Podcast episode 162 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

Just back from our trip to collect and bring home Bobbie 2.0, we thought we’d bring you a Pod Special. Thus, we dispense with the joke, the National Day, the Travel Quiz, and all the other features that normally make up this podcast, and instead spend our time regaling you with the drama inherent in importing a travel trailer from another country in these times of Tariffs On/Tariffs Off/Tariffs Up/Tariffs Down. Come with us as we take you—like smoke and oakum—through the tears, the arguments, the panicked phone calls, the CUSMA forms and other red tape, the experience of being ghosted by an attorney, and my fruitless attempts to determine where our trailer’s steel was melted and poured. In the end, you’ll probably say: Better them than us. And now that we have Bobbie 2.0, we couldn’t agree more.

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Podcast episode 161 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

In an effort to achieve a shorter podcast, we get right down to business. The joke makes light of the opposite of what we’ve been experiencing this month, and the National Day pays homage to orange wine. Wait! It’s not what you think it is! The Husband really hits the sweet spot with the Travel Quiz he whipped up, and we quickly reach agreement on avoiding the Bucket List Activity. Harkening back to the last episode, I list some pros and cons of the Bowlus now that I’ve seen the website. Next, we discuss the possible travel impacts of the government shutdown, then learn what happens when someone eschews the airline peanuts for a bite of passport instead. Finally, we dip back into the cereal bowl of Armenian memories.

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Podcast episode 160 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

After describing two near-broken pinky toes the Husband suffered in the course of a week by simply walking around our living room, we get to my RV-themed joke. Next, I use the National Day to declare myself a poetry disliker, while at the same time sharing a poem I made up altered to fit my needs. The Husband raves about his Travel Quiz, and this time it lives up to the hype. The Husband then ruins the Bucket List activity by not following directions. After that, we describe how we were “in Armenia” last weekend and use it as one of the many excuses for our pod absence. I explain my new time-limited love of Formula 1, and then it’s time to finally start getting into the nitty gritty of Armenia. But no, the Husband has been hanging onto a topic for several weeks and must get it off his chest. Just weeks before we go pick up our new travel trailer, he honors the National Day by waxing poetic about a high-end, exclusive, VIP camper brand no one’s ever heard of, and implores us all to take a look. Finally, I point to the cereal bowl between us and insist he pick at least one slip from it. In that way, we finally get talking about Armenia before *poof* time’s up.

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Links to the geography games mentioned by the Husband:

Podcast episode 159 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

We start the pod with an agreement to keep it to under an hour. Spoiler alert: we fail. We promised last time that this time we’d finally talk specifically about Armenia. Spoiler alert: we fail. On a more positive note, the back-to-school joke commemorates this, my very last day of summer break (wait—that’s not positive!), while The National Day marvels at the power some foodstuffs are able to wield. The Husband did keep his promise to make a much jauntier Travel Quiz, but you must have a rather intimate knowledge of my specific lifetime travels to get the base points. The Travel Bucket List activity is a quick and easy disagreement, and then we tell the story of how the Husband was nearly denied entry into Canada. As promised after last week’s Caucasus highlights, we list each capital’s lowlights, although I’m happy to report we really had to think hard to come up with them. Now, I must take my leave—I have to go pack my lunch.

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Podcast episode 158 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

This episode’s joke is for all you parents out there who are saying goodbye to kids leaving for college. It’s cute and funny, even if the Husband doesn’t laugh. We have a rollicking time giving fictitious names to characters associated with the National Day Week. Next, the Husband gives a confusing and mildly annoying Travel Quiz that makes me decide to aim for a low score. We give two thumbs down to the Travel Bucket List destination, and I keep my fist in that position after hearing the Husband’s dubious new idea for a road trip. After that, I reveal my responses to the Caucasus “highlights” question he posed last time, then turn the tables and get his take. We end with some random cute, odd, and disturbing moments from our trip.

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Podcast episode 157 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

Long time, no see, folks! We’ve been back from our trip for a few weeks now and just needed some time to get our feet back under us. But back we are and we are ready to talk! The joke pays homage to this lovely season we call summer. The National Day is just plain weird and is really a secret ploy to get more foot rubs from the Husband. His Travel Quiz honors our recent travels and the Bucket List activity highlights our next destination. After a few updates, including a pivot (after a previous pivot) on the whole “clear your cookies” thing, we talk generally about our trip, offering impressions, making a few comparisons, and saving the minutia for next time. We end by learning that all that Paris layover talk—should we?, shouldn’t we?—was much ado about nothing. Thanks, Air France!

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Podcast episode 156 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

This week’s joke is for all you cross-eyed teachers out there, whereas the National Month—that’s right, month—is for everyone. Actually, there are three, and if you honor them all with fidelity, you will be healthier, unhealthier, and have a few new family members by the end of June. The Husband’s Travel Quiz is inspired by a show he recently binged, and though I didn’t enjoy the show, the quiz was quite fun. There are no thumbs down for this week’s Bucket List activity, though we’d participate to different degrees. Next, we discuss the recent unruly behavior of Paris’ soccer fans, our questionable travel luck as decreed by a fortune cookie, and a recent travel-themed gift. After that we learn that Charles de Gaulle is no Incheon when it comes to layover activities, and finally, the Husband reveals that the BBC has created a very personally upsetting FOODAPARI moment.

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Podcast episode 155 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

This week’s joke is an absolute gas, whereas the National Day is just weird. The Travel Quiz is interesting, but the Husband presents it in a slightly confusing way, so just follow his cues and you’ll be fine. The Travel Bucket List destination leads to a discussion—also confusing—about our system of rating the destination, which leads to no resolution whatsoever. After that it’s a smattering of topics, including the unexpected convenience of WhatsApp, our lame attempts at being night owls, the varying advice (and vaccines) we got from our two different travel medicine doctors, and the possibility of another blog buddy meet-up. We end with the revelation that travel is down this summer across the board, which, we’re told, should lead to some flight deals. Too bad our flights are already booked and paid for.

A link from the Husband to you . . . but don’t peek until after the Travel Quiz:

https://happy-city-index.com/

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Podcast episode 154 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

This week we jazz things up by switching podcast roles. The husband dusts off his joke book to give us a relevant travel funny, then uses today’s date to create his National Day, which I will not be celebrating. Fresh from the travel medicine doctor, I mine my 20+ page travel medicine report for usable Travel Quiz nuggets and end up largely stumping the Husband, who copes with his poor score by using the word nucleosynthesis over and over in a vain (both meanings of the word) attempt to not look like a dolt. The Bucket List destination is a quick and easy two thumbs up, after which we learn about my attempt to prepurchase the Yerevan card and the head-scratching results. We then learn that Azerbaijan will, in fact, let us in, but it comes with a warning. Finally, on a brief revisit of our Mexico trip, I shamelessly fish for a compliment, after which the Husband shares his doubts about some of what we learned at Chichen Itza.

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode:

Podcast episode 153 is available by clicking below.  It is also available on iTunes, Pocket Cast, and Spotify under the travel architect.

An Easter Day podcast calls for an Easter joke, and I just know my peeps will get it. After a quick mention of a National Day gone by, I put an upcoming National Day in my cross hairs. The Husband has a very specific formula for the Travel Quiz, which I pretty much nail . . . and with dizzying speed, too! Then, the Bucket List Destination gets dau fawd i lawr (two thumbs down). Next, after some bits and bobs and a rundown of the Husband’s recent mini-road trip to—brace yourself—Iowa, I finally reveal the trip-upsetting contents of that Delta email I was so rudely prevented from disclosing last time. Finally, it’s on to the main menu: Mexico. We detail, discuss, and debate various aspects of our trip before learning about a new (to us) travel trend: EBTs, or Extreme Day Trips, which we also give two thumbs down before realizing that the Iowa trip might qualify as one.

Previous blog posts referenced or hinted at in this episode: