Go to Park City, stay in a little yurt or in Heber, stay in a little yurt. They are less expensive than than you think they are. Okay?

And then you just bring your mountain bikes. You bike around. Bike around the little town that you're in. Go to the coffee shop, go camping. Camping is free.

There are lots of fun trips happening, but there are also things that happen on these trips that are not always fun. But they are enough to write home about. And so I asked you guys, what are what are your rants and raves travel edition? And I'm first going to start out with 7 things that I can't rave about more, and this is for traveling. So the this is kind of tips and tricks that I have that I believe you cannot live without.

And then we're gonna talk about things I want to rant about, and then we're gonna jump into your guys' rants and raves for traveling. You've shared with me some crazy traveling experiences that I wanna talk about. These are actually pretty freaking crazy. And so we're gonna talk about your guys' travel experiences, what you wanna rant about that, and then the things that you guys rave about, Tips on making traveling better. Tips on how ing on how to feel on how ing to feel more refreshed on a Boeing plane.

No. On how to feel more refreshed. Hopefully, not on a Boeing plane. We don't want that door falling off. No.

Thank you, sir. So, yeah, with that, welcome back to the Unrelatable podcast. So let me give you a little bit of a backstory of where I am right at this second. Right at this second, I am in Albania. I I am obviously prerecording this.

That is to go without saying. I am in Albania. Fun fact, my family is from Albania. My grandpa is from Albania. And he his mom was pregnant with him when my basically my great grandparents jumped on the boat from Albania.

They were the very last ones allowed to leave Albania to travel to America to escape Turkey invading Albania. And so I have a lot of Albanian pride. I have never been there before, or I guess, should I say I've never been here before? No. Because I am recording this at a time.

I have never been there before, and it is something where we've kept the Albanian blood within us alive with baklava, having that at my wedding, and different celebrations. We are very proud Albanians, and so I am very excited to be in Albania right now, heading home. I think by the time you listen to this, I'll be heading home within the next 2 or 3 days. But one thing I didn't know is that Albania has Alps, called the Albanian Alps. And if everything goes according to plan, that's where we are right now.

And, yeah, so I can't wait to update you guys with photos and whatnot. I post a lot more of my life and whatnot on my personal Instagram, which is h l felt, f e l d t, if you want to see that on Instagram because I don't really post a lot of that on my podcast page. I'm so sorry. I need to get better at actually posting things on my podcasting page. That is my goal for when I get back, so you can look forward to that.

But let's jump right into today's episode, rants and raves travel edition. Number one thing actually, this might not be number 1, but this is certainly important. The first thing that I can't rave about more, you're gonna laugh. But to have a good night's sleep. Because if you're like me, you're traveling in economy because you picked up a very cheap flight to Europe, and that is why you're traveling to Europe.

And so you pick up this very cheap flight. Well, of course, you're in economy. You're in the basic seating. They try to make it as uncomfortable as they can by seating you at, a 100 and 95 degrees, so you're essentially leaning forward. Right?

Is that even correct? I'm not sure if that if that's even correct terminology. Anyways, the best thing that I can recommend that I bought over a year ago is this neck pillow that straps to the seat. The problem that we have when we fly is not necessarily that the neck pillow is uncomfortable. It's that our head will fall forward, and it's a constant battle between keeping your back straight because you can barely lean back at all.

You're pretty much sitting forward, like I said. And so the best thing for your sleep that you can do is get a neck pillow that straps to the seat. And it basically you know those little folding parts of the headrest? It straps to that part, so it is not going to be bugging the person behind you at all. But it is kinda funny looking because then you tie the strap around your neck.

You tie this strap around your neck. And if you get claustrophobic, don't worry. Don't worry. I have another recommendation, and that would be oh, I don't even have this on my list, but that would be a neck fan. I'm you think I'm kidding?

I am not kidding. Were these neck fans invented for old men in their seventies to not overheat while mowing their lawn? 100%. But I bought this neck fan from Lowe's before I went to Rome last last summer. Rome hit the hottest temperatures that had ever been recorded on Earth while I was there.

And guess who had? An a grade level neck fan? Cooling her down. Even the locals were, like, hey, where did you get that? We can't find them anywhere.

You couldn't buy fans. Everyone was sweating to death. I was still sweating, but at least I was living through it. I would not have survived without this neck fan, and sometimes it is so hot on a plane. Maybe nobody is relating to this, actually, because I I seem to be the only warm blooded female on this entire Earth.

I don't know what it is. It is my curse. Both my mom and my dad, they're they're sweaty people. They are. And so I have inherited the lack of being able to have a body that can cool itself down without being ridiculous.

So anyways, having this neck fan and then having this neck pillow strapped on, oh my gosh, it is the perfect combination. Oh, and you can't forget the eye mask. Eye masks are absolutely necessary on the plane. Don't just go with the one that they give to you, those little rinky dinky ones. No.

You need an eye mask with actual holes for your eyes so you don't wake up with poofy eyes and irritated eyes. These things okay. I was gonna say these things don't cost a lot of money. The neck fan is $50. But how much is your sleep worth?

Okay. How much is it worth when you land and you're exhausted, so you have to go right to bed and you waste a full day, or you waste an evening catching up on your sleep? Well, that's why my second recommendation is the app. Okay. I just forgot what it's called.

It's called Time Shifter. Now I'm sorry that these are things that you have to purchase, but this, I have to say, has been my other incredible purchase of last year. It essentially costs $25 for a full year. Okay, Hannah. Why are you spending money on an app?

Well, this app specifically, it inputs your information from your flight. So all you have to do is give it your flight number. It will see the time that you are leaving and the time that you arrive at your destination, the layovers. It takes into account the time of day that it will be by the time you arrive at your destination, and it tells you exactly how to avoid having jet lag once you arrive at your destination. And then you can also plug it in on the way home and then have no jet lag when you arrive at home.

It'll tell you, okay. Right now, you need to see some bright light, or it'll tell you now is the time to avoid bright light. So that's when you would put on your eye mask. It'll tell you go to sleep, take a nap, or nap if you can. It'll also tell you I don't know if you take melatonin or not.

You can turn it off if you don't take melatonin, and then you can turn it on if you do take melatonin. I take melatonin when I travel. That is really the only time I'll take it. And so it will give you melatonin and or caffeine advice to boost your energy level, help you sleep better, and help you acclimate to the time zone that you're traveling to a lot faster. So it'll tell you.

It'll literally show you this time chart. And let's say, for example actually, I don't wanna give an example of a place in a time zone because I don't know how to do that. That's why I'm paying for it. But it'll tell you from the hours of 12 PM to 8 PM, avoid caffeine. And then at 8:30 PM, drink some caffeine and try to stay awake until 12 AM.

And then from 12 AM to 2 PM or sorry. From 12 AM to 2 AM, take a nap. And then let's say you arrive an hour later, but you're arriving in the evening, well, you're still going to be tired because you tried to stay up from 8:30 PM to 12 AM. Does that make sense? I might be totally not making any sense right now.

You don't have to do everything perfectly, but the more that you try to stick on to the schedule that it gives you of, okay, avoid bright direct light. This happens sometimes when it's, I don't know, 3 o'clock PM where you are right now, and you're currently flying to a destination where it's nighttime. And so that's why it's telling you, hey, avoid direct light. If you can, put on an eye mask. You're probably not gonna sleep right now because it's 3 PM.

But by avoiding that direct light, putting on a sleeping mask, you're gonna help your circadian rhythm be able to adjust so much quicker, And I really can't rave about it more. I traveled to Rome using this and had zero jet lag. I was able to go to sleep and wake up at, you know, go to sleep at 10 PM, wake up at 7, just as an example, without any issues. Like, I didn't need the extra sleep. I didn't need to spend the time catching up on my sleep or my jet lag.

And, obviously, like I said, there's going to be times I remember when we landed in Seoul, South Korea on the way home from Thailand. That was a time that we were supposed to take a nap, and we were so, so awake that it was so hard for me to take a nap, but I just closed my eyes and I listened to an audiobook, and it helped with by the time we arrived in the US, it helped my jet lag be very minimal, where I only really needed to go to sleep an hour earlier or 2 hours earlier. And then I could just wake up at a normal time, and that just saves you a lot of time. And time is money, which is why I really like the Time Shifter app. Okay.

So for the next recommendation, wipes for sweat. So I don't know what these wipes are called. I will have to link everything in my Amazon purchase thing, which I I don't know if I've even I think I set it up a while ago, but I haven't given you guys access to it, so maybe I'll have to do that. Anyways, they are these travel wipes, and they are so good to use because they're essentially travel wipes and deodorant at the same time. So I used these a lot when I was in Rome.

You can use it to freshen up on the plane. I don't know about you, but I, sitting in my own filth for 16 hours while you're traveling and you have layovers and all these things, I try to freshen up at least 2 times during that time. And so travel wipes are so good. The second thing that kinda goes along with that are face masks. I always bring my a face mask to put on right before I go to sleep and then a face mask to put on once I wake up for facial swelling, for, I don't know, just kind of redness in the skin, brightening of the skin.

The elevation changes can do so much, and so I really try to avoid that. Okay. So the next item that I really want to rave about is not really an item. It's a website, Flights From Home. The other one starts with a p.

It's on the tip of my tongue. It's their sister brand, but I'm not remembering what it is called. Why am I not remembering what is what it is called? Essentially, flights from home is a paid subscription as well. But if you travel often or if you're really wanting to go to Europe this year and you don't wanna pay $800, 1200, pay the $50 for the year subscription to flights from home.

We've gotten $400 flights to Europe several times. We've gotten extremely cheap flights to Vegas for Caden's birthday. I remember I told you guys about that a few weeks back. And Portland, so many places. So, so, so many places.

Extremely worth it. And I don't think I need to sell it anymore because I know everybody knows what flights from home is. All I'm saying is if you have a dream destination and you're thinking this is the year, sign up with them, wait for it to come up, wait for the email, and then book it then. Have some flexible dates in your schedule and book it then. That is how you can get the cheapest flights possible.

Alright. So the last thing that I love, this is an unnecessary necessity, if you know what I'm saying. If you pack linen, if you wear linen, linen is something that I always bring with me to Europe because, I mean, it's Europe. And it's so easy to mix and match linen colors, linen styles. They flow very easily.

They're very airy and comfortable. It's not cotton. It's not gonna trap in any heat. But the only thing is is that they wrinkle. Linen wrinkles so easily.

And so the Downy wrinkle releaser spray, it's little. I think it's under 3 and a half ounces, and so you can bring it on the plane in your carry on. But that is so extremely useful. I lived by that in Thailand. I used that all the time.

I would spray my shirts at night. They would be dry in the morning, and it would release most of the wrinkles on the clothing. It's a lifesaver. I really like it. I'm not someone that has enough room in my bag to bring a full on steamer.

I know some people are out here, influencers are out there bringing full steamers with them in their carry on bags. Listen, Caden and I only travel with carry on bags. Okay. This is just going to be another unsolicited piece of advice. If you can ditch just ditch your check on bag because it is going to make your life miserable if you're doing a multiple destination trip.

Even if Caden and I are going to one place, we only ever bring our backpacks that are carry ons. They're the I think they're called the MLC Patagonia bags, but I know Cotopaxi has them. I know so many different brands make them, and they they're worth it. I can't lie. They are really awesome because picking up and going is so much easier when you don't excessively pack, when you have less things to bring with you, less things to keep track of.

My rule, I bring one pair of sneakers, one pair of flats. And the flats that are, like, comfortable walking shoes are also usually water friendly. So for me, it's my brown Tevas. That is my item, and then I usually bring white sneakers. And did the sneakers get kinda wrecked if we go hiking?

Yeah. But hey. That's okay because they can just go in the washer. So those are the things that I wanted to rave about. And now it's time for some rants.

There there are only there are only 4 things I want to rant about for now. Don't worry. We'll get to your guys' in just a minute. The first thing is that Instagram versus reality videos are very real. So when you're planning your trips, make sure that you look at an accurate depiction of what the experience is going to be like.

Okay? I can't lie. It hurts my heart a little bit that I kind of know what the destinations look like before I get there. You know, there's not really this element of surprise because everything is shown on social media and on TikTok and everything. But that's also a positive thing because then you can know where to avoid and where tourists are and kind of avoid those sections and those spots.

I mean, sometimes you can't avoid it. The Fifi Islands, for example, a must do when you're in Thailand. The level of people that were there was insane. The most insane thing, lines upon lines just to get into beaches. And that was the Fifi Islands tour that we did.

Oh my gosh. It was just it was just wild. Another one was Rome, the Treve Fountain. Am I saying that right? I know you've already seen videos of the Treve Fountain, but there's just an excessive amount of people and people fighting to be able to take pictures and to sit on the stones.

And, honestly, people are just trying to cool off and sit down somewhere because they're I forget what the stairs are called. They are a very famous set of stairs in Rome, but you're not oh, they're called the the Spanish Steps. That's right. You're not allowed to sit on them. And that used to be a place where a lot of people would sit because it's very tiring walking around, you know, for 10 to 15 miles a day in Rome, but you're not allowed to sit on those steps anymore.

I think it just became too overcrowded. And you can actually get tickets for sitting on those steps. And so people will try to sit at the Trevi Fountain because they actually have benches there, and so it can just get so overcrowded. And so do your research. Research the times that you go places.

There's lots of places in the Mediterranean that are for cruise stops. Right? Or not for cruise stops. Jeez. Cruises will stop there on, like, a multi Mediterranean type of cruise, where they're stopping in Rome, they're stopping in Pompeii, they're stopping in, I don't know, Cinque Terre and doing a full Italy tour.

Or they'll stop in Croatia, and then they'll go further south. But if you can get out of your of your Airbnb or hotel or wherever you're staying and start exploring before the cruises dock and before I'm pretty sure they usually dock at 10 AM, then do that because the amount of people that come off of cruise ships are 1,000, and that can just make your experience not as special. So do your research about that. It's kind of a rant. Right?

Just don't be faked out by places. Know what you're getting into and know the times to go somewhere. Rant number 2 is weather. Okay? You're telling me that I could book a trip in the month of June knowing that the weather is going to be perfect.

Because for the last 85 years, there has not been a single drop of rain. The water temperature is great and everything. And then it just decides to change its mind. Preposterous. Should have known I was coming.

End of story. Rant number 3. How cheap the breakfasts are in Europe. €1 for an espresso, €2 for a croissant. Your whole breakfast is €3.

Come on. Come on, United States. Why is a coffee and bagel 1499? 1799 if you're if you're in a bigger city. It is crazy.

Okay? Moving forward. This is gonna be my 4th one. I forget that I have more than 4 than 3. The situation on airplanes and the discussion around if you should recline your seat.

I'm so sorry, but this should not be a discussion. Hot take. You pay for the seat, you get all the amenities included. If I want to recline my seat by the 2 inches that I can recline, I'm going to. Because you know what?

100% of the time, the person in front of me is reclining, and I want my space back, and so I'm going to recline. I also value my sleep as we have discussed. And if you don't want someone to recline their seat, then you're going to have to buy a different ticket because what you signed up for is for everyone around you to be reclining their seats. I had the most uncomfortable experience. I never even thought this was a discussion.

I didn't even think this was a thing. I thought that you buy your ticket and you get what you came with. It'd be like, in my opinion, it'd be like telling me that I can't put my personal item under the seat in front of me because you wanna be able to scoot your feet back further even though there's a little stopper there. I'm sorry. I paid for this space, and I'm gonna use it.

Okay. This is what happened. Flying home from Portugal, I was not having a good time on the flight home. Okay? Caden and I decided not to spend the $15 to buy our seats upon booking the flights.

Seats were not bought because, you know, $15 a seat. Why buy that? Why buy that to sit together? I don't know what we were thinking. I don't know what Kayden was thinking.

I don't know what I was thinking. We will never do that ever again. So I walk up to where I'm supposed to be sitting, and it's a couple. And what did they do? Well, one of them booked the window seat, and one of them booked to the aisle, hoping that nobody would want the middle seat, so then they would have all three seats to themselves.

They would scoot together. They wouldn't have anyone to deal with, all of that jazz. Well, here I come wandering along who just got my seat assignment because we didn't pay for the flights. And I say, oh, yeah. Hi.

That's my seat. Excuse me. You know, the aisle person always has to get up and move. And the lady who's sitting by the window, she's like, hey. We're married.

Do you mind if I sit by him and switch you seats? You can have the window seat. And I actually didn't want the window seat because I get very bad ear infections on the plane, and so I like having easy access to stand up, to walk around if I need to to be able to go get some extra water. I don't know. There's there's a time and a place where I want the window seat.

It's on it's on the way to the destination of the vacation. It is not on the way home. I don't need it on the way home. And so I said, yeah. Totally.

If do you mind if I have the aisle seat? Actually, I don't want the window seat. And she said, no. Actually, I I need to I need to have the aisle seat because I I have to go to the bathroom a lot. And I was just like, okay, ma'am.

You have a lot of requests, but okay. Yeah. Sure. I'll take the window seat. Well, she doesn't even go to sit in the aisle seat.

Her husband stays in the aisle seat, and she sits in the middle. And he's like, hey. I thought you just told her that you needed the aisle seat because you need to go to the bathroom a lot. And she's like, you're in the blah blah blah. It's okay.

It's okay. And I was just sitting there, like, totally I feel like I totally just got taken advantage of. Again, I wouldn't have even minded the middle c because then it was just one person to get past to go to the bathroom and to walk around. But now I had 2 people to interrupt. I had 2 people to interrupt for when I needed to get up and go walk around, go to the bathroom, wipe my eyes.

Because when I have ear infections, it makes my eyes water, and it's just not a good experience. And so I was just kind of sad. And, also, Caden was, like, 4 rows ahead of me, and I was just sad. And so the person in front of me leans their seat back. I lean my seat back.

Well, a little bit later, I wake up from my nap, and the guy behind me is talking to his to his friends that are seated next to him, and he's just like, yeah. I can't do anything because she has her seat leaned all the way back. And I have no space because she's leaned her seat backwards. And I was just like, oh, okay. He was talking very loudly.

Like, it was very passive aggressive, and Hannah was not in the mood. I was not in the mood to have somebody be acting so passive aggressive about me leaning my seat back when I didn't even wanna be in that seat sitting in front of him in the first place. That was not even my original seat. And so I turn around and say, hey. Did you need me to move my seat forward?

And he said, oh, oh, oh, yeah. Yeah. That that would be really great. Thank you so much. And I think he was trying to go to the bathroom or something, but he just had never even asked me to move my seat forward.

And it was just, I think it was just the accumulation of experiences of that time. And I just sat there, and I cried. For what, Hannah? Well, you know what? It was just the frustrations of it all.

And my ear infection was hurting so bad. That'll be my last complaint is air pressure. My last rant. My ear canals are so small that the pressure from flying gives me ear infections every single time I fly. So then every single time I get home, I have to go to the doctor, pay, you know, the freaking $200 to the doctor just to tell them, hi.

This is normal for me. Can I please get some antibiotics? Because antibiotics are the only way to get rid of them. So those are my rants and my raves. Now it is your guys' turn.

Let's hear your raves for traveling. Traveling with only a backpack has made traveling so much better. It is tricky packing, though. 110%. I cannot back you more with this.

Traveling with a backpack can I just tell you? The there was this time that I was hiking in Chincoteur. My friend Anna and I, we had been hiking for about, I'd say, a mile. And suddenly, we come across these people pulling suitcases on the trail. And I'm looking around, and I'm thinking, I don't see any hotels.

I don't see any buildings. Then again, we are on the cliffside, and, you know, the mountains go in and out. So, you you know, we could walk up 50 feet, and then there could be a hotel at the bottom where you walk down to, or vice versa could be tucked into, like, a little cove. Anyways, they're literally carrying suitcases. And so we get up to them and we're like, hi.

Do you guys need help? And they said, no. No. The hotel is only it should just be another 5 minutes of a walk. And these people had booked this remote hotel that was situated on the cliff, essentially, like, just right there.

And it you know, beautiful location, gorgeous. I actually we never saw a hotel, honestly, when we were when we kept walking. We never saw one. I'm assuming that another path that they had to take, like, a fork off the road and maybe head up even further, but they were literally dragging suitcases with them. And it just reaffirmed it just reaffirmed my choice to always have a carry on backpack because you are so much more mobile.

You have all of your hands available. You don't have to drag anything. You're not overpacking. Does it make packing difficult? Yes.

Always try on your outfits beforehand. Make sure everything matches each other, and then you're all set. Okay. This next one says, I love facial spray. It helps me feel so refreshed on the plane.

Yes. This is another one that is so good. Make sure though it is unscented because the plane is a scent free zone. I love doing, like I said, a mask on the plane. Anything to kind of reawaken yourself, because it's like times and days just blend together, and then you kinda start feeling like you just you you know the feeling.

Right? Where you're just like, oh my gosh. Have I been up for 24 hours, or have I been up for 48 hours? I can't tell the quality of sleep that I got. And so it can really help wake you up and make you feel refreshed when your time time app tells you that it's time to wake up and to have some have some direct morning light.

Okay. So the next one says, sunscreen on the plane. There are high UV levels. Never forget your sunscreen. Okay.

I was wondering about this, because do the plane windows have protection? Do they install, like, a film or something? Because some of the plain windows that I've been in are tinted, so I'm kind of curious on if that actually gives you protection. I do think wearing daily sunscreen is really good for you. I do it every day, and that will be something that continues.

Okay. This, this actually reminds me of something that I forgot, and that is long socks. Long compression socks help with swelling for traveling for long hauls. Even if you're going on a 6 hour flight, wear compression socks. It will help you with varicose veins as well.

I have been doing this for, I would say, a little over 2 years. I forgot my compression socks on our flight in February to Portugal, and my legs and ankles, I could physically feel the difference because I I hadn't felt it in so many years. You know, what happens when you don't wear compression socks? When you don't wear compression socks, you're going to feel so much heavier in your legs. You're gonna get a lot more swollen, and compression socks are very inexpensive.

So that would be another thing, another tip that we love. Okay. This next rave says squishable water bottles. I thought these were not cool, but when I brought it with me on my last trip, it was so usable because when it ran out of water, I could just put it in my bum bag. When it's empty, you don't have to walk around with it.

Wow. I've never used a squishable water bottle, but this sounds actually very useful. I remember walking around Rome with an empty plastic water bottle because I lost my reusable water bottle on the flight there. And I was just walking around holding this piece of plastic because I just I knew that I didn't wanna pay €6 for another freaking water bottle. Because when it's that hot outside, they charge so much for water, and there are so many fountains all across the city where you can fill up your water for free.

And so having a little squishable water bottle sounds perfect. Bring your own locks for hostels, or they will charge you. Okay. This is so true. This is so true.

If you are ever staying in a hostel, which I will tell you my hostel horror story at the end of this episode, you've gotta bring your own lock because there are lockers in each room, but you'll have to rent the lock for, like, another $5. And the way that hostels make their money is they charge you for every little thing. One hostel we stayed at in Munich charged us for our bedding. I wore sheets. She looked at me in my eyeball and said, do you want bedding?

And I said, how much is it? It was $15 just to rent a, a bedsheet, a blanket, and a pillow with a pillowcase. And I just I remember we we were just like, why did we book this hostel? It was right next to the train station, and it was kind of a last minute booking. I think that we had ended up changing some of our travel plans because we wanted to stay in Munich a day longer, and so we had to leave our Airbnb.

But I will tell you the rest of the horror story of that hostel at the end of this episode because it's pretty bad. Alright. Now it's time to get to your guys' rants. My number one pet peeve is when people stand up on the plane when it lands and try to get off first. Can somebody please show me the very first person in history that did this?

Can we can we show their face now? Can we can we put them in jail, prison immediately? This I don't know why do people do this. I'm at a loss for words because that is how I feel. Every time this happens, I just look up at them and I think no.

I can't say it because it's just so rude. I think, do you really think that where you're going is more important than when than where than where I'm going? Do you really think your time is so much more valuable than everybody else's on this plane as to where you jumped off your seat and you ran ahead 5 rows to get in front of the freaking mom that's with her baby that's also trying to get off the plane. Like, I'm so sorry. Why is that a thing?

I was so offended. I should not have been, but I was offended. There was this woman. We had gone through TSA PreCheck together. There was not enough bins for her phone.

And so I said, oh, yeah. Hey. You can put that in mine if you want. And she was like, oh, thank you so much. This was in the Salt Lake City airport.

We get to our layover, and we kind of file out at the same time. And everything's fine. I go get some food and go back to the flight. We board. I see her again.

I'm like, oh, she's going all the way to Salt Lake. Because, you know, obviously, when you do your first flight, it just says, you know, to Georgia or to Atlanta or wherever your layover is at. And so we both get on the Salt Lake City flight, and the whole time, we kind of, like, acknowledge each other. You know, we've been seeing each other in the bathrooms and just kinda smile, say, hey. And, you know, we're just traveling from Salt Lake City to the exact airport in North Carolina together.

So I don't know. It was just very cordial. It was good. It was all nice. Well, on the flight home from Charlotte, North Carolina to Asheville oh my gosh.

The second we land first of all, I'm sitting in the middle. On the left of me is this guy that is very nice. He's probably in his late fifties. This whole time, he was talking to me about his son and his wife's travel plans. Really nice people.

And then the woman to the right of me, she was pregnant traveling with her 1 year old all by herself for the very first time. And, obviously, that's kind of a big deal. Right? And the guy to the left of me was so helpful with her baby too, and everyone was just like, it was a good row to be in. I don't know what the energy was that day, but it was a healthy, happy row.

You know, 27 or whatever we were at. Well, the plane lands. Who is the first person to jump up literally 5 rows back behind us and stand basically an hour row waiting for the people in front of her who had already lined up. That freaking woman from Salt Lake City. And I'm like, excuse me, ma'am.

Can we stay cordial? Can you let everybody else get off this plane? There were no other destinations, so she wasn't rushing to get onto another flight because Asheville is a regional airport. And so you when you fly into Asheville, that is your destination. There are no connections.

And I'm just thinking, like, girl, let this mom get off before you get off. This woman was probably in her late fifties, and I don't know. There's just a little bit of disappointment there. I can't lie. I know it's not that deep.

I know it is not that deep, but everybody else wants to get home too. So when you are racing in front of everybody, and then instead of these people that have or maybe paid for a seat in front of you, when it's their turn, suddenly you're there, and they have to wait for you to move. And then suddenly everyone behind that person is trying to push through, and then I don't know. It's just strange strange to me. So if I ever have the opportunity, I will get up if I'm in the aisle seat, and I'll stand in the middle.

And I will just be like, no. If people in front of me haven't been allowed out of their seats because everyone in line hasn't gone, I will, like, stand there and be like, yeah. Go ahead. Like, you are seated in front of me. You should be going before I do.

But I don't know. I guess we just can't all have common sense. Okay. Enough rambling, because this rambling is causing me to say the word like a lot, and I publicly and formally apologize for that. I am working on that.

Okay. The next rant is the beige base? Beige Luggage Sucks. Okay. I've seen this brand, and I've also seen that when you check BASE bags is that how you say it, BASE?

They're basically a luxury a luxury bag company. So luggage, bags, carry ons, all that kind of stuff. But I've heard that when you check your bag, it comes back absolutely destroyed. So the quality isn't amazing, and it's so delicate. The luggage is delicate to the point as to where you have to buy a luggage cover for your suitcase.

I don't know if you guys have a luggage luggage cover. If you do, you are fancy, and I'm trying to get on your level. But I have heard the same thing that Bay's luggage is not all that it's hyped up to be and that the 100 of dollars are not worth it. Okay. So this is the 3rd rant.

Why do people update their luggage? Why is this a thing? I thought suitcases were okay being ugly. I will not be updating my luggage to follow the trends. Amen.

I feel like that is the same thing with the base luggage. I'm just thinking this. Hey. I've had this suitcase since Caden and I got married because we put it on our for some reason, we put it on our wedding registration. Is that what it's what it's called when you get gifts for your wedding?

We had luggage bags. I mean, we just kind of thought of everything that we didn't have and didn't really wanna pay for and put it on there, and thought, you know what? If you wanna buy it, you can. We got luggage bags. We still have them.

Haven't updated them. I guess we did buy those carry ons from Patagonia. But if I'm being honest, that was like a summer sales promo thing where Kaden hit a bonus, and then we were able to use the bonus to go towards those Patagonia bags. So, anyways, I agree. Bags being trendy are silly, but I guess it's a thing.

I guess it's a thing. I guess that's why there are luxury brand bags. Alright. Now we're getting into the stories. So you guys submitted some bad travel experiences.

This one says, Hannah, I feel like this was made for me. I have so many tips, tricks, rants, and stories that I could go on forever. One time in Africa, I was volunteering with a group. We were cleaning up on this field, and I was pretty far away from my group on the outskirts, picking up garbage. This guy comes up to me, grabs my arm, and starts dragging me away from everybody by my arm.

All he tells me is that he's taking me away to his house, and another kid sees what's happening, comes running over, grabs my free arm, and starts yelling and causing a commotion. She says, my dumb a should have done that, but I was so scared and didn't know what was happening that I didn't make a sound. And I'm literally in the middle of this human tug of war. Needless to say, the commotion attracted the attention of the guards that we had with us, and they came and got me. But to this day, I'm so grateful for that kid.

There was another time when we were in Nicaragua that we missed the last bus, and we had to be back home the next day to teach. We were teaching English. This guy saw us. There were, like, 10 of us girls and my husband, and told us that he'd give up a ride back if we paid him, and then proceeded to lock all of us in the cage in the back of his truck. We were all so stupid slash desperate enough to squish in there.

We were obviously fine, and he was so nice. Oh, my gosh. Both of these stories of being in a human tug of war of someone that is actively trying to kidnap you, and then the other person is screaming, yelling, trying to cause people to come see you, I am also glad that you had someone watching out for you, because that is crazy. And being locked, I can just totally imagine what this truck looks like because we rode in the back of one of these cage like trucks in Thailand. And so I can totally see everyone being squished in the back of that and the desperateness.

You must have been very desperate to not care and to ask somebody random. That's crazy. Okay. This next story says, one time we found cheap flights to Kauai, but we couldn't afford to stay in hotels. So we packed tents and decided we would camp.

We bounced around a couple of beaches and didn't have any problems. Then the first night on this new beach, we noticed some other tents. So we pitched ours kind of near the others, not thinking very much about it. Then around 1 AM, we heard a gun go off really close by. It startled us awake, and shortly after, this truck kept pulling up to our tent, flashing its lights and revving its engine.

Then it would go off speeding and then come back and do it all over again. This went on for hours. The next morning, we learned that we had pitched our tent in a homeless camp. Oh my gosh. I am honestly shocked that you got away, though, with camping in Kauai because I've heard that that is, like, very difficult to do.

You know, even with vans, I've heard that you can't just park your van anywhere these days. You have to have full on reservations, and people will have the land of their home available to reserve for people that camp out or people that advance. So, you know, kudos to you guys for actually making that work. That is extreme talent right there. Okay.

This next one says, we've been held at gunpoint until we were paid off the police. Oh, man. So many wild stories. I would do it all over again for the experience experiences that I've been able to have. Okay.

So she actually had all of those experiences. All of the ones that I just read off were all from 1 girl. Isn't that insane? The amount of stories that you have, girl, I love it. I love it.

Those are so fun, and they honestly make for the best memories when things very unexpected happen. Obviously, if you are safe. Okay. It is now time for me to share our very worst, our very interesting traveling experience. Let me set the scene for you.

I already told you a little bit about what happened. We arrive at this hostel. It's in Munich, Germany, and we're right next to the train station. So it's a very good location to be at because the train station has a very famous, night market. This is during Christmas time.

So all these Christmas markets were in walkable distance. That's why we decided to stay here. And so wait a second. No. No.

No. No. No. I'm getting this all wrong. It was not in Munich.

This was in Austria. Okay. Okay. Sorry about that. Because Austria was our last destination before heading back to to go home.

Okay. This is on Austria, not Munich. Sorry. Austria was the place where we realized that we wanted an extra day. But story is still the same.

We chose that location because of its proximity to Christmas markets, the train station, so that's why we didn't do as much research on the hostel. We kind of assumed it would be the same price as the other hostels. Well, it was literally, I think, $50 a person after all of the fees of the locks that we didn't bring and had to rent of the stupid bedding that we had to pay for. Anyways, we walk into our room only to realize that we're staying, of course, coed because Caden and I didn't book a private hostel room, which you can do. We booked a public one.

And because I'm a female and he's male, we had to be in a coed room. Well, there are already 2 other guys in there. There's one guy on the far side of the wall, and then there's a guy on the closer wall. So there are, like, multiple little areas of this room. There's some beds in the corner.

I think there were 6 or 7 beds. So 3 had been taken because there there was another bed that was a bunk bed that had been taken. Well, what did Caden and I have left? We had a few options. We could go into a bunk bed where we are sleeping on top of each other.

Right? He's in the bottom when I'm in the top or vice versa. Or we could go on the 2 beds that were pushed up next to each other in the middle of the room against one of the walls. The only thing is is that these 2 beds, when you were laying down, you're facing a set of bunk beds. Okay?

So imagine that. You're facing a set of bunk beds. The thing is is that these bunk beds had these little, curtains that you could draw across so that you could have privacy and not have somebody watching you. Well, Caden and I didn't have anything that we could pull across because we were just sleeping out in the open. Right?

So what happens? Well, we meet this guy. He is directly in front of us on the lower bunk bed, so he has the option to draw across the curtain. He is so friendly. His name is Tiger.

His name is Tiger. He's extremely friendly. He's talking to us. He's just very excited that we have joined the room of of his room. He's talking to us about all of his travels, about his life, all these things.

He talks a lot, and so it's actually kind of hard for us to be like, hey. We've got some plans. We're it's our last night here in Salzburg. We're gonna head out and go to the Christmas markets. Anyways, we finally leave, and I think that he's super nice, and Caden is just kind of, like, annoyed at him.

He's like, something is just a little off. And I'm thinking, okay. Whatever. You're just, like, not giving him a chance. You know?

Oh, was I wrong? We get home pretty late because it, you know, is our last night. So and when I say late, it's like 10:30 PM. Usually, we don't stay out after dark in areas that we're not familiar with unless it's a super safe area or we're going back to an Airbnb. But a more public area, I don't know.

That's just kind of what we do. Plus, we still kind of keep a routine while we're traveling. I don't know why. But yeah. So we get back around 10, 10:30, and we get into the room.

And Tiger is just so stoked that we're back. He is telling us about his divorce and about his ex wife and how he, you know, he's just been finding out who he is, and he's been traveling. He starts showing us all these traveling places. He adds us on Facebook. Yeah.

Well, we decide that we are very tired. And so we say, Hey, Do you mind if after we shower, if we turn off the lights and go to bed? We both have eye masks, but we and we won't mind if you're using all your own lights and whatnot. But since the overhead light is directly above us, we're not in a bunk bed. Do you mind if we turn off the lights?

He says, yeah. Totally. I totally get that. Caden and I had to be on a train at 3 AM the next day. So early because we had to take a train to the airport.

And so Caden's already a little bit on edge because number 1, who convinced him? Who convinced Caden that we should stay in a hostel to save money on our travels? Well, me, of course, because I have only heard of good experiences. And, you know, it's a really good way to travel cheaply. Well, since since then, I have learned that you can actually be in a hostel, but be in your own room and just have a shared shower, shared bathroom situation.

So that's what we ended up doing in the future, but we did not know at this point. And so we go to bed. We turn off the lights. And an hour later, Caiden nudges me. He's like, Hannah.

Hannah, wake up. Wake up. Do you hear something? Do you see that? And I, like, look over, and you I cannot make this up.

Tiger was literally masturbating. He was masturbating. And, yeah, he was wearing headphones, but we could see that there was a laptop light on with his curtains, and he was literally doing that publicly in the freaking room. Can you believe that? And I was just like, Kaden, we cannot I don't know what's going on right now.

We have to go to bed. I didn't truly understand exactly what was going on. I couldn't hear anything. I did have my AirPod Pros in my ears. It wasn't playing anything by that time, but it was noise canceling.

And so I was just I didn't really know what was happening. But Caden's like, no, Hannah. He is literally masturbating right now. I cannot go to sleep. This is disgusting.

We should leave. And I was just like, Caden, what? I was so delirious. I was like, Caden, please just please just fall asleep. We're leaving in, like, 2 hours.

In 2 or 3 hours, just go to sleep. And did Caden sleep a wink for the rest of the night? No. In fact, when we got up, he got up about 10 minutes earlier than we were going to, and he starts packing up. He's like, we've we've we've got to get out of here right now.

This has been happening all night long. He'd literally been doing that all night long, and Keaton said that he could hear it. There were shadows. Yeah. Sorry.

I didn't give you guys a warning if you were listening to that publicly. So sorry about that. But that was the experience that I provided that I provided Kaden when I said, Kaden, we should stay in a hostel. It'll be so fun. We can meet people, make new connections.

No. What we should've done is stay in a hostel that's, like, for people in their twenties and solo travelers and stuff so that we could actually meet people like that. But, no, we were with Tiger. And, yes, immediate block upon leaving that room. And Caden has been forever scarred, and since then, we have never been in a public hostel room.

The night before, actually 2 nights before we arrived to Austria, we had not 2 nights before, but we had arrived to Austria 2 nights before that. And we had a family in there that was Austrian. They weren't living in Austria, but they were there to visit their family. And every single one of them, there were 3 of them, mom, dad, and their daughter, all 3 of them snored. And to the level of snoring where I could hear it through my noise cancelling headphones, and I swapped 2 earbuds to cancel out the noise, and you could still hear them snoring.

And so I didn't really you know, the experience, I would say, with the hostels for Kayden wasn't amazing. I think that for the future, we will continue to book hostels where you have your own private room. And, yeah, you share a bathroom. As long as you're bringing flip flops and you're not actually standing in the shower with your bare with your bare feet, I think it's okay. It doesn't bother me that much if it's a short term stay.

But, yes, that is the story of our experience in Austria's hostels. Thank you guys so much for submitting your rants and your raves. The lawnmowers are going a little bit crazy outside of my place right now, So it is time for me to go. I cannot wait to catch up with you very soon. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode on the Unrelatable podcast, and I will talk to you later.

Byeeeeee