20 Minute Delay

Traveling can be hard on the body so what are frequent travelers to do?  Bath bombs, preparedness, and some quick but extra special self-spoilage go a long way.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

0:33 – Intro

0:50 - Self-care on the go

1:05 - Recent Travel!

  1:11 - Piper did a StayCation in the next city over at a swanky Scottsdale resort with big bathtub, fluffy pillows that - of course - was dog friendly for Corbin the Corgi

  2:37 - Gail went on her 35th annual pilgrimage with her mother (for her mom's birthday) to a hot spring; now mind you, she's only 29 too; so that's quite the trick

4:33 - Where there are earthquakes, there are likely hot springs. Gail says that's a fair trade-off - what do you think listener?

5:53 - A trip for yourself every now and again is a must

6:10 - An unplugged weekend?!  Piper hasn't been away from the internet/cell service in years while Gail goes off-grid when she goes to this onsen

7:01 - Sometimes its good to deny authors access to Twitter and Facebook; but Piper insists on always being prepared with research, notes, and local copies of writing work

8:18 - The event Piper and Gail met at - a Cabin in the woods

9:53 - Data use while traveling internationally (more on this in a future episode)

10:34 - "Most writers are on some watch-list somewhere." -Piper

11:07 - Main Topic -> Self-care on the Go

11:21 - Gail's super secret self-care hot-tip => it has something to do with magazine's (listen and find out what it is! But remember not to tell anyone)

12:40 - Piper has one for her and one for her significant other (the guy typing this: Producer Matt)

13:08 - Need to use that thick overnight conditioner for color-treatment?  Use it at a hotel so you don't have to clean the shower or wash the seats

13:54 - Sephora VIB rouge <- always get the samples so you can travel with them

14:19 - Deep cuticle oil is great for re-hydrating you, regardless of gender, and are perfect for dry overnight redeye flights

14:54 - Traveling and walking a lot?  Gail wears stilettos all day and highly recommends a super-hot water soak followed by lotion first, then fuzzy socks as a feet-saver.  Guaranteed quicker recovery!

17:30 - Don't travel with unmarked white powder; but baking soda is perfect for this soaking

17:44 - There's always bathbombs too (from places like Lush)

18:29 - Yes, I have had to have 4 root canals. Over the course of one month.  I recommend dental picks like these but I won't knock using free individually wrapped toothpicks.

20:41 - Bathbombs that make you smell like food (are apparently the best)

21:02 - The Lorde of Misrule bath bomb

21:43 - Spoil yourself with food while traveling. Don't overeat, but allow yourself a particular thing that helps make you look forward to traveling in the future   Gail - fried foods, or stealing fries   Piper - dessert, or beet salad (you won't make it at home)

23:52 - lower your blood-pressure while flying via food?     Here's a great article from Harvard about taking care of your health while flying if you want to look more in to travel self-care

24:11 - Yay Gadgets!    Gail - bath-bombs (pre-halved)      'Spa Pure      'Strawberry ShortcakeMAKE SURE YOU RINSE OUT YOUR TUB BEFORE BOMBING!    Piper - Aveda "for Men composition oil"       'Caviar anti-aging overnight hair-rescue

26:32 - bath bomb training - what's the best way to disperse it into the bath?

27:20 - bonus tip, add a nut-oil for extra decadent moisturizing

30:51 – Outro and thanks to:             Producer Matt &             John Anealio for his song Steampunk Girl

Thanks for listening and safe travels!

Preparing to travel made simple: keep your kits packed and ready. Travel kits come in all colors/textures/sizes and should be machine washable. Ready to kit up?

Time Stamped Show Notes:

0:32 - Intro

0:55 - This Week's Trip (just how much do these ladies travel?)

1:37 - Piper's Travel comes in two parts; day-job (85% of the time) and author trips

2:12 - "You live in transit Piper." -Gail

2:16 - Piper breaks down her typical (consistent/inconsistent) travel schedule for work

3:00 - "The 'oops' of being scheduled on two projects at the same time => literally flying ocean to ocean each week for six weeks"  -Piper

3:46 - Piper travels to conventions for author stuff: networking, book-signing, teaching and instructing, etc

4:53 - Gail travels as a full-time professional author to essentially a convention a month as well as multiple writing conferences each year and (the thing she hates) two-week long book tours

6:12 - The infamous hellmouth airport of DIA forced Gail to do a 20 minute signing at ComicCon

7:13 - Preferred traveling days (avoid Friday and Sunday)

8:08 - The perks of being a westcoaster in overcoming jetlag - it means you can stay up late and hang out at the bar when you travel east

9:07 - Arrive early, volunteer, meet the staff, and have fun

9:30 - Dead dog party ("secret" post-con meetup the Sunday night after a convention finishes)

10:08 - Main Topic  ->  Kits!  -tea kit  -redeye kit  -sleep kit  -emergency kit ("Piper Repair Kit")  -emergency repair kit (for vintage dresses or corsets)  -makeup kit  -lipgloss kit  -electronics kit

10:54 - Preparing yourself for "the zone of the hotel" -Gail

13:29 - Corset corner (tips and warnings for wearing)

13:53 - "Kits permanently live in their kit state." -Gail   (always packed and ready to go)

15:08 - When do you refill your kits if they're always packed?

15:36 - Adjusting the makeup kit based on season, location, and purpose of visit (keep the basics in there always: base, foundation, eyeliner)

16:44 - "Bigelow and Lipton's are verboten"

17:09 - Varying your kit bag based on its purpose (color and texture); so that you can produce the desired kit when unable to see into a bag

18:46 - kits help organize your "bag of holding's" pocket universe

19:21 - Zippers are king

20:06 - Yay Gadgets!  -Piper -> kit bags from mochithings.com  -Gail -> TravelOn zipper envelopes (great intro to cheaply figure out what sizes/types of kit bags work for you)

24:18 - Piper's been experimenting with silicone (bottles for storing shampoo's, lotions, conditioners, etc)

26:39 - ZojiRushi (Japanese thermos company) food storage mug

28:15 - ZipLock bags are wonderful kit bags too (waterproofing)  -or a garbage bag to become a poncho for your carry-on  -and don't forget to double up your ziplock bags

30:11 – Outro and thanks to:             John Anealio for his song Steampunk Girl

Roadtrips can be rough on the tummy; how do frequent travelers cope?  Gail and Piper discuss their recent drive and go head-to-head about backpacks. Its time for #luggagewars

Time Stamped Show Notes:

0:34 – Intro

1:06 - Piper and Gail's road-trip together

2:16 - "Know where your towel is."  -Douglas Adams

2:26 - What to have with you on a road trip; especially when traveling with someone like Piper who has a delicate tummy (towels, wetones, and plastic baggies)

2:57 - How to prep for a road trip (bubbles, ginger chews, and child's Dramamine)

3:47 - The beautiful in appearance and smelling California coast (horsehair, licorice, and redwoods) - especially near Samuel P. Taylor State Park

4:59 - Main Topic -> The Backpack Sasquatch

5:13 - Gail's "ism" - and why she loathes backpack travelers (she gets "beaned by backpacks")

6:18 - Piper is a backpack aficionado - and so the feud begins

7:27 - Brand loyalty to -> Tumi backpacks

9:16 - Backpack security; beware the pickpockets in tourist spots and crowded transit places

10:18 - Gail admits to being a recovering backpack user

10:55 - Backpack optimization -> keeping valuables hidden deep within (past the snacks and the emergency wipes)

12:57 - Gadgets!     13:14 -> the backpack Gail actually likes (its collapsible!)     14:44 -> Piper's preferred ballistic nylon Tumi backpack

16:15 - The Jackie and Laurie Podcast 

16:37 - Gail's exacting standards for baggage selection (color of interior vs interior -> the inside should be light colored, thereby making it easier to your stuffs)

17:26 – Outro and thanks to:             John Anealio for his song Steampunk Girl

Safe travels and thanks for listening! Please subscribe and look for new episodes every Monday.

Traveling while hungry is the pits.  And when you're hypoglycemic it can be deadly.  What to do?  Initiate the burrito protocol.

Gail Carriger has a love of tasty food.  Even better when its spicy.  Travel requires food that is portable and stores well even at room temperature.  The pursuit of this has led her to develop what is affectionately known as: The Burrito Protocol.

Simply put, buy a burrito from your favorite local place and take it with you.  But what about salsa, and beans?  And what container do you place it in?  All this and more - including a story from Piper about how a hard boiled egg traveled across the globe - in this episode of 20mindelay.

  - - - 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

0:35 – Intro

0:58 - The Burrito Protocol; what meals do you travel with (not snacks)

1:22 - Piper's trip to San Francisco to see Gail and the bay area

2:12 - Airport talk: SFO; including tips for transit from SFO to SF (the airport is actually in Daly city)

3:10 - hotels in San Francisco (library bar at Hotel Rex)

3:37 - SF Marriott Grand Marquis

3:59 - Plot Bunny -> 555 Mission Street's 'Garden of Light'

4:42 - Pilgrimages when returning consistently to a city -> Gail completes a pilgrimage to the the original Twining's Tea Shop (same spot since 1700's) - and - Fortnum & Mason's for a proper spot of tea

6:07 - The Thai 'lol' or "hahaha" -> ' ฮ่าฮ่าฮ่า '

7:11 - San Francisco food -> San Francisco chowder in an SF sourdough bread

7:56 - Main Topic -> Gail's Burrito Protocol

8:54 - Gail's burrito preferences includes delicious chicken, egg, chile relleno, (and light on the rice)

10:21 - Piper's burrito tends to be machaca (light on the beans)

11:21 - Gail and Piper agree, avoid the mess of salsa, but Gail has a trick for keeping sodium, electrolytes, and taste -> small brineless packages of pickled jalepenos

12:38 - How about the return trip food stuffs?

12:53 - small hummus packs (carbs are easy, vegetables and protein must be hunted and acquired)

13:23 - Piper is protein bar'd out

13:54 - hard boiled egg (and how one traveled halfway across the world)

16:16 - Gail's tip: grab some pre-boiled and pre-shelled eggs from the little store and/or Starbucks at the hotel and take it with you - just in case

17:03 - "Nobody's happy when you feint."

17:09 - Travel gadgets!    17:22 - Piper's = little sandwich baggies    17:45 - Gail's = the burrito protocol carrier, small light insulated bag with small amount of additional storage for utensil and trash baggie

20:09 - Outro and thanks to:             John Anealio for his song Steampunk Girl

Thanks for listening! Please subscribe and look for new episodes every Monday.

What adventures are there to be had on the Baltic Sea? Culture, food, and fun in cities like Kiel (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia), and St. Petersburg (Russia).   Gather amazing experiences and enjoy, until a typo ruins everything. Then, it's a "travel whammy!"

In this episode, Gail and Piper discuss recent travels in Europe as well as what happens when your luggage doesn't quite keep pace with you. Also, what's the most versatile garment? The swimsuit.  Why you ask?  Gail shares her tale of traveling to Italy as a young, innocent archaeologist who arrived for a months long stay with only a container full of plastic bags, which is not what she packed for herself.

Travel whammies are those moments when what can go wrong, does.  The harder you struggle, the more like quicksand they become.  So what do you do?  First: post to social media.  Second: adapt and overcome.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

0:35 - Intro

0:54 - Where did Piper go? On an 8-day Baltic-sea cruise through Kiel (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia), St. Petersburg (Russia)

1:52 - Why? For this: http://www.writingexcuses.com/2017/01/03/an-announcement-and-a-miniature-faq/

3:12 - Piper tells us about a Marzipan museum

4:31 - Was that Dresden's foo-dog Mouse?

5:24 - Best shoes on a cruise

7:17 - Travel whammies! (When major things go wrong while traveling -> that's a whammy)

7:33 - Gail's first big travel whammy and extra uses for a swimsuit when its the only piece of clothing you have...for months

10:10 - Piper's travel hijinks led to her seat being given away on her international flight, because of a typo

13:09 - Gail teases a JFK story (from when the TWA flight was shot down)

14:34 - Travel gadgets!

14:42 - single packet anti-bacterial WetOnes!

15:47 - "It was someone else's travel whammy!"

15:55 - https://www.mochithings.com/ - to organize your unmnetionables

16:48 - 

Outro and thanks to:              John Anealio for his song Steampunk Girl

Episode 3 comes out on Friday, 3 November! 

Safe travels till then and thanks for listening.

Travel is always an adventure, sometimes a travail, and there's always that one airport we can't escape once we arrive. We call them hellmouth-airports.

Gail and Piper fly multiple times a month, enough to accumulate little "sometimes" issues and coincidental travel whammies into truly hellish experiences. In this episode our podcasters discuss the horrors of Denver International Airport (DIA), Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), then give tips on how to survive there. What do you do when that short "20 Minute Delay" becomes another 20mindelay which becomes another which... You get the idea. How can one protect their quality of life when trapped in an airport for 8 hours or more - or sometimes worse: when your one hour connection becomes a 10 minute mad-dash? Well you listen to this episode ahead of time of course! 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

0:31 - Intro 0:56 - Piper and Gail's go to Jersey; but not together 1:17 - Why Gail travels (author going to conventions like: Steampunk World Faire) 2:16 - Why Piper travels (author and dayjob as a consultant; 50-80% travel) 4:24 - Singing the praises of Philly's airport   '6:39 - Vino Volo; rewards program with $1 wine and free la amuse-bouche

7:32 - Self-care before/during flights (should you drink wine and/or eat sugar?)

9:55 - Geno's cheesesteak as an alternative to the burrito protocol (get it double bagged!)

11:24 - Hellmouth airports

12:09 - Denver (DIA); delay upon delay

13:51 - "tornado shelters" aka the steps down to the hellmouth

15:00 - best spots to eat at DIA (upstairs to get the egg-salad sandwiches that remind Gail of her British mom)

15:48 - Chicago o'Hare (ORD); canceled flight upon canceled flight

16:12 - a sushi debate (safe at airports?)

18:15 - changing gates? time to play Mario Cart

19:58 - catch a breathe of fresh air at the hydroponic garden opposite the USO

21:08 - traveling with steel reinforced corsets (aka "precious cargo") to RT Booklovers' convention

22:28 - What's your hellmouth airport?              Comment on the site              Join the FaceBook group              Say hi on Twitter

22:55 - Nifty travel gadgets!

23:31 - Piper's gadget: download the airline's app that you're flying on to track your gate-changes and take advantage of last minute seat changes (including cheap upgrades)

26:24 - Gail's gadget: tiny tote FOR: extra storage / pillow / great for storing that temperature transition garment and more

29:01 - inflatable what now?

30:54 - Outro and thanks to:              John Anealio for his song Steampunk Girl

Episode 2 comes out on Wednesday, 1 November! 

Safe travels till then and thanks for listening.

20mindelay - or 20 Minute Delay - is a new podcast from authors Gail Carriger and Piper J Drake.  This short teaser episode is made up of a few clips from the coming season so you know what to look forward to. 

Gail and Piper travel a lot.  Maybe more than anyone should - but they love it.  So why the podcast?  To create a community of informed, savvy, travelers that are armed with better, cooler, smarter, lighter gadgets and kits. 

Please subscribe for new 20-25 minute episodes releasing every Monday starting 30 November 2017!