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2nd Birthday Episode - Listener Questions & More! · Travel Mug Podcast

• 0:00
  Jenn: Hey, everyone.
• 0:00
  Jenn: Welcome back to the travel mug podcast.
• 0:04
  Jenn: Meggan can you believe it?
• 0:05
  Jenn: We're recording our second birthday episode right now.
• 0:10
  Meggan: Oh, I know.
• 0:11
  Meggan: I know it's hard to believe, but very exciting.
• 0:14
  Meggan: I mean, we've worked hard to get here, so,
• 0:17
  Jenn: but like holy Crow, like
• 0:20
  Meggan: what is time and where did it go?
• 0:23
  Jenn: So crazy.
• 0:24
  Jenn: So we're recording this early, but when this episode comes out, we'll both be traveling with.
• 0:30
  Jenn: Which is nuts.
• 0:31
  Jenn: It'll be our first big trips since we even started this podcast.
• 0:35
  Jenn: So make sure you're following us on social media.
• 0:38
  Jenn: So you'll see what fun things we might be getting up to.
• 0:43
  Jenn: And we're really excited
• 0:45
  Meggan: and like, not only our personal Instagrams, but we could use the travel mug one too, if you just are listening.
• 0:51
  Meggan: Can follow us along there if they don't trap follow us personally.
• 0:54
  Meggan: I think that'd be,
• 0:55
  Jenn: yeah, let's do that.
• 0:56
  Jenn: So we'll we'll make sure we keep.
• 0:58
  Jenn: Up to date with what we're doing.
• 1:00
  Jenn: But today we're going to do some fun listener questions and just kind of general chats.
• 1:06
  Jenn: I'm excited to dive in, but I did want to go over a couple of statistics because I like to say so right now we have over 4,000 downloads.
• 1:16
  Jenn: Which is really cool.
• 1:17
  Jenn: We've been downloaded in 48 countries and 663 cities.
• 1:25
  Jenn: Cool.
• 1:26
  Jenn: I know our most popular episode is a local guide to Halifax, which I think is interesting because that was a really early
• 1:35
  Meggan: I know.
• 1:35
  Jenn: So like in our first, I'd say in our first five, I think.
• 1:42
  Meggan: Yes.
• 1:42
  Meggan: And people know what's going on in the Halifax
• 1:45
  Jenn: we do, people are traveling to the Halifax, I guess and almost 500 Instagram followers.
• 1:50
  Jenn: Maybe by the time you listen, we'll be over 500, but right now, if you could go and give us a like, and get us over for that, that would be exciting.
• 1:58
  Meggan: I think so too.
• 1:59
  Meggan: I think so, too, but those are so cool stats.
• 2:01
  Meggan: Like I think we should be very proud of our little podcast.
• 2:07
  Jenn: All right.
• 2:07
  Jenn: Listen to our questions.
• 2:09
  Jenn: We asked you to send them in on Instagram and Facebook and such, and here they are.
• 2:15
  Jenn: So our first question is from Laura, who was on the show, would you rather be up close and personal with a lion or cage dive with a great white shark.
• 2:31
  Jenn: I'll let you go first, Meggan.
• 2:33
  Meggan: Oh, you're going to let me, oh, my.
• 2:36
  Meggan: Well, I mean, cool either, right?
• 2:39
  Meggan: Like really rad.
• 2:40
  Meggan: But it doesn't say anything about the fact that I wouldn't be like, close with a lion while on a Jeep or maybe like behind a fence or something.
• 2:50
  Meggan: So I'm going to assume that we're not both like strolling in the jungle.
• 2:54
  Meggan: So I'm going to go lion.
• 2:57
  Meggan: I love cats.
• 2:58
  Meggan: Of course.
• 2:59
  Meggan: It's a very large cat.
• 3:01
  Meggan: So I think like safely up close with a lion would be my jam.
• 3:04
  Meggan: What about you?
• 3:05
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 3:05
  Jenn: Okay.
• 3:06
  Jenn: If it, if we're going with, we're both in very safe situations where you're not going to die either way I would sort of lean towards the lion, but I also think the shark would be really cool.
• 3:19
  Jenn: I don't know, I guess,
• 3:21
  Meggan: There's the stress of breathing underwater.
• 3:23
  Jenn: There's that.
• 3:25
  Jenn: All right.
• 3:26
  Jenn: If I, if I had to choose, I guess I'm going to go lion, I think, but
• 3:30
  Meggan: maybe we could do that together though.
• 3:35
  Meggan: Safely with one another.
• 3:37
  Meggan: So our next question, my darling husband submitted he's inquiring minds want to know?
• 3:45
  Meggan: Cause he's never traveled with me, I guess.
• 3:47
  Meggan: What's the best meal you Jenn have ever had while traveling
• 3:53
  Jenn: that's so, so hard to choose because I really love.
• 3:57
  Meggan: Everyone knows.
• 3:57
  Meggan: We love food here
• 4:00
  Jenn: so much good food.
• 4:01
  Jenn: So one memorable meal I had was at Spice Thai in New York city.
• 4:07
  Jenn: I remember the food being like so delicious.
• 4:10
  Jenn: I had like a lemon grass chicken.
• 4:12
  Jenn: That was so good.
• 4:13
  Jenn: And I tried to like make a recipe at home and it was not good.
• 4:19
  Jenn: I could not replicate it at all.
• 4:21
  Jenn: Um, The wine was really good, but we had really good company.
• 4:25
  Jenn: And I think that like elevates the, the memory, right?
• 4:29
  Jenn: Like I just remember how much fun we had and the food being so delicious.
• 4:35
  Jenn: And I just, it it's a, it's a such a good memory that maybe it makes the food seem more delicious than it actually was.
• 4:40
  Jenn: But um, I also remember having really good Chinese food with my step-mom in Iceland, and I have no idea what that was called.
• 4:51
  Jenn: I tried to Google it and there's a surprising number of Chinese food restaurants in Reykjavik, like I don't know....
• 4:57
  Jenn: That was like 2013.
• 5:00
  Jenn: So it was a little while ago.
• 5:02
  Jenn: But yeah, I, I love food.
• 5:04
  Jenn: It was so hard to choose.
• 5:05
  Jenn: What about you, Meggan?
• 5:06
  Meggan: Also love food, obviously.
• 5:08
  Meggan: But if I have to choose, I would say in 2016, I was in London with a friend and we went for Sunday dinner at London, Marriott hotel county hall.
• 5:20
  Meggan: Again, the atmosphere was really nice.
• 5:22
  Meggan: It overlooked sort of the river Thames big Ben was nearby and there was Yorkshire pudding.
• 5:30
  Meggan: Potatoes cooked in duck fat.
• 5:32
  Meggan: This was before I was a pescatarian.
• 5:34
  Meggan: And I'm sorry, I apologize to all the ducks, I know love, but like it was the tastiest potatoes I've ever eaten.
• 5:41
  Meggan: I did find pictures and realized like there was meat on it, but I can't remember what that was, but they also had, I also had the most delicious dessert and Americano, oh my goodness.
• 5:50
  Meggan: The coffee was just to die for.
• 5:52
  Meggan: And so I think like you, it wasn't, the company was really good.
• 5:56
  Meggan: It's not that, but it was.
• 5:57
  Meggan: Where it was situated was just like so cool.
• 6:01
  Meggan: And we spent a long time there and the meal took a while and there was with all the different food.
• 6:07
  Meggan: It came with these little pots of like extra of each.
• 6:12
  Meggan: We ate for a long time.
• 6:14
  Meggan: So I did find some picks.
• 6:15
  Meggan: I'll make sure to post those when we do our social media for this, but I would have to say that, although, of course, I'm sure I've had like tons of great meals.
• 6:21
  Meggan: I spent a month in France.
• 6:23
  Meggan: I'm sure I had some good food there, but, but that sort of stands out for me in my mind.
• 6:28
  Jenn: It's funny how much the atmosphere can make or break the experience.
• 6:34
  Meggan: Yeah,
• 6:34
  Jenn: yeah.
• 6:35
  Meggan: A hundred percent.
• 6:36
  Meggan: What's next?
• 6:37
  Jenn: All right.
• 6:37
  Jenn: Abby asked pros and cons of being a tourist versus living like a local.
• 6:47
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 6:47
  Meggan: Like, I mean, I think being, I thought about this for a while.
• 6:50
  Meggan: Cause I think being a tourist of course has its place.
• 6:53
  Meggan: I mean, we can't lie when you go somewhere new.
• 6:55
  Meggan: That's what you are.
• 6:56
  Meggan: Even though people try to like, oh, I don't want to be a tourist.
• 6:59
  Meggan: And that's okay.
• 7:00
  Meggan: Like it is okay to take pictures and wander around, like looking up at buildings and stuff like that.
• 7:06
  Meggan: It eat at some touristy spots.
• 7:09
  Meggan: I just, it just makes sense.
• 7:10
  Meggan: But when I think of like, living like a local, I think of like being more of a traveler, not just a tourist.
• 7:17
  Meggan: So eat at restaurants, eat off the beaten path, try to learn a little of the language if necessary to where you're going, respect the people and the place.
• 7:26
  Meggan: Find an excursion maybe where you get to.
• 7:28
  Meggan: Meet locals and spend time with them.
• 7:31
  Meggan: Like, don't just visit like the hard rock cafes of the world.
• 7:34
  Meggan: If that's even still a thing.
• 7:35
  Meggan: I don't know.
• 7:37
  Meggan: It's kind of what came to mind for me.
• 7:38
  Meggan: So try to get a feel for the real place.
• 7:40
  Meggan: Its history, its people.
• 7:42
  Meggan: So you are a tourist and we can't deny it, but just travel like you respect the place, I guess is how I would put it.
• 7:50
  Jenn: I like that.
• 7:51
  Jenn: I like that.
• 7:52
  Jenn: Interpretation a lot.
• 7:53
  Jenn: I guess I, for me, I was like, I don't think I've ever lived like a local, I don't think I've ever spent long enough in one place to really like, live like a local.
• 8:05
  Jenn: If, you know what I mean?
• 8:07
  Meggan: No, of course.
• 8:08
  Jenn: I also feel like it is like totally fine to be a tour, a tourist, as long as you're respectful about it.
• 8:15
  Jenn: Right.
• 8:15
  Jenn: And yeah, obviously I want to go places and I want to, I want to see those tourists do things.
• 8:20
  Jenn: That's probably part of the reason I'm going.
• 8:23
  Jenn: Right.
• 8:24
  Meggan: I know.
• 8:25
  Jenn: I, you know, I want to go to the museums and I want to do those things.
• 8:28
  Jenn: But yeah, I think, I think as long as you're respectful about it and then like getting off the beaten path as well, and talking to people and, and all those things that we encourage you to do, how did you feel?
• 8:39
  Jenn: Cause you spent like how long in France, like you were kind of more living like a local, I guess I might say that than I ever have.
• 8:47
  Jenn: How was that experience compared to like.
• 8:50
  Meggan: It was unique.
• 8:51
  Meggan: Like I have to say series about three weeks in Paris and I spent one week in the Alps, but the time that I was in Paris, I really, you know, my French came back from like my childhood.
• 9:03
  Meggan: It was interesting, you know, eventually I was in the subway and I felt like I didn't stand out because I could actually hear and make out what people were saying.
• 9:10
  Meggan: I heard people talking about me.
• 9:11
  Meggan: I could understand like what they were actually saying over the loud speaker on the subway.
• 9:17
  Meggan: I knew my way around and you really do start to get a sense of like, I didn't dress like a Parisian, so there was that.
• 9:24
  Meggan: But the rest of it, like you really do start to feel like you belong somewhere else.
• 9:30
  Meggan: And it's a, it's a cool feeling to be like a worldwide citizen.
• 9:34
  Meggan: If that makes any sense.
• 9:35
  Meggan: Like, it was one of the most unique experiences of my life at like a hard time in my life.
• 9:40
  Meggan: So it was.
• 9:41
  Meggan: It was perfect and something I've never done since and hope to do again someday.
• 9:46
  Jenn: I love that.
• 9:47
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 9:47
  Jenn: I definitely hope to, to do a bit more, I guess, slow traveling where you're kind of staying in one spot and just kind of living there and experiencing it in the future.
• 9:57
  Jenn: I think, I think that'd be really.
• 10:00
  Meggan: I hope we get to so , the next one is from Celtic devil on Instagram.
• 10:04
  Meggan: How does one travel with the environment and climate change in mind?
• 10:09
  Meggan: And he sort of put Yolo versus like the earth.
• 10:13
  Meggan: So like what, what are your thoughts on that?
• 10:16
  Jenn: I mean, so.
• 10:18
  Jenn: We ha we do have two entire episodes about traveling ethically and responsibly.
• 10:22
  Jenn: So I think that's a good place to start on, on our thoughts on that.
• 10:26
  Jenn: But I would say one thing I'm doing personally is donating to an organization that plants trees in order to offset any plane travel that I do.
• 10:35
  Jenn: So I can link that in the show notes.
• 10:36
  Jenn: It's also in the show notes of our Ethical travel episode, but yeah, that's just something that I I've been doing.
• 10:43
  Jenn: And I mean, I've gone on one flight since I pledged to do that, but I did donate the tree, so that's great.
• 10:50
  Jenn: And then also just trying to decrease my carbon footprint.
• 10:52
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 10:53
  Jenn: In my everyday life as well.
• 10:55
  Jenn: Cause it's not just traveling that's the problem, obviously.
• 10:59
  Jenn: But yeah, it's a really complicated issue and obviously whatever we do is going to have an effect on the planet.
• 11:06
  Jenn: And I, I think.
• 11:08
  Jenn: You do kind of have to balance the, the yellow versus the earth, right?
• 11:12
  Jenn: Like I, I'm not going to sit home and never drive my car and never do anything ever again, to benefit the planet.
• 11:20
  Jenn: But at the same time, I'm not gonna do excessive driving if I don't have to.
• 11:25
  Jenn: And, and that sort of thing.
• 11:26
  Jenn: Does that make sense?
• 11:28
  Meggan: Oh, totally.
• 11:28
  Meggan: And I think this is a tough one, like, because really any mode of transport in regards to travel, unless you're taking a bicycle you really are going to add to climate change.
• 11:38
  Meggan: So unless we're Greta Thunberg, you know, taking a sailboat we have to accept that we are part of the problem.
• 11:43
  Meggan: So if we do choose to travel, we can do so as responsibly as possible.
• 11:47
  Meggan: Like you said, we talked about this over those two episodes and really, you know, it's basic stuff like reusable bottle, water bottles, and other items.
• 11:56
  Meggan: Even if you take your own fork, knife and spoon and don't use disposable things like we should have called the podcast, do your research on over visited sites, like, there's some places in Hawaii now where they're either not letting tourists go or you actually have to pay to do it when it was completely free before.
• 12:12
  Meggan: So ensure you're visiting responsibly and even supporting local as much as possible, as opposed to like big corporations who are potentially misusing people and their land.
• 12:22
  Meggan: So, I mean, there's so much you can do when you think about it, but.
• 12:27
  Meggan: But you, can't not add to it if you're traveling so that it has to be something you accept.
• 12:33
  Meggan: And I don't eat meat in my everyday life.
• 12:34
  Meggan: So I hope that somehow that's offsetting my travel a little bit.
• 12:39
  Meggan: So I don't know, like it, it's, it's a battle in your head.
• 12:43
  Meggan: And it's an interesting question.
• 12:45
  Meggan: And it's a tough question, honestly.
• 12:47
  Meggan: Yeah,
• 12:47
  Jenn: it is a tough question.
• 12:49
  Jenn: Like it's, it's complicated for sure.
• 12:52
  Jenn: But a very good question.
• 12:53
  Jenn: So thank you for that, for sure.
• 12:55
  Jenn: Celtic devil.
• 12:56
  Jenn: I like his Instagram name.
• 13:01
  Jenn: All right.
• 13:02
  Jenn: Our next question is for, from Amber.
• 13:05
  Jenn: What are the best hidden beaches in Nova Scotia?
• 13:09
  Jenn: I don't know why she thought we would know all about,
• 13:13
  Meggan: although we're both.
• 13:14
  Meggan: So like, we're like so biased from where we're from.
• 13:18
  Meggan: So we're both like our hometown.
• 13:22
  Meggan: I mean, I have to be honest though.
• 13:25
  Meggan: I'm sure there are a lot of like hidden gem beaches in this province we have no idea about, because we're not, I don't know about you, but like I'm not spending my time, like searching for beaches because I grew up pretty much on a beach.
• 13:38
  Meggan: So.
• 13:39
  Meggan: So I have to say in my own opinion, it's off the beaten path, but where I'm from Cape Sable island is surrounded completely by Sandy beaches.
• 13:49
  Meggan: The water is a smidge cold just as an FYI.
• 13:52
  Meggan: But, and I am partial to there, but the entire island is literally a beach.
• 13:57
  Meggan: Give it a.
• 13:58
  Meggan: It's about, I think I said, visit, give it a visit.
• 14:01
  Meggan: It's about two hours and 45 minutes from Halifax, not too long of a drive down the south shore.
• 14:08
  Meggan: And nearby in Barrington or near coffins Croft, it's actually called nearby is a beach called Sandhills.
• 14:14
  Meggan: Also a beautiful beach where it actually the water gets warm, which is a plus too.
• 14:20
  Jenn: That's a big plus
• 14:21
  Meggan: all right.
• 14:24
  Meggan: What about you?
• 14:26
  Jenn: I guess I don't, I don't know.
• 14:28
  Jenn: Like, I feel like there's not, I don't know of that many hidden, hidden gems anymore.
• 14:32
  Jenn: Everyone knows basically now, like Carter's beach down here in just outside Liverpool port Mouton area and like, sadly it's abused because people it's not set up for people to visit it.
• 14:45
  Jenn: It's it's like crown land.
• 14:46
  Jenn: It doesn't have
• 14:47
  Meggan: Parking
• 14:48
  Jenn: and like parking.
• 14:49
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 14:50
  Jenn: And the garbage is it's horrendous there right now.
• 14:53
  Jenn: So I can't recommend that one, even though it is beautiful.
• 14:57
  Jenn: But if you do go, please treat it with love and care and respect.
• 15:00
  Jenn: So I'm going to say my not so hidden gem beach is beach Meadows.
• 15:04
  Jenn: I grew up going there.
• 15:07
  Jenn: In an area where we're surrounded by beaches.
• 15:09
  Jenn: I feel like it is a lesser visited one.
• 15:11
  Jenn: But it, it is a lovely beach to walk on or to hang out on or swim, but it it's cold but that's, that's how it is.
• 15:20
  Meggan: Welcome to Nova Scotia.
• 15:22
  Meggan: Humans ruin everything.
• 15:25
  Jenn: We're the worst.
• 15:26
  Meggan: We are truly the worst.
• 15:27
  Meggan: And speaking of worst Amanda sent through a question as well, and she wants to know about our worst ever trip moment.
• 15:37
  Meggan: So Jenn do tell us your tale.
• 15:39
  Jenn: Oh my gosh.
• 15:40
  Jenn: Okay.
• 15:41
  Jenn: I went to Vegas in 2018 with my best friend and I was not prepared for how hot it was going to be.
• 15:52
  Jenn: We went in June, may end of may.
• 15:54
  Jenn: Beginning of June, I think.
• 15:55
  Jenn: And it was hot.
• 15:57
  Jenn: It's very dry there.
• 16:00
  Jenn: And the strip is very long
• 16:03
  Meggan: it's deceivingly long
• 16:05
  Jenn: it's deceivingly long.
• 16:06
  Jenn: Anyway, we landed you know, it was like a fly out here early, and we got to Vegas in the afternoon, maybe lunchtime or so.
• 16:15
  Jenn: And we checked into our hotel, which was treasure island, and we decided to hang out by the pool.
• 16:22
  Jenn: So we got like lunch and I got like fried food.
• 16:27
  Jenn: Might've been my first mistake.
• 16:29
  Jenn: And then I got a drink, like a margarita, which was probably like my second mistake
• 16:35
  Meggan: as not always a mistake, but in that situation
• 16:37
  Jenn: in this situation it was.
• 16:39
  Jenn: Like, I probably wasn't hydrated.
• 16:41
  Jenn: I had been traveling all day.
• 16:43
  Jenn: And then we made our third horrible mistake, which was to walk from the treasure island to the Luxor which didn't seem that far.
• 16:54
  Jenn: And it's not, I mean, it's three and a half kilometers according to Google.
• 16:57
  Jenn: Cause I looked it up.
• 16:58
  Jenn: Um, Which to me is not very far.
• 17:00
  Jenn: I was like, this is no problem.
• 17:01
  Jenn: We'll like check out the hotels along the way.
• 17:03
  Jenn: And we did, we, but it was hot.
• 17:06
  Jenn: Oh outside.
• 17:08
  Jenn: Anyway, we were going to the Chris angel show, which I was really excited about.
• 17:12
  Jenn: I love Chris angel.
• 17:12
  Jenn: This was like a bucket list kind of thing for me to do.
• 17:17
  Jenn: And we got to the Luxor and I was immediately sick.
• 17:20
  Jenn: Like throwing up I
• 17:22
  Meggan: Did you make it to the bathroom.
• 17:24
  Jenn: Yes.
• 17:25
  Meggan: Okay.
• 17:25
  Meggan: Well that's at least a plus
• 17:27
  Jenn: yeah.
• 17:28
  Jenn: Like makes it just slightly better.
• 17:30
  Jenn: I was so sick that I spent like the whole Chris angel show with like my knees up to my chest, trying not to vomit it was horrible.
• 17:44
  Jenn: It ruined the, like, it ruined that experience for me, which I'm so devastated by.
• 17:48
  Jenn: So I feel like I need a Vegas do over.
• 17:51
  Jenn: And then like the rest of that trip, I barely drank like alcoholic basically was like, I only am drinking water or Gatorade yeah, that
• 18:02
  Meggan: that was that's unfortunate.
• 18:04
  Jenn: It was a lot of bad decisions of my own making, leading to it.
• 18:10
  Jenn: A not so fun situation, but anyway, there's this there's that
• 18:15
  Meggan: There is that well, I hope you get to have your do over some day.
• 18:21
  Meggan: Yes.
• 18:22
  Meggan: Well, it is not any better tale.
• 18:25
  Meggan: So in 1997, when you were seven ,for reasons that are too many to get into I spent some time in the U S and I came home to visit for a weekend, actually, the weekend that princess Diana died.
• 18:39
  Meggan: And then I tried to go back to the us and this was like by a flight.
• 18:44
  Meggan: And in Toronto, I was stopped by us customs and brought into like a scary room, or it seemed really scary at that age and that time.
• 18:56
  Meggan: And got lots of questions about like, what was I doing in the us?
• 19:01
  Meggan: And you know, how was I supporting myself?
• 19:04
  Meggan: I was with someone else, but.
• 19:06
  Meggan: The questions were weren't wrong.
• 19:08
  Meggan: I mean, they were legit.
• 19:11
  Meggan: They knew what they were doing there.
• 19:13
  Meggan: I didn't have the right paperwork.
• 19:14
  Meggan: Anyway, at the end of the day, I was denied entry and there were no flights leaving for that individual to go back to America.
• 19:22
  Meggan: And there was no flights left for me to go home to Halifax.
• 19:26
  Meggan: All of this of course was in Toronto.
• 19:28
  Meggan: I wasn't even in Halifax.
• 19:29
  Meggan: So.
• 19:31
  Meggan: Had to spend a night in a hotel.
• 19:33
  Meggan: I literally cried so much.
• 19:34
  Meggan: My eyes were swollen and I'm not even talking a little bit.
• 19:40
  Meggan: I mean, like literally like swollen.
• 19:43
  Meggan: It was probably one of the worst times of my life, like in terms of like being scared and I'm a rule follower, as we know.
• 19:50
  Meggan: And so to have done anything seemingly wrong, which it wasn't horribly wrong, but it obviously was anyway.
• 19:59
  Meggan: Oh, the next morning my parents paid for a flight, got me home.
• 20:02
  Meggan: And like, literally now when I look back, it was actually the, one of the best things that ever happened to me.
• 20:08
  Meggan: And it put my life like on a really good path.
• 20:11
  Meggan: Um, And I wish I could just give younger me like a little hug and say, it's going to be fine.
• 20:16
  Meggan: And there's so much good stuff to come, but you know, 22 or 21 year old me was mortified and it was a very like hard situation for me at that age, having never gone through anything like that.
• 20:28
  Meggan: And it probably leads to my border anxiety today.
• 20:33
  Meggan: Like, I probably have like a smidge of PTSD.
• 20:37
  Meggan: And Peter, every time he's like, you need to act more natural.
• 20:41
  Meggan: I'm like, I can't, I don't know.
• 20:46
  Meggan: Anyway, I know it's from this situation.
• 20:48
  Meggan: So a little bit of that has stayed with me and I've entered the U S legally ever since.
• 20:55
  Jenn: Excellent.
• 20:55
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 20:55
  Jenn: That is very stressful.
• 20:58
  Meggan: Yeah, it was horrible.
• 20:59
  Meggan: It was horrible.
• 21:00
  Meggan: And there was the nicest man on the flight from Toronto back to Halifax.
• 21:05
  Meggan: He knew people from where I was from, of course, because everyone does.
• 21:09
  Meggan: And he was just so kind to me, but his kindness just made me like more upset if that makes sense.
• 21:17
  Meggan: And I think I just cried and continued to have swollen eyes, but thank you, sir.
• 21:21
  Meggan: Whoever you are out there, you were so nice to me, but anyway,
• 21:25
  Jenn: that's so funny.
• 21:26
  Jenn: I wish I could go back and tell younger me to hydrate more.
• 21:30
  Meggan: things could have gone so differently with you and Chris angel
• 21:36
  Jenn: SO differently I love Cris angel.
• 21:41
  Meggan: That's a shame.
• 21:42
  Meggan: It's a shame.
• 21:44
  Jenn: Great.
• 21:45
  Jenn: So we came up.
• 21:46
  Jenn: That's a couple of questions for each other because um, we're not going to go into the whole story here cause we've talked about it before, but Meg and I actually didn't know each other that, well, before we started the podcast.
• 21:58
  Jenn: We thought we might do some get to know me type question.
• 22:03
  Meggan: Alright, who are you even?
• 22:06
  Meggan: Are you?
• 22:09
  Meggan: So my first question for you and these are mostly non travel-related, like literally get to know you.
• 22:15
  Meggan: So what embarrasses you the most?
• 22:21
  Jenn: I feel like as I get older, I get less embarrassed, which is probably a similar experience for most people.
• 22:30
  Jenn: Like, I don't care as much what people think of me anymore.
• 22:36
  Jenn: But I guess what, what embarrasses me the most is like, if I, if I seem like unintelligent to somebody, or if I say something, that's just like, so Ignorant I guess like, I, I don't want to come off that way.
• 22:51
  Jenn: Especially sometimes like coming from a small town I don't, I don't want people to think that I'm just some person that's, you know, never left my small town.
• 23:01
  Jenn: So I guess seeming unintelligent would be the most embarrassing thing to me, but like, you know, public speaking or like fail, like failing in some way.
• 23:15
  Jenn: It doesn't embarrass me as much as it used to.
• 23:20
  Meggan: Right.
• 23:21
  Meggan: I think that's probably definitely with age and honestly, embarrassment for me.
• 23:25
  Meggan: I get secondhand embarrassed.
• 23:27
  Meggan: Like, yeah, can't change the channel and it's, I'm embarrassed.
• 23:33
  Meggan: I'm like, Peter, can we please just change?
• 23:35
  Meggan: I can't even handle a television program.
• 23:38
  Meggan: For me it's not as much embarrassment for myself.
• 23:42
  Meggan: I get a ton of secondhand embarrassment.
• 23:45
  Meggan: I actually said that to.
• 23:46
  Meggan: My lovely nail girl today.
• 23:48
  Meggan: And she said, she's the same.
• 23:50
  Meggan: And she goes, I have deleted Tik Tok over embarrassing videos and re downloaded that app so many times she's like, I'm so embarrassed for people on there.
• 23:59
  Meggan: And I'm like, it's the truth.
• 24:00
  Meggan: Like I can't, if I can't look away, I get so anxious.
• 24:04
  Jenn: Fair.
• 24:05
  Jenn: That's totally fair.
• 24:09
  Jenn: All right.
• 24:10
  Jenn: So my first question for you is how did you and Peter meet?
• 24:15
  Jenn: Because I do not know and was travel something that you guys like bonded over initially.
• 24:22
  Meggan: Um, Well, back in the day, pre sort of Tinder, there was an app here in Canada called Lavalife Bruce Croxon actually created that app, he was on Dragon's den for a while.
• 24:33
  Meggan: And so I was You know, looking for love, I guess.
• 24:39
  Meggan: Um, Anyway, and that's how Peter and I met.
• 24:41
  Meggan: So we met on the app and then we met in person and the rest is honestly history.
• 24:47
  Meggan: We were really embarrassed for a long time to tell people how we met because no one was really doing it yet.
• 24:53
  Meggan: It felt like we had done something that was just so taboo.
• 24:56
  Meggan: But today.
• 24:57
  Meggan: Duh.
• 24:58
  Meggan: Now it doesn't matter, but we tell people that's how we met as far as the travel.
• 25:01
  Meggan: Like we both enjoyed it.
• 25:03
  Meggan: Like when we met it was something that was a yes, for both of us, I had was definitely way more traveled than him and probably still am at this point.
• 25:13
  Meggan: So it's not that we bonded over, but very lucky that is sort of like a common factor for both of us, because now it is an like a huge part of our lives.
• 25:24
  Meggan: Thank God.
• 25:24
  Meggan: I honestly don't think I could be with someone who was just like, no, I'm good here in Halifax.
• 25:29
  Meggan: I'd be like, well, nah, I'm good to go somewhere else.
• 25:31
  Meggan: Thank you.
• 25:32
  Meggan: So I'm, I'm lucky that he likes to.
• 25:35
  Meggan: What about you and Ryan?
• 25:36
  Meggan: Do you tell your tale?
• 25:37
  Jenn: Well, I, it's a complicated tale.
• 25:41
  Jenn: We both grew up in the same town.
• 25:43
  Jenn: I didn't.
• 25:44
  Jenn: To my knowledge meet Ryan until I was in high school.
• 25:49
  Jenn: And we both worked at a restaurant.
• 25:52
  Jenn: So I was working in the dish pit and I was like 16, 17, it was my first job.
• 25:56
  Jenn: Ryan was home from university working in the bar, so he's five years older than me.
• 26:01
  Jenn: So we met there, he added me on MSN and
• 26:05
  Meggan: Oh my god!
• 26:05
  Jenn: I know and we started chatting.
• 26:07
  Jenn: So we started dating.
• 26:09
  Jenn: I was.
• 26:10
  Jenn: 18.
• 26:10
  Jenn: And he was 23.
• 26:12
  Jenn: To make it little more weird.
• 26:15
  Jenn: My dad was cleaning out his basement, just like in the last couple of months and found my baby book.
• 26:20
  Jenn: And I was looking through it.
• 26:22
  Jenn: And in the baby book, there's a spot where you list people that came to visit you in the hospital.
• 26:27
  Jenn: And Ryan's mom, dad, and Ryan and his brother visited me in the hospital when I was born, my dad and Ryan's dad worked in the same department at, at the paper mill here and,
• 26:41
  Meggan: oh my god.
• 26:42
  Meggan: That's crazy.
• 26:46
  Meggan: That is wild.
• 26:47
  Meggan: He's not all you when you're brand new.
• 26:50
  Jenn: Oh yeah.
• 26:51
  Jenn: It's it's very random, but
• 26:55
  Meggan: that's cool.
• 26:55
  Meggan: That's a great story.
• 26:57
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 26:58
  Meggan: So precious all right.
• 27:01
  Meggan: So moving forward then from our precious little lives, what is the dumbest way you have ever hurt yourself?
• 27:10
  Jenn: I haven't...
• 27:11
  Jenn: Knock on wood, knock on all of the things.
• 27:13
  Jenn: I haven't really heard myself like badly.
• 27:17
  Jenn: I was thrown off a horse in like June junior high and I mean, it didn't hurt that badly that I can remember.
• 27:28
  Jenn: But it was very embarrassing and also very scary.
• 27:32
  Jenn: And I do now have no desire to ride a horse.
• 27:39
  Jenn: I don't know if that's dumb, but it's I just it's turned me off of horses.
• 27:46
  Meggan: Horses are now.
• 27:47
  Meggan: not my thing., I think I literally don't have enough time to talk about how many stupid ways I've hurt myself.
• 27:55
  Meggan: The podcast can not be that long.
• 27:57
  Meggan: I have literally done so many things.
• 28:00
  Meggan: Two bike accidents, one led to broken teeth.
• 28:03
  Meggan: I passed it in the airport.
• 28:04
  Meggan: I broke teeth off in the airport.
• 28:08
  Meggan: My chin was cracked open and I woke up and some doctor was holding my face together.
• 28:13
  Meggan: Like so much stuff has happened to me.
• 28:15
  Meggan: I am the world's most awkward person.
• 28:18
  Meggan: So.
• 28:19
  Meggan: Anyway, I've hurt myself badly in many different ways.
• 28:21
  Meggan: And they're all really stupid.
• 28:23
  Meggan: We'll just say that.
• 28:29
  Jenn: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
• 28:35
  Jenn: with air quotes around grew up,
• 28:37
  Meggan: I'm still working on it, still working on it.
• 28:41
  Meggan: So my first answer here now is hilarious, especially after what I just said, because ballet dancer was one of the things and then I just kept growing and I.
• 28:53
  Meggan: I'm really tall, but I'm not like a naturally thin tall.
• 28:57
  Meggan: I'm not like saying whatever detrimental, but I'm not ballet, thin let's just be honest.
• 29:02
  Meggan: Oh, no.
• 29:03
  Meggan: I also wanted to be a garbage collector.
• 29:06
  Jenn: Interesting.
• 29:07
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 29:07
  Meggan: I mean, it's a noble profession, but I don't know why I thought I wanted to do that because I don't.
• 29:15
  Meggan: And then after a while I wanted to be a lawyer.
• 29:17
  Meggan: And I think that's probably cause I liked when I was younger in particular to argue.
• 29:22
  Meggan: So I thought that seems cool.
• 29:25
  Meggan: I grew out of all of that and became none of it.
• 29:28
  Meggan: What about you?
• 29:31
  Jenn: I don't know.
• 29:32
  Jenn: I don't remember ever wanting to be like one thing as like a child.
• 29:38
  Jenn: Maybe my mom usually listens to the podcasts, maybe she remembers, but I don't remember.
• 29:43
  Jenn: I guess the next thing I remember is being in leg junior high and being like, I'm going to be a bartender because that just seems really cool.
• 29:51
  Jenn: Didn't do that have worked in restaurants, and now I'm like, no, thank you.
• 29:56
  Jenn: And also I can't stay up late enough to be a bartender.
• 30:02
  Meggan: I simply can't put in the hours
• 30:04
  Jenn: no and then I guess high school, I was like, I'm going to be a massage therapist.
• 30:09
  Jenn: And then I did that.
• 30:09
  Jenn: So.
• 30:10
  Jenn: Hmm.
• 30:11
  Meggan: Well, you start with something pretty long though.
• 30:12
  Meggan: That's a pretty in-between.
• 30:14
  Meggan: You got there though?
• 30:16
  Jenn: Yeah, I don't know.
• 30:17
  Jenn: I don't know.
• 30:18
  Jenn: I was never like, I'm going to be a vet.
• 30:20
  Jenn: I'm going to be a doctor.
• 30:21
  Jenn: I'm going to, I don't know.
• 30:23
  Jenn: None of those things ever.
• 30:25
  Jenn: I don't know.
• 30:25
  Jenn: Maybe mom, maybe if you remember me saying something, you could let me know.
• 30:29
  Jenn: Cause I don't remember.
• 30:31
  Meggan: Yeah, I'm always freaked out when people say something when they're children and actually are that my childhood best friend Meredith, she wanted to be a teacher, her whole life.
• 30:39
  Meggan: Well, she's a teacher,
• 30:41
  Jenn: nice feeling to know what you want to do.
• 30:45
  Meggan: Uh, instead of a new thirties and your forties, but just drifting.
• 30:51
  Meggan: What's that like?
• 30:52
  Meggan: Anyway um, so this is a little bit travel related, but I wanted to know what is the first thing you do after getting home from a trip
• 31:03
  Jenn: unpack, which is controversial.
• 31:08
  Jenn: I, I like to unpack.
• 31:10
  Jenn: And then I'm just usually very excited to either go to bed depending on the time of the day, or sit on my couch and do nothing.
• 31:18
  Meggan: Right.
• 31:21
  Jenn: I'm very excited usually to get back into like my quote unquote routine, because travel is very fun, but it is very a lot.
• 31:32
  Jenn: It is, but I do like to put things away rather quickly.
• 31:38
  Meggan: We do too.
• 31:39
  Meggan: I don't in my house that's not a controversial statement.
• 31:42
  Meggan: Cause I, I actually agree with you here.
• 31:44
  Meggan: Like we're both like, let's get this stuff out of our suitcases.
• 31:48
  Meggan: Put those away, call it a day.
• 31:50
  Meggan: So we're on board with this here.
• 31:54
  Jenn: All right.
• 31:55
  Jenn: Would you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?
• 32:00
  Meggan: I am in between.
• 32:03
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 32:04
  Meggan: So, I mean, I think everybody has a little, I guess maybe everybody's got a little bit of both.
• 32:10
  Meggan: Some people definitely swing very much one way or the other, but has a smidge and the other, I don't know.
• 32:16
  Meggan: I just don't, I think I'm one in some ways and one in the other, but I I'm definitely would not call myself an introvert, but I also would not.
• 32:25
  Meggan: Obviously not call myself an- omnivert or ambivert.
• 32:29
  Meggan: I think it might be.
• 32:31
  Meggan: Cause I don't know, but I'm definitely in the middle.
• 32:33
  Meggan: I.
• 32:34
  Meggan: Whatever I need to be when the situation comes up, I guess, but I'm definitely, I mean, introvert really means you get overstimulated easy and need to step back and have that quiet time.
• 32:47
  Meggan: That doesn't really happen to me.
• 32:48
  Meggan: Like I think if I was in the streets of India and there was like a million like horns blaring all the time and I would then, but not typically.
• 32:56
  Meggan: But also during the lockdown, I wasn't one of those people that was dying for.
• 33:01
  Meggan: To be around other people and be stimulated either.
• 33:04
  Meggan: Like I was, I was kind of happy, just sort of in the middle.
• 33:08
  Meggan: What about you?
• 33:09
  Jenn: I definitely identify with being an extrovert because I feel like talking to people, recharges my batteries.
• 33:20
  Jenn: Like I feel like instead of draining me.
• 33:25
  Jenn: It like recharges my batteries does that, you know what I mean?
• 33:28
  Jenn: Like, yeah.
• 33:31
  Jenn: So I definitely, I mean, I do like doing things, you know, by myself sometimes, but no, I definitely, I notice it in myself when I haven't had a lot of social interactions for awhile.
• 33:44
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 33:45
  Jenn: I need it.
• 33:47
  Jenn: I needed it.
• 33:49
  Jenn: I need it.
• 33:49
  Jenn: Or I go crazy.
• 33:56
  Meggan: This one was a little odd, but I want, I thought it was interesting.
• 33:59
  Meggan: So what are 3 scents that you like three smells of things that you enjoy?
• 34:07
  Jenn: Citrusy things like I like oranges and lemon and lime and that sort of smell cookies, baking, who doesn't like cookies baking.
• 34:19
  Jenn: And then I would say like the ocean, the salty air smell.
• 34:24
  Meggan: That is lovely.
• 34:25
  Meggan: I love all of those.
• 34:27
  Meggan: I'm not as much citrusy.
• 34:29
  Meggan: I'm not, that would probably be the one where I'm sort of very differently maybe.
• 34:34
  Meggan: And when I think of that, like I like smoky scents like I recently found this replica perfume and it's called by the fireplace or something and it makes me so happy.
• 34:48
  Meggan: So I love a smoky smell, but I mean the cookies and ocean I'm I'm on board with that
• 34:53
  Jenn: freshly baked cookies at a campfire by the ocean.
• 34:56
  Jenn: Perfect.
• 34:57
  Meggan: I mean, that would be a dream.
• 35:01
  Meggan: It would be in total dream.
• 35:03
  Meggan: And
• 35:05
  Jenn: last question, who was your first celebrity crush?
• 35:09
  Meggan: Well, there were two and I went Canadian.
• 35:11
  Meggan: I didn't mean to you, but all the way.
• 35:13
  Meggan: So Michael J.
• 35:14
  Meggan: Fox loved family ties and back to the future and Bryan Adams.
• 35:20
  Meggan: And I still love both.
• 35:24
  Meggan: Um, But I know that they were both my celebrity crushes at the same time, because before I could address an envelope, I remember giving my mother envelopes and saying, I need you.
• 35:35
  Meggan: She probably never did.
• 35:36
  Meggan: I don't know.
• 35:38
  Meggan: I remember giving her these envelopes with these letters.
• 35:40
  Meggan: I've written in them to Michael and Bryan and they said, could you mail these for me?
• 35:46
  Meggan: And I remember thinking, like, I didn't even put their names on the right ones.
• 35:49
  Meggan: So like, how is she going to know who anyway, they probably went in the garbage and it's fine.
• 35:54
  Meggan: But that's how I know that it was a long time ago and it was love for both.
• 36:02
  Meggan: I was I was a Canadian strong girl.
• 36:04
  Meggan: What about you?
• 36:05
  Jenn: Oh, it was definitely Nick Carter.
• 36:12
  Meggan: I mean, how could you not love that back street boy?
• 36:15
  Jenn: And like still, still love a Backstreet boy
• 36:20
  Meggan: to this day,
• 36:22
  Jenn: to this day.
• 36:25
  Meggan: All right.
• 36:25
  Meggan: Well, we want to talk about some stuff about the podcast too, because obviously it is our second birthday episode and we've come so far.
• 36:32
  Meggan: So I wanted to, I was just wondering, you know, to finish things off in terms of the podcast, like, what do you feel is your favorite episode?
• 36:39
  Meggan: And.
• 36:40
  Meggan: Hmm.
• 36:41
  Jenn: I love our, how to save money for travel and travel on a budget because it's like, it's my whole blog.
• 36:49
  Jenn: It's my whole persona, I guess.
• 36:54
  Jenn: Because I think travel can be accessible to most people if they plan for it.
• 36:59
  Jenn: And I also loved our bucket list episode because that was just really fun to do.
• 37:04
  Meggan: Yeah, I have to say that bucket list one too.
• 37:07
  Meggan: I mean, it's nice to dream.
• 37:09
  Meggan: I do love our ethical and sustainable ones.
• 37:12
  Meggan: I think those are really important ones too.
• 37:15
  Meggan: And then any of our Nova Scotia ones, honestly, whether it's the seasons one that we do or sort of our tour around the province, I really like those ones because it is nice to talk about home and showcase, you know, where you live in hopes that it will bring people to there.
• 37:31
  Jenn: Exciting.
• 37:32
  Jenn: How do we feel like the podcast has evolved since two years ago and maybe we'll continue to evolve.
• 37:40
  Meggan: Well, I completely think that, you know, it's, it's changed, but it's also a lot of the same, I think you and I have evolved in terms of like our comfortability with one another, although right from the get go, people commented that they thought we were like, had known each other forever.
• 37:59
  Meggan: And I think we have that vibe, which I think has only gotten, gotten stronger.
• 38:04
  Meggan: So I think.
• 38:05
  Meggan: You know, we can only continue down that path in my opinion.
• 38:08
  Meggan: What about you?
• 38:09
  Jenn: Yeah, I think we're definitely a lot more comfortable do doing this, talking on a computer to someone, and I think we're a lot more comfortable having guests on than we were like the first couple of times kind of thing.
• 38:25
  Jenn: But yeah, I think everything is just more comfortable and we'll just keep getting better at that.
• 38:32
  Jenn: What we're doing.
• 38:33
  Meggan: Apologies to those initial guests.
• 38:37
  Jenn: It's funny though.
• 38:38
  Jenn: Now, because we've started having people back on, right.
• 38:41
  Jenn: Like we've had Deb back on, she was one of our first couple of guests.
• 38:47
  Jenn: And so, yeah, it's, it's been really fun to kind of have people back on again to you and talk about something else.
• 38:54
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 38:54
  Meggan: Yeah, definitely.
• 38:56
  Meggan: And for you last question, like, what do you think has maybe a longer term dream for the podcast?
• 39:03
  Jenn: Growing it and growing our community of people and reaching more people.
• 39:10
  Jenn: And I mean, sponsors would be amazing if anyone's listening to this and they want to sponsor us.
• 39:18
  Meggan: We're here.
• 39:19
  Meggan: We're waiting.
• 39:19
  Jenn: We're open to that.
• 39:21
  Jenn: Yeah, I think I just, I want to keep doing it.
• 39:28
  Meggan: Yeah, no, I mean the same, I'd love to have more guests on.
• 39:30
  Meggan: I think it adds something different perspective.
• 39:33
  Meggan: Obviously we have a lot to talk about, but we certainly, you know, know of people who can bring something and add something to the podcast.
• 39:41
  Meggan: And I mean, I think a thousand downloads a week is something I think would be like a long-term goal.
• 39:47
  Meggan: I mean, that'd be why not dream big?
• 39:49
  Jenn: Why not?
• 39:50
  Jenn: Why not?
• 39:52
  Jenn: We can, the next Joe Rogan experience.
• 39:56
  Meggan: With not without being Joe
• 39:57
  Jenn: without being Joe rogan, just his download numbers
• 40:00
  Meggan: Just his download numbers.
• 40:01
  Meggan: We don't want to hear any of the other stuff.
• 40:03
  Meggan: Thank you very much.
• 40:06
  Jenn: Oh my goodness.
• 40:06
  Jenn: That is all for our second birthday episode.
• 40:11
  Jenn: Thank you so much for listening to the travel mug podcast, this episode and the past two years.
• 40:16
  Jenn: And all of the love and everything that you've given us is, is amazing.
• 40:21
  Jenn: And.
• 40:22
  Jenn: Yeah, thank you.
• 40:23
  Jenn: Thank you.
• 40:23
  Jenn: Thank you.
• 40:23
  Jenn: Thank you.
• 40:23
  Jenn: You can find us on our website, travel mug, podcasts.com on Facebook and Instagram at the travel mug podcast.
• 40:30
  Jenn: You can support the show by buying us a coffee that would be a great birthday gift just saying um, you can leave us a review on apple podcasts and Spotify also a good birthday gift.
• 40:43
  Jenn: Right?
• 40:44
  Jenn: Share the show with a travel loving pal and we will chat with you again soon.
• 40:50
  Jenn: And we'll chat about our trips.