Episode 22 - 17 Things About The USA: Critique of Benny Lewis' Article
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
Release Date: 01/25/2018
Episode 39 - First Week In China
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
We took a break in our "Backpacking Europe" series because our next topic was just too exciting to keep to ourselves: our first week living in China! We moved to Shenzhen, China on August 18th, 2018 to teach English in primary schools. In this episode, we talked about what happened each day during our first week in China. In the episode, we discussed: Almost getting poisoned by counterfeit wine How to NOT buy/drink counterfeit alcohol What to pack when flying to China if you don't want to get your bags back! Problems with retrieving our baggage upon landing in Hong Kong...
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Episode 38 - Backpacking Europe: Slovenia
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
Our third destination during our backpacking Europe trip was Slovenia. We left Vienna, Austria on July 6th for Ljubljana, Slovenia! We'd heard Slovenia was beautiful and was known for their nature, but we didn't prepare for the glorious and magical place that is Slovenia, specifically the two places we visited: Ljubljana and Lake Bled. In this episode, hear all about our trip to Slovenia, including: What Slovenian food is like and where to get the best of it Why our first impressions of Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital, were not so good How our first impressions were quickly...
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Episode 37 - Backpacking Europe: Vienna and Salzburg, Austria
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
Our second destination on our backpacking Europe trip was Austria, specifically the cities Vienna and Salzburg. We left Krakow, Poland on July 4th and took a bus ride with FlixBus to Vienna. In this episode, hear all about: Our immediate impressions on both Vienna and Salzburg The rudeness of people in Austria How Couchsurfing in Austria restored our faith in the service The absurd prices Our surprise while walking around Vienna Viennese coffee A day trip to Salzburg, where Mozart was born and where The Sound of Music was filmed The absolute BEST place to have a picnic in Salzburg...
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Episode 36 - Backpacking Europe: Krakow, Poland
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
From July to mid-August 2018, we'll be backpacking through Central and Eastern Europe! Our first stop: Krakow, Poland! In this episode, we discussed our 3-night stay in Krakow, including: The uncomfortable and agitating, then pleasant and enjoyable train ride to Krakow from Prague How we saved money on accommodation and stayed at a stranger's home for free Exploring a touristy area without the tourists, such as Main Square and Wawel Castle Taking a guided tour through Auschwitz, the most well-known concentration camp from WWII The most incredible story we heard about victims in Auschwitz Our...
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Episode 35 - Prague, Czech Republic
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
We've lived in Prague, Czech Republic since January 2017, making it about a year and a half altogether. But, finally, our time has come to leave this fairytale city in search of new adventures! However, we haven't made an episode about our time living here! It's about time we did. In this episode, we blabbered about: Why exactly we moved to Prague, Czech Republic How on earth we did that, including finding an apartment, getting a visa, etc. How we were almost on House Hunters International, then totally got screwed over The cost of living in Prague Our favorite things to do in the magical...
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Episode 34 - Remembering Anthony Bourdain
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
On June 8th, 2018, Anthony Bourdain tragically passed away. Bourdain was a celebrity chef who hosted multiple travel shows centered around international cuisine, culture, and people. He inspired thousands of people across the globe with his storytelling, outlook on life, and adventures. Like thousands of others, we were deeply affected and devastated by the loss of Bourdain. He was one of the key reasons we started traveling and even experienced numerous things while traveling. Because of his recent and devastating loss, we felt we'd create an episode dedicated to who he was and what he...
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Episode 33 - Best Day Trips From Prague
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
While living in Prague, we've discovered a good number of incredible day trips from there. In this podcast, we discussed two that we explored with Matt's aunt when she came to visit: Cesky Krumlov and Terezin Concentration Camp. In this episode, we talked about: Why Cesky Krumlov is one of the most magical cities in Europe How we took a train to Cesky Krumlov, but needed to take a bumpy bus for an hour and Matt's aunt felt car sick Views, views, and more views! The bears at Cesky Krumlov...that we may or may not have seen The must-see places there Our exciting train ride back to Prague...
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Episode 32 - Strict Diet When Traveling
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
In our previous episode, we discussed our gut issues, like IBS and acid reflux, in depth and how travel played a role in causing these problems. In this episode, we discussed exactly how we've tackled these debilitating and seemingly incurable issues. We've found something that helped heal us and solve our numerous gut issues-- and no, it's not some bogus medication! In this episode, we discuss: The Fast Tract Diet and what it does for IBS, acid reflux, and other gut issue sufferers SIBO-- what it stands for, what it is, and why you should be terrified of it How to follow a strict diet like...
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Episode 31 - Traveling Has Made Us Chronically Ill
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
Have you ever thought about how your health might be affected by traveling the world? Well, apparently, we didn't when we started traveling-- and now we're paying the price. In this episode, we discussed our personal chronic health issues, including things like: Battling horrendous acid reflux Developing chronic yeast/bacterial infections with no explanation as to why How Marilyn gave herself IBS-- and still struggles with it to this day How traveling has helped cause some of our issues and even exasperate them Going through two endoscopies-- with no results! Being lied to and not helped by...
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Episode 30 - Wine Festival in the Czech Republic
Words with Winos - Travel Podcast
During Easter weekend, we had the most amazing and rare opportunity: attend a wine festival in the wine region of the Czech Republic with our two friends! We took a short 3-hour drive with our pals to the region called Moravia, specifically the town Valtice. In the podcast episode, we talked about: How we found out about this lovely wine festival in the middle of nowhere Czech Republic The cost of the festival and what we got out of it The food we ate and the TONS of wines we drank! What it's like drinking wine for 8 hours straight and walking around an adorable Czech town A few of the...
info_outlineWe changed up this week's podcast just a bit! A few weeks ago, Matt and I discovered an intriguing and unique article posted on Business Insider. The original article, titled "17 Cultural Clashes this European has in America" but also more famously called "I'm Irish and I spent a year traveling the US-- here are the 17 things that surprised me about day to day life," had gotten an insane amount of publicity-- and it's really no wonder why. The Irish author, Benny Lewis, who is known for his website on helping people become fluent in a new language in just three months, had traveled and lived in the US, noticing a lot of things about the country, then wrote an article, focusing on 17 grievances he had with the country/overall culture.
After reading this article, Matt and I found a lot of things that we completely agreed with and some things we didn't particularly agree with. We've been traveling the world for four years now and have also discovered a lot of things we never noticed before about our own country. In this unique podcast episode, we critiqued this infamous article and added a little bit of our own opinions into the mix! We talked about:
- Americans are way too sensitive
- Everything is "awesome"!
- Smiles mean NOTHING
- Tipping
- False prices on everything
- Cheesy in-your-face marketing
- Wasteful consumerism
- American stereotypes of other countries
- Heritage
- ID checks & stupid drinking laws
- Religious Americans
- Corporations win all the time, not small businesses
- A country designed for cars, not humans
- Always in a hurry
- Obsession with money
- Unhealthy portions
- Thinking America is the best
We also talked about:
- Our agreements and disagreements with these points
- Our own personal experiences abroad and in America
- What we thought about the positives he found in America
- What we wish more Americans would do more often
Thank you for reading/listening! If you'd like to see our blog post on this along with some pictures and more information, check it our here! Cheers!
Wine: Lindemen's "Unexpected Friendships Make Me Smile" - Cabernet Sauvignon (Australia)