Treasures of our Town
Embark on an exhilarating voyage through the heart of America's captivating towns and cities with the enthralling travel podcast, "Treasures of our Town." Join your experienced hosts, Craig (Seemyshell) and Joshua (Geocaching Vlogger), as they unveil the hidden gems and extraordinary treasures that lie beyond the surface.
Delve into a world of cultural exploration as our hosts guide you through historical sites, natural splendours, and extraordinary local experiences. All their travels are guided by their love of outdoor games like Geocaching and Munzee. Whether you're a seasoned globetrotter or a curious beginner, our captivating city tours and off-the-beaten-path destinations will ignite your wanderlust and leave you inspired.
Are you ready for an unforgettable adventure? Tune in now and prepare to immerse yourself in the allure of "Treasures of our Town." Let us ignite your curiosity, fuel your desire for exploration, and set your spirit free as we unravel the secrets that make each town a true treasure trove.
Follow us on all social media sites, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube.
Website - www.treasuresofourtown.buzzsprout.com
Email - treasuresofourtownpodcast@gmail.com
Treasures of our Town
Traveler Spotlight - TikTok Creator Emmaline Childs
Join us as we celebrate Josh's 47th birthday with our special guest, Emmaline Childs, a dynamic TikToker and Instagram personality from Minnesota. Emmaline captivates us with her vibrant stories and reflections on travel, from the adrenaline rush of a Minnesota Lynx basketball game to the serene beauty of a fall-themed Munzee event. We chat about our shared enthusiasm for location-based games and travel, all while enjoying a unique mix of real and digital birthday cake.
Our conversation takes us on a whirlwind tour of travel plans and destinations, starting with Jeremy Clarkson's humorous leap from Top Gear to Diddly Squat Farm. We ponder our own itinerary with stops at iconic London sites and the world's oldest whiskey distillery in Northern Ireland. The age-old debate about whether to include Stonehenge adds a dose of humour to our travel plans. Emmaline’s upcoming journey to Australia and New Zealand promises more exciting adventures, including New Year's Eve in Sydney Harbour and snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef.
Reflecting on the impact of social media, we celebrate reaching a quarter of a million followers and the fascinating path to social media success. Emmaline shares her strategies for balancing work and travel, emphasising the importance of authenticity in a world often filtered through social media. From the hidden charms of cities like Madison to the glitz of Las Vegas, our conversation traverses both the expected and the unexpected, offering a genuine look at the joys and challenges of travel content creation. Whether you're looking for travel inspiration or insights into the behind-the-scenes of social media, this episode has something for everyone.
EMMALINE LINKS
Tiktok
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
G'day, g'day, g'day, g'day. What a way to start a show. This is Craig here. This is current Craig as of October 28th in 2024. Yes, today is when we release it. And why am I saying this? By you, by myself, with no Josh? Why? Because it's Josh's birthday today. That's right. Today, the 28th of October 2024, is Josh's 47th birthday. So, on social media, if you're friends with Josh on social media, make sure you message him a big happy birthday, wish him a good happy 50th I mean 47th birthday, and we'll go from there Now. Now let's go back to the show.
Speaker 3:Do you love to travel?
Speaker 1:Do you love road trips?
Speaker 3:Do you love finding hidden treasures in towns all over the USA? Hi, I'm Joshua.
Speaker 1:And I'm Craig. Welcome to Treasures of Our Town. It's a podcast that explores unique and charming towns scattered throughout the United States.
Speaker 3:Guided by our love for location-based games like geocaching, join us as we venture into some of the country's most intriguing destinations, uncovering hidden gems and local secrets along the way.
Speaker 1:And on today's episode, josh, we've got a very special guest. We're going to talk about how travel has to shape lives. Josh, Travel to shape lives. Yes, and she's your friend. What's her name exactly? I can't name is emmeline, it is emmeline childs. I was gonna say emmeline, emmeline. I wasn't sure so I thought I'd let it to you.
Speaker 3:So there you go emmeline child's gonna join us, there you go yes, she is a tiktoker instagram personality here in minnesota and we're excited to talk to her, and I know she travels a lot, so that's why I decided to invite her on the show and I'm really looking forward to chatting with her. She's always awesome to talk to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and she's got that Minnesota nice voice too, Exactly Meanwhile, Josh, what have you been up to mate Ups or downs first, which is your choice, your choice.
Speaker 3:What have you been up to? Mate Ups or downs first, which is your choice? Your choice, well, the Minnesota Lynx basketball team.
Speaker 2:Last episode remember, remember, last episode.
Speaker 3:I was talking about the Lynx and how exciting it was. Well, reese and I recently went to the first game of the finals we're talking about the WNBA people, we're talking sports right now and we went and the links were doing amazing. They were up by 15 points and then it was tied at the end of the game and at the last second the liberty hit a very, very long three-point shot and just sucked the air out of the arena and they lost.
Speaker 3:So, as of the recording of this podcast, the Minnesota Lynx are now down one game to two games, and if the Liberty win tonight it's happening tonight as we record this. When you listen to this it's all going to be over.
Speaker 1:They already know that it's either going to be a delay or an upgrade.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they know the results already. I am know the results already. I am in the past. I am in the past, they're in the future. But tonight, if they lose tonight, it's over. But if they win tonight, it's tied. But then they go back to new york which is going to be tough, tough to win on the road. So it's not looking good, but reese and I had a great time in the target center cheering on our minnesota links, so that's our. That's my delay. I was really bummed and.
Speaker 1:But that's what it's all about, though. It's. It's that that special time that you get you and reese together. You know the cheering then, the sighing and the crying. You know it's. It's the emotion, the roller coaster. You're there for each other as the emotional roller coaster, so that. So that could be a positive. That could be an upgrade too. Josh, just saying yeah that's true, yeah yeah, absolutely. So turn that frown upside down, mister. I will, I will. What is your upgrade?
Speaker 3:if that's the case, then Well, I don't have anything specific, and you know what. We don't talk about the weather on this podcast. No, we don't talk about the weather on this podcast.
Speaker 1:No, we don't talk about the weather unless it's travel specific. Unless it's travel specific that's true.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's true, but I'll just say it's the most wonderful time of the year uh, it's october, the we are hitting peak leave season it's beautiful, it's autumn, it's autumn, fall, and I'm looking out my window, I'm seeing all the colors, and today it's autumn, it's autumn, fall, and I'm looking out my window, I'm seeing all the colors, and today it was 77 degrees Fahrenheit. We don't talk about the weather.
Speaker 1:That's nice, that's warm, that is warm for this time of year, that's a good upgrade, though.
Speaker 3:You think about it, you got the beautiful colors.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's going to be a beautiful weekend. We're going to do a munzee event again. Yes, tomorrow we have three munzee munzee events in three weeks here locally. Wow. And guess what, greg, guess what? Tomorrow or not tomorrow, I'm sorry. Next weekend hosting my first ever local munzee, that's right, hosting one. Yeah, that's right a spooky walk in the woods and what's it for, josh?
Speaker 1:is it for for hang on your birthday? Yes, yeah, my birthday is close.
Speaker 3:So if you play Munzee, you know when you capture the pins you get cake.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:You get cake. Well, like it's perfect, what? A perfect thing, we'll probably have some real cake and then we'll get some digital cake and it'll be a good time.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's coming up next weekend. Most importantly, those who attend your Munzee event and they cap the actual event badge itself, they actually get a very unique and one-off badge too, that you showed me the other day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:The badges are a nice little add-on. So even the people that live far away and they try to collect all the badges, they're not going to get this badge unless I show up at my birthday birthday party and we can't even say.
Speaker 1:We can't even say you know? Uh, you know, make sure you get there, because this, this episode is going to go out after your birthday. This is true.
Speaker 3:This is true.
Speaker 2:So my birthday, my birthday has already happened you guys in the future.
Speaker 3:Right now, you are now experiencing a world where Josh is 47 years old 47? Wow 47.
Speaker 1:47.
Speaker 3:50 is looming. 50 is looming 50 is closer.
Speaker 1:For me, mate, it's only next year.
Speaker 3:Wow, we've got to do something special.
Speaker 1:We've got to do something special. We'll see, we'll see, we'll see. But meanwhile something special for me, and that is it's actually my delay and that is I'm trying to sell my car. You know, we've heard about this the entire time and me talking about my car on this podcast is like other podcasts talking about the weather by the sounds of it. But anyway, that's what it feels like to me. You know what I mean. But no, I've had enough.
Speaker 1:I came back from my last trip and things were happening again. I went back to the mechanic. He did fix it again, which is good. It was another issue, another sensor problem. So he replaced yet another sensor itself as well, did the oil change and all that too. But again it's just another 500 bucks. I'm like, how much money am I going to sink into this thing? Yeah, meanwhile it's decked out as a full camper. You've seen it. You know it's got the solar on the roof and everything. So I'm trying to sell my car now I put it on like a, like carsalescom, whatever. Whatever the the car sales one is already josh. Within 24 hours I've had four attempted scams and these scams are very clever. They very. They talk to you as human beings like they are human scams and they're talking to you as humans, saying you know, oh, what, what? Anything wrong with the car, uh? And I say no, oh, when can I come and see it? They even know like I'm located, where I'm located, which town I'm in yeah so they say that to them.
Speaker 1:So they say to me like, oh, I'm three towns and they give me the town name that they're, that they're supposedly from. Um, oh, I can pop over there. It's always I'll pop over tomorrow, like I'll come over tomorrow, right, um, right, do you take cash or or check any any issues with the car? I'm like, no, no issues with the car. Um, not now, anyway. And uh, and then they always say, um, you know, oh, I'll be there tomorrow, etc. Oh, by the way, before I come, this is where they get you. So, before I come, um, do you have a? Um, a vehicle check history? And I'm like, yeah, I've got a Carfax. Oh, I don't trust those Carfax ones. Try this link for the vehicle history.
Speaker 3:Oh boy.
Speaker 1:You see, I'm like yeah, no, so that's the scam. But this is after I'm talking back and forth, josh, 20 plus messages back and forth before they get to that scam part.
Speaker 3:You're so persistent and so persistent and I've had four so far now, already in the space of 24 hours anyway so they they try to take you to that link and then what they're trying to get your you to put your information in.
Speaker 1:Basically, yes, so the links themselves are like uh, vehiclechecksnet or you know vehiclechecksus. You know I mean somethingus, you know what I mean, something like that. And what you do is you don't have to click that link. But if you even go onto the website, the website's a fraudulent website. So it'll say you know, offer a full vehicle check for $2 or $3 for a full vehicle check, enter your bank details here or your credit card details here. So that's what they do, that's what they do. They try and get that way then, so they don't actually need to click the link itself. Um, but they do. They're very smart. See, people don't click links.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, but yeah wow yeah, and the websites look kind of legit, until you go onto reddit or other places like that and do some research and people say, oh, if you'd have a, have a deep dive into it. Yeah, the website's from lithuania. So, yeah, right, exactly right, oh boy, anyway, that's my delay, that's no, I mean, that's later. We're talking about my, my upgrade. My upgrade is much, much better, and that is this is this is a really a really good upgrade.
Speaker 3:The reason why?
Speaker 1:for real, and it is a for real upgrade too. I'll tell you. You don't even know this part yet, and that is that, uh, when this podcast goes out, I'm not even in the us, I'm still. You're gone, I'm gone, I'm in the uk. I fly out tomorrow from the, from the us to the uk, and I'm doing the full uk united kingdom trip. Not just england, not just wales, ireland, northern ireland, scotland, but all five, all five in the full trip. So there you go, uk plus northern ireland.
Speaker 3:So, because northern ireland's not in the uk, so there you go is there one thing in particular you're looking forward to most on the trip that you're about to do?
Speaker 1:geez, not most. Nothing I'm looking forward to. That's most, but I have little pieces all the way through the trip. So, for instance, you know just little things like there's that special flat loop we're talking about Munzee now. There's a special flat loo that there's only one in the world and it's located on the Times Bridge as well. What do you call it? Tower?
Speaker 3:Bridge.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so there's one and only flat loose. I'll be capturing that. Speaking of Lou and Rob, I'm catching up with those two as well. Apparently, we're going to go in and see the Black Cat Pub or something, somewhere where Taylor, what's her name? Swift, all the Swifties know the Black Cat Pub because she sings about the Black Cat Pub. So we're going to go into this Black Cat Pub have a beer there. Of course, my untapped is going to be going off. I'll just let you know, of course.
Speaker 3:Um, I want to go and see the diddly squat farm.
Speaker 1:Have you heard that? Probably no. What is that? So have you heard of jeremy clarkson? Jeremy clarkson, you haven't heard of what's wrong with you americans. Jeremy clarkson is a world known for, a celebrity, world known celebrity. Well, I thought was well known, except for the us. Um, he used to host top gear. He's one of the hosts of top gear, the motorsport or top gear.
Speaker 1:Yes, he was the tall the tall guy in top gear. Well, after he finished top gear, he bought a farm in the middle of uh of england and he has been and doing his antics and stuff on the farm. And so now it's the diddly squat is his farm and he's got a full like it's a four-part series on on netflix. It is brilliant, it's funny, it's humorous, like you know, but at the same time you can see the, you see the, the big, the perils that uh, the farmers actually go through as well, because he goes through those perils himself too. So so yeah, yeah, so they've got a farm shop there, so we'll be driving past and I'll pop into the Diddly Squat Farm Shop. So I'll be looking forward to that. I'll be looking forward to being on Abbey Road and getting the webcam on Abbey Road.
Speaker 1:That will be very cool. Yeah, see things like that. So they're the main things.
Speaker 3:I think it's funny that the first thing you mentioned is not like big Ben, it's not like, it's not like any of that. Your first thing you mentioned is to to click on your phone to collect a digital item. That was the first thing you mentioned.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, well, I mean like forget.
Speaker 3:Forget you, big Ben, who cares?
Speaker 1:I'm clicking on a special virtual loo I mean, I will say, I will say, josh, that is for the first two days. Uh, we'll be having, uh, one of those get hop on, hop off buses, like on um, you know, a cards thing where you can hop on, hop off the bus, the tourist bus, and then the double deck of buses with the open roof. So we'll be doing that for the first two days, solid. And so we'll be doing the hop on, hop off. So we'll be seeing the big bend, we'll be seeing, you know, the london. I will be seeing all that sort of stuff too. So that's cool, that's, that's all part and parcel and I'm I'm understanding of that. But you said, what's what's special to me? It's, yeah, it's more, not just those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, see, I'm more unique than other people, josh, that's what it is, I guess.
Speaker 3:So Will you be visiting the first geocache ever placed in Europe?
Speaker 1:I don't know, I haven't researched that.
Speaker 3:I hope so.
Speaker 1:I have to do that after this episode, so it's south.
Speaker 3:It's south of Dublin. Okay, when you get into Ireland, you just got to go south of Dublin. It's right along the sea.
Speaker 1:Okay, Well then, that's a big possibility. It's an ammo can that's a big possibility? I mean, come on, Craig yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, come on.
Speaker 3:You're going to regret if you don't find Europe's first, oh, 100%.
Speaker 1:If it's Europe's first 100% Europe, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's kind of like Mingo for the US, US Mingo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly. But one more thing, thing that I am really looking forward to, and this will actually you'll enjoy this as well, and that is in northern ireland, the top of northern ireland. Uh, we are staying at and visiting the world's oldest whiskey distillery, 400 plus years old. This whiskey distillery wow yeah, it is old, like, really super old, like before even the US was even around, right it's funny.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's funny, Craig, because we visited what? The sixth oldest distillery in the United States, and that was not 400 years ago, no, no.
Speaker 1:Exactly exactly, and we're staying right next door as well, in the actual Airbnb. Josh, you'll be proud of that, and I'll make sure it's got a hairdryer for you. I'll send you a photo.
Speaker 3:Oh, it'll happen, I'm sure. One more question. One more question because I'm just thinking, if I was going on this trip, what I'd want to do? Are you visiting Stonehenge?
Speaker 1:That's a good question. I don't know that yet. I'll have to have a a look. I should have spoken to you a week ago.
Speaker 3:I'll tell you now clearly, clearly, you are not in charge of this itinerary. No, no, well, I, maybe I was, and I was not doing a good job of it, so I don't even know. I, I'm kind of ignorant. This is a travel podcast about the us. I don't even know where stonehenge is, I believe it's. It's. I mean, okay, this is embarrassing.
Speaker 1:It's in england, right that's um, you know what I'm gonna. I'm gonna have to look now as we speak. So you keep speaking about your uh, your inability.
Speaker 3:People are listening right now you're like josh, are you kidding me? You don't know what country stonehenge is in. I'm pretty sure it's in the uk. And and the question is craig is, if you visit Stonehenge, is it going to be as awesome as Bamahenge?
Speaker 1:Okay, stonehenge is in England. Okay, but Thank goodness, but we won't be going anywhere near it.
Speaker 3:Oh.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, that's down south, you see. So Stonehenge is sort of southwest of London itself, where we're going um northwest directly and heading up through birmingham um and then going to wales from there as well. So, whereas stonehenge is on the uh, the southern side, so well, greg, you know what you you were.
Speaker 3:You were looking at your computer when I said it, but I'm sure it's okay because you've seen bamahenge this is true.
Speaker 1:This is true, this is true. Bama Hinge was great, like you know, it was homemade.
Speaker 3:It was a replica. I think it was a replica.
Speaker 1:And that made sounds when you banged on it too, because it sounded like it was fiberglass. They were hollow.
Speaker 3:Yes, the rocks were hollow. That was a little different, but they looked. I mean, it looked the same to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're talking about when we visited the gulf shores. There is a special bama hinge, exactly exactly exactly. So there you go all right, all right.
Speaker 3:We've talked about our, our delays and our upgrades, but it is now time to bring in my friend and your soon-to-be friend, em Emmaline Childs. Welcome, emmaline.
Speaker 2:Hello.
Speaker 1:Thank you, emmaline, good to see you. Good to see you. I've only ever seen you, as I said before, on your TikTok, and you look exactly the same as you do on your TikTok.
Speaker 2:Truly the ultimate compliment. I can't say that, yeah, it's the best compliment.
Speaker 3:I'm excited to talk to you because we have something to celebrate. It's kind of weird for a creator to talk about their own milestones sometimes, I think, so I just want to congratulate you. You hit a quarter of a million followers.
Speaker 2:It's insane. I cannot believe it. It's insane, it's crazy and humbling.
Speaker 1:it's it's amazing and I will edit this and put a little uh screen thing over top little woo. So there you go. So I'll do that too, and I keep this in as well so I should first say how I met emma line.
Speaker 3:It was first on tiktok. You were like during like the pandemic or like shortly like the parts after it, you were. You kept on coming up on my for you page when you were like doing basically you were doing lives and I remember I was in one of your lives and I was, and I discovered that you, you live like fairly close to me and I'm like, oh my gosh, you live fairly close to me. And then, of course, like the like the geo nerd I am, I was like I was like, hey, uh, have you ever heard of geocaching? And at that time you it?
Speaker 3:you know you're like, oh yeah, you know how, like when the the chat goes by very fast and you're no, I think I've heard of it.
Speaker 2:Um, well, and I think that's the crazy thing about the internet, right Is? I think I because I'm not in the geocaching world, or I wasn't now I am, but because I wasn't uh, you had not crossed over my FYP or my my algorithm had not brought you to me. However, we were both nominated for you know outstanding social media personality here in the twin cities and that's where I got to know your page and I dove in. I was like hold on this, a lot of people like this guy. I need to know who this guy is. And that's that's when I dove and I was like wait, geocaching sounds like a lot of fun, like let's talk, which is kind of yes, now I know where I was gonna say josh.
Speaker 1:Now I know where I've seen it before and that is you asked all your friends and family to vote for you and I voted for you. But I I emily emeline, I'll say this as well I did check out all the competition first and make sure that I voted for the right person.
Speaker 3:So, josh I don't think actually voted for you, but yeah, so so we met. We met based on the fact that we were direct competition with each other and and it's kind of amazing that we are, would we call it frenemies?
Speaker 2:yeah, we're.
Speaker 3:I don't think we're frenemies anymore. We maybe were frenemies, but now we're like real. Now we're real friends because every once in a while I think like a couple times over the past couple years we've hung out together at the Minnesota state fair.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, and we like ran into each other, like at a restaurant one day, like we really are in the same community. It's pretty great.
Speaker 3:Oh, and Emma line came to my hunt. Speaking of milestone, she came to my a hundred K, a hundred K YouTube subscriber party, the one that Craig the one that, craig, that, the one that you missed, craig, craig. So, emeline, craig flew all the way from new jersey to surprise me and he ended up coming the wrong day.
Speaker 1:A day later, and it was. It was actually josh's wife's, tammy's fault, to be honest with you, because I said, is this the date? And she's like, yep, yep, and she's, she picked me up from the airport and everything so, but there was the day after and he was already at work, you know, and so I, I hung around with his wife and his daughter for a little while, you know, doing some cashing and stuff like that too, and then all of a sudden he pops his head around from from coming in the door from work and he's like what are you doing here that, honestly, that was so fun, like what an achievement.
Speaker 2:I I think that was so fun, like, what an achievement. I think YouTube's not like an easy place to get that many followers and so to achieve that, it was so fun to be there and celebrate with you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3:It did take 13 plus years.
Speaker 1:It does in the long form. It's harder in the long form than what is in the short form, but apparently. But we're going to talk about that as welleline as well, and talk about your travels. We're going to talk about, you know, your social media content, what you do, how you do it and stuff like too. So where can people see you in terms of your social media is? Are you just tiktok at the moment?
Speaker 2:no, I am on tiktok. That is where I have the largest following. However, you can also find me on instagram. I have approximately 20 followers on facebook, if you want to try to find it there, and I am desperately trying to grow on youtube. They did recently, uh, make their shorts so that it's up to three minutes, which I think is going to be a huge help for me as I try to do better and have longer form content. This will help in the interim, but you can find me most places.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, Emma line for those who have not seen your content. Could you, could you describe, describe what, what your, what your content is?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the true answer is it's a little bit all over the place, but I always say that I have three buckets. I try to make you laugh, you know, with varying levels of success. I try to be relatable so that you know that there's someone else out there going through what you're going through and I try to inspire you to do something great. So I love giving back to the community and, you know, going out and meeting people and doing things, and I like to bring all of that together in a really lovely soup going out and meeting people and doing things, and I like to bring all of that together in a really lovely soup. It's a good soup and you know I've been really fortunate to bring together I do a lot of Midwest content, a lot of corporate I work in we could get to this, but I work in corporate, in the corporate world, and so I just I like to create content where I feel like other people feel like they get it. They've been there and they can laugh along with me.
Speaker 3:Yes, you do a great job. You do a great job making, like just the everyday stuff you know, super relatable. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you and see how I feel as well, and that is especially with a short form content TikTok, instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. They're all exactly the same in my mind and that is you keep people's interest by being authentically you, but at the same time, you've got to be happy about life. You know what I mean. You've got to inspire people, have that laugh, have that smile, have that interaction. You know people want that dopamine hit. They want that feeling of you know. Oh, look, you know this person's happy. They're going to make me happy by watching them be happy. And so if you do that naturally, and that's your authentic self and that's perfect and that's what you are basically.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, it's fun and I have to admit, I always worry because I do a lot of very sarcastic content where I rant or I go on about something, and it's always with a sarcastic undertone. But I'm always like, oh gosh, are people going to think that I'm being serious? And you know, I've asked people like, am I, is it too much? And they're like no, we always know that you're joking, and so it's fun to be able to vent in that way and, thankfully, be able to kind of laugh along with other people going through it too.
Speaker 3:There's so many times I watch your videos and I'm like me too. That same thing happened. It actually happened this week. I got an iPhone 16 pro and I am a Otterbox user. So I'm from Minnesota. Where do I go? I go to the Target website. I buy the Otterbox on the Target website and then all of a sudden, of course, the Target's like we don't actually have that one at this store Go to a different store and Craig, she made a TikTok of that exact situation to the same case the same Otterbot case, I'm assuming.
Speaker 2:I swear like the algorithms are so good, they read our minds. They know no kidding. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:And that's what I say as well Like the algorithms are so good.
Speaker 1:They read our minds, they know, they know no kidding, oh, yeah, oh yeah, and that's what I say as well, and this is where I defend social media, and that is the algorithms read you because of the way you interact with the actual app itself. So people think that it's some sort of mind reading trick. It's, you know, oh, and it's going to show you these bad things here and there, and then all the political stuff and all that, when really we don't want any of that at all. But it does read exactly what you look at the most. It reads exactly what you look at for the longest periods of time. Um, you know which ones you literally flick past the fastest and it you know, if you flick it past fast, then it's not going to show you that sort of style of content anymore.
Speaker 1:What is very good, very good at too, and AI is very good at noticing within the 60 seconds or whatever it is, a short or TikTok may be exactly what that TikTok's about and how it follows it. So it could be, you know, you could be talking about travel. Then again, you could be talking about business affairs you could be talking about. You know politics you could be talking about the weather, whatever it is, it knows what. What the actual is is holding people to that content, you see, and so, and then it's pushing up that content to other like-minded people. So that's where you always find that. You know, I know, myself and my wife, for instance, we're on two very different algorithms. I'd never, I'd never heard of mood dang until she come along and said, obviously, mood dang, I'm like no, who's Dang, so I'm not on Mu Dang TikTok.
Speaker 3:Well, it's funny because we know that, I know that Emmaline is a Swifty and when, like the Eris tour was in full effect, I think I saw that whole concert on TikTok before, before it even came to town.
Speaker 1:We posted it all yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do you know how much I am excited to be with you tonight? She is kicking off the final leg of her tour tonight and I'm here with you instead of watching it on your live feed on TikTok.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:That's a lot. That's how I feel about you.
Speaker 3:You're so honored, that is so cool.
Speaker 1:So, Josh, is that, is that an example of Minnesota nice?
Speaker 3:No, Minnesota nice is more passive, more passive, aggressive. Oh so I?
Speaker 1:take it the wrong way.
Speaker 3:Yeah, minnesota, nice is like like hey yeah, minnesota nice is more like polite, but really like underneath it, oh, there's deep rage and anger.
Speaker 1:Well, maybe the reason I polite, but really like underneath it, oh, there's deep rage and anger. Well, maybe there is, I don't know. Maybe they're right, exactly, maybe she is. Then maybe that is minnesota nice and deep down she's like hurry up and finish this conversation, boys.
Speaker 1:I need to be, I need to watch something, hurry up in miami right now exactly getting back to your travels, emeline, as well, because you said before you worked in the corporate industry and stuff as well, and I take it that's where you travel from. Is that where your travel origins are and where you started your travel stuff?
Speaker 2:No, not at all. That was something that came later in life. No, my travel started much younger, I think. Growing up I was very much.
Speaker 2:I cannot think of a single family vacation that didn't include visiting family. So, for example, we went to Colorado, we visited family, but then we'd stop by Pikes Peak, you know. Or we'd go to Tubac, Arizona, and then take a road trip to Las Vegas. So I never was the kid that got to just like go to Disney back Arizona and then take a road trip to Las Vegas. So I never was the kid that got to just like go to Disney world or whatever there was, always like well, we could really go visit great aunt Cecil, let's make a trip of it. And so I grew up getting to see various parts of the country. But I think you know the first inkling that I got that I would love travel was as a senior gift. My senior year of high school my dad took me to New York City, primarily because I was obsessed with the show Total Request Live on MTV. Are you familiar with this at all?
Speaker 1:Yes, josh is, I'm not. I'm from Australia.
Speaker 3:Craig's an Aussie. He doesn't know anything.
Speaker 2:It is the ultimate millennial TV show. On MTV. We watch it every day after school and I was obsessed. This was the Carson Daly era. But also I just I'd never been to a city like that. And so, as my senior gift my parents, you know it wasn't common for us to take trips like this. This was a big deal, this was a big gift, and my dad took me and we were there for, I want to say, like four days or something. This was August of 2001. So you can do the math on that.
Speaker 2:It was a big it was a very different experience, being there for my first time and then going back multiple times after that into a totally different city. So I'm very grateful that I got that experience, that we got to go the first thing off the airplane we went straight to Times Square, to the MTV studios so that I could be in the audience of TRL. Now here I am the nerdiest kid that you've ever met in your life, on my own. And we get in line and they're not picking. You know, they kind of handpick kids to go in line because it's a small studio and they want it to look good for TV. Not picking me, not picking me.
Speaker 2:My dad walks up to the producer she's got the you know headset and the clipboard and he says I really want to enjoy the rest of my trip, Please, with my best bright red tank top with a butterfly on it, like very 2001. And we went back and I got to go up and sit in the audience and Michelle Branch was on and Carson Daly was the host. It was a whole thing. But that trip, that was the reason that we went right. But because of that I also got to go to the Statue of Liberty, learn about Ellis Island and people emigrating, immigrating to America and got to visit the Twin Towers and I got to, you know, experience Times Square and these massive city lights that I just never experienced before, and that was it. I was like I'm in, I'm here for this, this is what I want to keep doing that's amazing.
Speaker 3:That was my first trip too, because my family was not a big, especially not a big airplane trip family like we. We were mostly going when everybody was going to disneyland and disney world. I was going to wisconsin delft, which which is, uh, is where you go when your parents can't afford to go to disney world. You go to w Dells um the water, the water park capital of the world. It is. It's a great place to visit. I visited there as a fun fact. It's a fun place to visit as an adult too. Um, but it's no. It's no Disney world Um, did you do some? You did some?
Speaker 2:um travel in college too, yeah, so so you know, that trip to New York City really like got me interested in learning more about the world, but at that point I'd still never been outside the country. And then when I was in college I went to Minnesota State, moorhead, and I learned that they had a an exchange program with the University of Portsmouth in England and it was a one for one program. The credits cost exactly the same. The only extra costs were kind of getting there and whatnot and it was like kind of, you know, click the calculator keyboard, like I think maybe I can make this work and sure enough.
Speaker 2:I spent my entire junior year of college in England Wow it was formative, to say the least, in many many ways.
Speaker 2:But you know, when it comes to how it changed my outlook on the world, I so many things happened that year. Like you know, I always say and I think this is very similar I haven't been to Europe in quite a while at this point. But once you're there it's pretty easy to get around and we're traveling the United States. Sometimes you go to different states and they feel like different countries. We have such different cultures here in Europe. It's kind of the same, except you're genuinely visiting these like massively, extremely different cultures within like short, very short trips of each other and then seeing all that, you know, I kind of relate it to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Like I'd spent my whole life in Minnesota in the United States, traveling to a couple different places, and then I got to go abroad and suddenly I was like oh wait, hold on, there's color. Everyone else is like living in color. What's happening here? There's other languages and foods and all this is real. I thought that was just on TV.
Speaker 2:And so that's where I think my vast outlook on life changed and I genuinely changed even what I wanted to do for a living that year. Like I thought that I wanted to be a lawyer. I thought that's what I wanted to do for a living. That year, like I thought that I wanted to be a lawyer, I thought that's what I wanted to do with my life. And then I traveled and I was like nevermind, I don't want to work 80 hours a week and not spend time with my family. Like turns out, I actually miss them. Now that I'm not with them, I actually would like to maybe pivot and do something different with my life. And so it was, like I said, formative in so many ways.
Speaker 1:So would that be the time in which you like caught a travel bug, for instance? You know what I mean. You thought to yourself well, I've got to do more of this. You know, as you said before, I can't sit in an office for the 80 plus hours, you know, and then go home and then cook a microwave dinner. I need to actually get out and about and experience more things. Was that the when it actually occurred to you?
Speaker 2:Was it that I would say that is when it occurred. However, my bank account disagreed with me. I wish that I kind of had done that. You know what, what I, what. I ended up kind of. You know, I followed that very stereotypical path, like you go to high school and you go to college and you get married and you buy a house and you have a kid and that that's. I had the most amazing, incredible experience because of that, uh, but I did not get to travel as much as now, 40 year old, me looking back, wishes that I maybe had had an opportunity to do and that I would encourage other people to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah do and that I would encourage other people to do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's a common story for a lot of people. I mean even travel within the United States. As you said, we live in a very large, diverse country and, again, I didn't get on an airplane until I was 16 years old and I mean I will never forget that trip. I did all the many of the things that you said when you went to New York as well, and it's just like, yes, it just opens up your world and it just really has the ability to just completely change your worldview, which, in turn, ends up actually changing you as well.
Speaker 3:So talk a little bit about travel now, because I again, I follow you on social media. You do the corporate stuff, you do the Minnesota content, but I've seen you get on a cruise ship I don't know how it happened.
Speaker 2:I think I've become a cruise person. I don't, is that? Does it just happen when you turn 40? I don't know, it's weird.
Speaker 3:I've never done it. I've never done it, I've never done it. And I asked you specifically. I've never been on a cruise, I never have. And I asked you specifically because you were like whoa, you were like I think you were like surprised, Like Disney cruise is where it's at.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, and I could. Honestly that's a whole other episode I could go for, but I guess I'll, I'll. I'll back up a little bit. Like you know, after you know we talked about I did get that travel bug and so I did travel as much as I could and you know, often would take kind of like an annual trip, ish, as close as I could and as close as our budget would allow to. You know, either a really spectacular place or maybe like a smaller trip somewhere a little bit more local. But about 10 years ago I took a job where I was going to be able to travel for business. Right, I made the big times at work. I got to travel to places like West Des Moines, iowa. I've traveled to places like West Des Moines.
Speaker 2:Iowa, madison, wisconsin, better, better Milwaukee no, I'm joking. Actually, what I love about those experiences was that I got to learn how incredible places like Des Moines and Madison actually are. Those are places I never would have voluntarily just taken a trip to are. Those are places I never would have voluntarily just taken a trip to. And now I know how incredible those places are, that there's really just beauty in every city that you go to if you look for it. But I did also get to go to Chicago quite a bit, which kind of scratched that itch of that big city life.
Speaker 2:I love Chicago. I think it's, you know, a great kind of like slight step down from New York. It's a little bit more manageable. It's pretty close to the Twin Cities here where I live and so. But I've also been incredibly fortunate to get to travel to some pretty incredible places because of work, like Las Vegas or Nashville or Grand Cayman. You know I've kind of I joke that I like lucked into that. I didn't. It's. It's because of hard work and what I do every day at work that I've, you know, been able to have those experiences, for for various reasons I work in marketing and so that yeah that allows for a lot of those types of opportunities.
Speaker 2:uh, but I I always pair that with personal trips, so I rarely go an entire year where I don't take at least one personal trip.
Speaker 1:That's fair enough. That's fair enough, and that's the thing as well. And things like, as you said before, nashville. I recently went to Nashville and I had no Josh, are you ready for this? I haven't told you this either. I had no idea about what Nashville was going to be like. I heard of Nashville as a big city, big town, whatever you want to call it. So I was doing a self-drive sort of tour, as I do I've done several now around the US and yeah, so I thought I'm going past Nashville, I might as well pop in. I found a car spot for my car and I got out. I found a car spot for my car and I got out and thought I'll just walk up and down the main street, overwhelmed like galore. It was insane.
Speaker 2:It was it was.
Speaker 1:I wasn't ready for it, though, josh. I hadn't prepared myself, mentally focused wise, so I literally, I literally just walked up one side of the street, turned around and crossed the road, walked down the other side of the street and then got back to the car and went I've got to get out of here now. I'm done. For me, it was like it was like the the country version of las vegas.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like, yes, that's great las vegas in cowboy boots and cowboy hats. That's what it is. That's a great description of it. Yeah, and with every, with live music pumping out of every single place. If you love music, there's a reason why it's called music city, usa. Um, um, yeah, my kids go to college, or currently, one child goes to college about an hour north of there, so it's the airport that we get to fly into. So many trips to Nashville, emma, what I'm really curious. You've been a lot around the cities of the United States and this podcast is really about some of those hidden things, sometimes some of those underrated cities that that people maybe don't always think about. I have two questions. First one, maybe maybe you already mentioned it what is your favorite us city to visit? And then, and then, secondly, what is your favorite like underdog us city that maybe people don't necessarily think about?
Speaker 2:Oh favorite city is hard because I think it totally depends on my mood. Like, if I'm in the right mood it's Las Vegas, if I'm in the right mood it's New York City or Chicago. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Or I just want to be on a beach somewhere. So it totally depends on mood, but I think those are like pretty obvious. But when we talk about hidden gems, I think back to my favorite. Now again, there was, I need to be clear, there was family visiting involved in this. But then our, my family, did go and have this other incredible day.
Speaker 2:We stayed in dover, delaware, what, what I'm gonna, I'm gonna write it down amazing beachside town, okay, and we stayed out of bed and breakfast and I think it was, you know, memorable for me because I was like I don't know 14 and I got to have my own room in this bed and breakfast but you know, it had the most like incredible little town and the best hospitality and beautiful beach. It was it. Honestly, it gave like um, cape Cod vibes. That was another really great trip that I took.
Speaker 2:We kind of snuck out during COVID, uh, a couple of friends of mine, the three of us, we rented a cottage in Cape Cod and none of us had ever been there. We flew into Providence, rhode Island, and we drove up the Cape and that was all. Three of us talk about that being one of the best vacations that we've taken at all. Like it was different because it wasn't more in the thick of COVID, like it was still outdoor dining and masks and and whatnot. And thankfully, you know, everything worked out great, were all very careful and and everything but um, getting to experience cape cod when it was a little quieter, a little less crowded, getting to kind of go up to provincetown, and um, it was that that was so memorable to me. So it's those kind of like quiet little surprises where you get a mix of being somewhere that you're not used to and getting to relax a little bit too. I think that's a big part of kind of those memorable key vacations.
Speaker 1:And Josh, just to let you know as well. I just looked it up itself and it's pretty much directly in the dead center of Delaware from north to south and it's along there. It's almost along the Delaware Bay there as well. So you've got directly north-south. It's pretty much exactly in the middle and close to the bay. It's near the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.
Speaker 2:So there you go. I believe we for sure knew that I did not.
Speaker 1:Feel free to use any of this information in line for your next TikTok.
Speaker 3:That's fine that is a state that I've never been to. I've never been to. Delaware, and I've never went certainly. Then I've never found a geocache. And I've been to all. I mean I've been to almost every us state, but I have not okay there's a. I haven't done your list I know I haven't done the main down to down to all the new England.
Speaker 2:I've done.
Speaker 3:I've done New York but that's, that's the only place I haven't. I've been to Hawaii, I've been to Alaska, I've been to everywhere else, I just haven't been there that got the high-pitched. What out of me like I know, I know that you have not. That was like. That was like the taylor swift, like excitement voice.
Speaker 1:It was me meanwhile, emmeline, I mean you look at me, for instance. I've been in the us now for three years. Have a guess how many states that I've been through in the us at the moment? I haven't done all of them. I'll let you know they are, but how many in total?
Speaker 2:well, the way that you said that makes me feel like you've been to a lot. I don't know. I'm gonna say I mean I did.
Speaker 1:I have been through delaware. I sneezed as I went through delaware and that's it like I was. It was done um 25 oh no, we're near 48, holy cow. All I'm missing is uh is maine and new hampshire as well, up the top corner that's incredible well, it sounds like both of you need to have a new england adventure oh correct yes, that needs to happen.
Speaker 3:So enough of that, yeah well, can I say one more thing about delaware, and, like the people, that some of the people that listen to this they like, know my appreciation for pop culture. Emmeline have, have you ever I know I know craig hasn't because he hasn't seen anything have you ever seen wayne's world?
Speaker 2:uh, a million years ago. I have you watched it, but yes, craig.
Speaker 3:Have you seen wayne's world?
Speaker 3:of course, I've seen why oh there's so many things that he oh, there's so many things that I bring up it pop culture. He has no clue. Anyway, there's a funny part in wayne's world I don't know if it's wayne's world or wayne's world too do you guys remember this? Where they're? They're in front of a green screen and they're like, and that things pop like, places pop up and it's like hell, like howdy partner, we're in texas. And then another one pops out like, yeah, we're in new york. And then Delaware pops up and they're like hi, we're in Delaware, yeah, delaware Like. They're like Delaware is not known for anything.
Speaker 2:Well, they're known for one of my favorite vacation spots. How about?
Speaker 3:that. There you go.
Speaker 1:Emmeline, I'm just letting you know now, and everyone who knows Josh knows the same thing, and that is if you were Josh's parents, you would say to him the same thing that either they said to him and that is josh.
Speaker 2:if only you could remember your school work as well as you do, your memories for your music and for your movies, then you'd be an absolute brain child I think if they so, if we learned in school in like song taylor, like if taylor swift wrote about the pythagorean theorem, you would all be geniuses.
Speaker 3:I'm saying or if for me, if I learned in like 80s sitcoms yes like teaching me albert algebra through the show family ties. That would I'd be a genius, I would. I would have went to.
Speaker 1:Uh, it's deal more girls, ivy league meanwhile, emeline, I have it on good authority as well that you're you're gonna head on a new big, big big trip very, very soon I've got a lot involved in this, just to let you know but down under. You're going down under, is that right?
Speaker 2:I am. I am so excited. I wish that the listeners could see the smile on my face. Okay, so this is a trip that's a long time coming. My partner and I have been planning this for a long time. He has been to Australia I don't even know five, six times, but always for work. So he has never gotten to go as a as a tourist, as someone just getting to have fun. And I've never been at all. And I'm going to be honest with you, I'm terrified of this flight. Let's just talk about that 17 hours on an airplane yeah I don't, I don't.
Speaker 1:I feel like I'm gonna have to plan an itinerary just for the flight and just to stop you there as well, just to let you know as you fly across, so from the us to australia, there will be an entire day out of the calendar that does not exist for you.
Speaker 2:So I will not have a december 29th this year there you go I am already morning will not exist yeah, uh, no, so what? I'm, uh, especially excited, so I've always wanted to go there. I found that I seem to have an affinity for the Commonwealth countries I don't know, but I've always wanted to go there. And I get to check off two bucket list items on this one trip, which is incredible. So the first is we will be in Sydney Harbor on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's really good, that's really good.
Speaker 2:I'm so excited yeah.
Speaker 1:That's the New York of Australia.
Speaker 2:Have you ever On New Year's Eve? Have you ever been there?
Speaker 1:I worked over 10 years on New Year's Eve in the middle of Sydney. I was an ex-police officer, so I'm actually standing on the bridge, the bridge, the harbor bridge, blocking traffic while the fireworks is going off.
Speaker 2:so holy cow. Okay, we maybe need to talk after this. I'm a little nervous, but I'm excited. Yeah, um, and then the other thing of course is we're going to go up. Would we pronounce it? Can karen, karen?
Speaker 1:it looks like karens, but can yeah, but no, ah, don't pronounce it R, so it's Cairns.
Speaker 2:Cairns, we're going to go up and do snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, which is another huge thing, you know, sad, tragically, that is, you know, dying, and so I'm so thrilled that we get to be there and I, thankfully, was able to do some research and I had some good recommendations of some really ethical companies, was able to do some research and I had some good recommendations of some really ethical companies and I'm really looking forward to getting out there and just seeing it while it still is there, to see and experience that we're also going to go to Melbourne, melbourne.
Speaker 1:Yes, there you go, yes.
Speaker 2:Where I hear they have the world's best coffee, or so they say.
Speaker 1:They say the world's. Australia in general have the world's best coffee. But yes, melbourne have the decent coffee shops. They have the very sprucey coffee shops where they sit out on milk crates and think that that's the trend. But anyway, that's coming from a sydneyite, so there you go?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, I'm traveling I'm excited for all the coffee I I love, oh yeah yeah traveling with craig.
Speaker 3:he hates our coffee, he doesn't even, he just thinks it's dirty water.
Speaker 1:That's all it is.
Speaker 2:But we are also going above and beyond and heading down to New Zealand for a few days as well.
Speaker 1:Across Across to New Zealand, oh yes, you're right. It is very.
Speaker 2:Definitely more east, yeah, so it's going gonna be a whirlwind. We I'm literally like already working out to build up the endurance that I'm gonna need. But I.
Speaker 1:So how long are you going for? How long in total is?
Speaker 2:it's gonna be about just over two weeks, okay yeah, that's, that's just doable.
Speaker 1:That's just doable. And why that, emmeline as well is that what you've actually and everyone in America don't really know this itself as well, and my wife, for instance, she never knew this and this is how we actually got started talking was because she was a silly American and didn't know these things. But what you're trip doing is like you're flying into DC and then you're traveling all the way up to Canada border and then all the way down to Florida and then on the way home, basically via New Zealand, you're going to stop in Hawaii.
Speaker 1:That's the sort of that's the sort of feeling, to just give you people distances, us people distances. That's the distance in which you'll be traveling.
Speaker 2:I know we were booking the travel and it was like okay, so do we get a car, do we get a train? Oh no, we need a flight. Oh, that's a three hour flight, you know. So we definitely are well aware of the crazy level happening here. However, again, 17 hour flight to get there. It was kind of like let's do what we can and try to make it as valuable as possible obviously your partner's been done it several times.
Speaker 1:You've said before, I've done it several times, my's been done it several times. You've said before, I've done it several times. My wife's done it several times. It is doable. It is a lot, though I will say it is a lot. It's hard on the body. Make sure you get up and do your walks, make sure you stay hydrated that's all I can say and hopefully you get some sleep in as well, because you're going to need it. Any issues that you're going to have in regards to, normally, when any, any issues that you're going to have in regards to, um, normally, when I talk to americans, the australian wildlife, do you have any issues? And I'll put your. I'll put your issues to bed if that's the case, because everything can kill you, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know it's funny, one of my uh kind of viral sounds on uh the internet is uh, you know, it was really cold here in minnesota one day and I was reminding myself we don't have earthquakes, we don't have hurricanes, we don't have alligators, we don't have earthquakes, we don't have hurricanes, we don't have alligators. So listen, here in Minnesota we have it good, we have a very gentle life compared to a lot of places. I'm just going to say this I am an arachnophobic, like hardcore, so there's definitely some fear.
Speaker 1:Let me put your mind at ease, and that is everything in Australia can kill you, but nothing wants to kill you, if that makes sense. So don't touch anything If you see something crawling around or slithering around.
Speaker 3:It wants to go the other way.
Speaker 1:No, no, no. Just don't touch it, It'll go away itself. Just don't touch it, it'll. It'll go away itself. Just don't touch it, you will see.
Speaker 1:Now you talk about arachnophobes, because this is a lot of problem. Uh, a lot of people have with spiders. Australia do have large spiders and the biggest ones that and they are ugly, I will say they're not an attractive spider is called the huntsman. They're big and they're brown and they're furry, but they are good to have in your house because they take care of all the mosquitoes. They take care of all their cockroaches. There's no pests in the house and they will not harm you. They will not bite you. They're not after you. They are quick, but don't let that scare you. They're not after you. They won't crawl on you. They don't want to be around you. They just want the cockroach. They just want the next meal. You, they don't want to be around you. They just want the cockroach. They just want the you know the next meal. But that's not going to be you. That's the same in everything in australia nothing. You are not on the menu of any animal in australia, so don't worry about it. Not even the big, great white sharks.
Speaker 2:As you know, you're not on the menu, so okay, good, you know, I will say I've watched enough robert irwin videos and I see him get like real close to some questionable creatures. That I think.
Speaker 1:Now you know I've got a couple of reliable sources helping to reassure me a little bit the only thing is but again you said before, you have reputable people up in cans as well, and that is, I'm not sure the exact dates themselves, but there is what they call stinger season coming up now. Josh, you'll love this, you're ready for this, josh? And that is stingers. They're actually class. We call them stingers because it sounds nicer than box jellyfish. Box jellyfish are the number one most deadliest animal in the entire world. Um, and they are. They are off the coast of kens, like they are up there, but they're only in different seasons. Now, if it's stinger season, then they will give you a protective suit to wear so they don't actually harm me and won't touch you.
Speaker 2:So there you go yeah, so that's all I was gonna say. I'm about to google stinger season.
Speaker 1:Have a look at stinger season when it is. But either way, they they will protect you, the people up there, always because they want tourists to come back. They don't want to kill tourists. Geez, it's only happened a couple of times where people have actually died in cans, but that's a different story altogether you just do what dory said, right, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, yeah, if you can. It doesn't paralyze, dory get stung.
Speaker 3:I think dory got stung but just a general jellyfish.
Speaker 1:That was as a by a normal jellyfish, not a box.
Speaker 2:I mean, if I'm honest, just the ocean alone freaks me out. And so anything else is. I'm really like overcoming a fear here on its own, but it's important enough to me that I'm willing to do the hard work for it.
Speaker 1:Yes, no, you'll really enjoy yourself and, as I said, we'll talk later after the show as well, if you have any other questions, and you can always message me afterwards as well, so anyway, Josh. I'm already having fomo. I'm already having it's not even.
Speaker 3:Josh has never been there, josh, I've never been there. I'm already having fomo and this is actually a podcast about the us, so let's come back home, okay, guys? Just talking about it, I'm a little jealous. Um, you're gonna be there when it's night, like nice, like we know how it is some of this, some of it at yeah, oh boy, okay, I'm really curious about this. You're not a, you're not a social media creator for travel but you sometimes well, but sometimes you do.
Speaker 3:You travel, so sometimes you capture it and and you know, when I watch social media especially travel, travel bloggers or travel things on Instagram, sometimes it it kind of, sometimes it romanticizes some of, romanticizes some of the travel. And is there anything for you, if you're creating social media while you're traveling, does it impact your trip in any way, or is there a feeling like you have to show how amazing and how beautiful it is? You know what know, you know what I'm saying, like, what's your, what's your take on that?
Speaker 2:I am so not that type of creator, and I think, even if it was a primary source of income for me, I don't think I would venture down that path If I was ever going to be lucky enough, or, or you know, choose to do travel content creation.
Speaker 2:It's going to be raw and real. I'm not going to just show you this beautiful view in front of me, I'm going to show you the line of people behind me, and so I think that it's that whole Instagram versus reality. I think internet has been wonderful for introducing people to new places and inspiring them to go visit somewhere, but it does a really bad job of setting realistic expectations about what's this budget actually going to look like? What's the travel time actually going to be? What's it going to be like when you actually get there? Is it actually going to look like that, or have you seen a bunch of videos with filters? So I think you know that's where I do this in my, my personal, everyday content. I don't use filters other than, however you know, the the grainy filter is on Tik TOK anyway, but if I'm posting to Instagram or wherever, I'm showing it to you exactly how it came through on my camera. I want you to know exactly what my experience was.
Speaker 3:But some, you know, sometimes it's tough, just in a world where there's so much sponsored content especially if some if somebody's being paid to visit a place it's like you don't want as a creator and you don't want to be like showing the bad stuff you know what it's so it's a tricky place and just and being aware of like you know when, as consumers, to know like, oh, it's good that we have laws where it says, hey, this is sponsored content, by the way.
Speaker 3:Even so, if everybody's showing the all the wonderful things and like, for me too, it's like I was just in germany, for I was in germany for four days, okay, and italy. Italy for italy for literally one day, okay, and germany for three days.
Speaker 1:And Milan. Here he was just saying oh, I've got FOMO, get off Australia, I've got FOMO. Now he's just bragging about Germany and Italy. Keep on going, josh, keep on going.
Speaker 3:It was literally just like a long weekend, right, and I was in Italy for two days and Germany for three. And here's the thing this is kind of the reality versus what actually is. People sometimes view my content and I release it slowly, so in those four days I probably made eight videos, and so people have this perception oh my gosh, I wish I could travel, I wish I had the money for that. You're literally in that place for like two months, when it literally is like four days. You know what I mean. So it's like I just it's so fascinating the perception that people have of of people that put out especially travel content, thinking, thinking it's, it's like something more extra extravagant than it actually is yeah yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:That wasn't a question, just an observation.
Speaker 1:Well, I've got a question on that, josh, and that is Emmeline. Tell us your experiences, because you said before you travel for business and work as well. What's the difference for you when you travel for business or work compared to when you travel for yourself, for leisure? Yeah, so I mean I think partially.
Speaker 2:It's obvious, right, like when I travel for work, I have things that I have to do for other people. There's an obligation Someone else likely paid for me to be there. So I am obligated to, you know, go to those meetings or attend that conference, like be at those certain events. But what I am, what I've often been able to do, is work in an extra half day or an extra day on the end, where, if I'm in a new city, somewhere that I've never been where, maybe I'm not going to have time in the evenings because I'm at a conference or I have all these meetings. But let's say I'm in DC for the first time in 10 years and I want to check it out. I'm flying into the Reagan airport that's closer to the national mall, so that I can spend a few hours that morning before I fly out, getting to visit the sites. And then I feel like I didn't just fly in and sit in a boardroom and look out a window, like I could have done here in the Twin Cities, but rather I got to experience it. And now I'm remembering that with a fonder memory and it kind of brings it all full circle a little bit better.
Speaker 2:I also to me when I travel for work, it is very rare that I that I don't engage in some sort of like social networking activity, networking activity To me, networking is like the most important thing that you can do in your career corporate or otherwise like that's where you meet people, that's where walls get broken down, that's where we start to have a little fun. You talk about the food that you like or you know, as the evening goes on, you know like you, just you open up about yourselves and then you build trust. And so when I take these work trips for me personally, I know this isn't how it is for a lot of people, but yes, I'm going, I'm showing up to that, 8 am meeting and we're working till, you know, 4 o'clock or 5 o'clock. But then I make that effort to go to the happy hour or go to the dinner so that I can relax a little bit, where I might be exhausted and just wanting to go take a nap. But if I can power through, it makes that trip so much more enjoyable.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you get that personal experience afterwards. Yeah, that's an interesting point, because when I travel for work and I'm not talking about when I make YouTube videos that's like a different type of work. But when I travel for my day job, I personally find it hard to relax, like I find it hard to relax.
Speaker 3:I find it hard If I have an early morning. I mentally cannot check out of work mode in my brain and personally I have a hard time relaxing or even enjoying something really cool or fun in the city when I know I have work the next morning, especially if it's early. Do you have? Do you have a? Do you have trouble separating that this, this like a work trip, from like a trip that doesn't include work?
Speaker 2:Absolutely not, I'm glad.
Speaker 3:I'm glad for you.
Speaker 2:No, I, truly I am. I'm very you know, hashtag blessed to have those kind of strong boundaries and my brain just works that way. I know that is not how everyone works. Often we'll be out and people like it's time for me to go back. I got to prepare for tomorrow where I prepared for tomorrow a few days ago and I still feel good about that and I'm able to kind of keep going and enjoy the evening. You know, to have that fun, to break down those walls a little more.
Speaker 1:Love that, love that. Josh. Guess what we're going to do? Because I, emmaline if you don't know, if you haven't heard our show before, I'm the timekeeper of our show. I'm the one that's in charge.
Speaker 3:Somebody's got to do it.
Speaker 1:I've got to try and reel Josh in, and so what we're going to do a little golden nugget, josh, for the patron. What do?
Speaker 3:you think a golden nugget coming out of the treasure box yes, yes and that's, if you don't know, what a golden nugget is that's for our patrons. We, we provide from time to time extra bonus content and, uh, emeline has agreed to before we, before we started this recording, she has actually agreed to to talk to us even a little bit longer, even though she is missing a very important Taylor.
Speaker 1:Swift concert and Josh, we're going to tease. We're going to tease everyone as well, because we're going to ask Emmaline for patrons only and that is, her bucket list places where to go, where she's going to go, what's on her list and also her travel tips as well. They're the main two questions we're going to ask for Emmaline. So if you want to be part of that, if you want to listen to Emmaline's bucket list and travel tips, Josh, how can people go ahead and do that?
Speaker 3:So if you're enjoying this podcast, we would love your support. This podcast is fully supported by listeners. By helping us, you're helping us to continue doing this, continue to create content and keep it free for everyone, so please consider joining us at patreoncom backslash treasures of our town and before we let that M line go too far as well M line how can people find you on social media etc as well?
Speaker 2:So you can find me on TikTok, you can find me on instagram, youtube, facebook, and I think that's it for now.
Speaker 3:That's a that's a lot yeah, you know what you should join. You people need to join the 20 people on facebook yes, please exactly be the person.
Speaker 2:It's an intimate community.
Speaker 3:You know me, you know she's not gonna maybe respond to all a quarter million people on tiktok, but you know what, if you're one of those 20 or 21, she's going to be like, hey, you're my best friend exactly right.
Speaker 1:And of course, josh, all the links for these. Uh, for emma lyons, um uh, social media is going to be in the in the show notes. But meanwhile, josh, as well, we've got a shout out. We got fan mail from last last episode. We got fan mail fan mail first came from mel from she's a patron as well, mel. And she says she just said yes, I would totally love to buy a shirt. Yay, I'm so glad and then she says, yay, I'm so glad y'all enjoyed seeing my friend brandon giles performed in alabama remember it was brandon giles.
Speaker 1:We forgot his name. Yeah, I didn't forget it.
Speaker 3:You forgot it.
Speaker 1:I did I did, but yeah, so there you go.
Speaker 3:So yeah, she would buy a shirt. She wants a shirt that says. She wants a shirt that says they're proud of their town. That's a damn rare thing these days.
Speaker 1:See, I got it in the show I know I got it. In the show you got we also had Minnesota Boy, a Minnesota Boy, a Minnesota Boy. He says great topic. Guys. I love traveling with my mates, but I also love the freedom of solo travel where I get to make all the decisions himself. Both have their ups and downs, but both have valuable experiences as well. So there you go.
Speaker 3:Yes, and our last show was about solo travel.
Speaker 2:Yes, which is honestly so important. I love that.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, it was a great experience and we we really enjoyed it. We had a good show. That, uh, episode two, josh. So just saying, and our last one, because some people don't actually write their names when they do their fan mail comments, josh. So the last one's from new york, new york and it says awesome show.
Speaker 1:I saw back to the future in london and it was amazing. Excellent interview and topic and keep it up, guys. So there you go, from New York, new York. So if you want to send us a fan mail, please just put your name in there somewhere for us to actually realize where it's coming from Exactly Otherwise.
Speaker 3:Josh, how can people find or contact us from here? Feel free to reach out to us at Treasures of our town podcast at gmailcom, or you can follow us on facebook, instagram, x and youtube so that's it for our show today. Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcasting app and, as always, josh may your travels always lead you to the most unexpected and amazing hidden gems around the world. See you next time.
Speaker 2:Everybody thanks emma lion that was so nice of you to join us.
Speaker 1:This was awesome. Bye.
