Travel Tales from the #nerdbirds
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The #nerdbirds met on a Virgin America final flight in 2018, and believe the journey is just as fun as the destination. They discuss all aspects of the travel experience, focusing on design, sustainability, and destinations off the beaten path.
187 Episodes
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The Travel Gym hits the road -- but not too far! -- to explore what it means to travel through culture without hopping on a plane. In this episode, #nerdbird Rachel chats with Oscar, who was born in the Philippines and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area with a short stint in California's Central Valley. Oscar shares stories about food, faith, family, and the surprising legacy of Filipino Freemasonry in California.
It’s the Summer of Food, and in Part 1, #nerdbirds Rachel and Sebastian ponder the surprising history of airline cuisine, based on the book "Food in the Air and Space." From sand-tainted roast chicken and a cat in a hot air balloon to kosher meal hacks and specially seasoned snacks at 30,000 feet, they explore the evolution of inflight dining, special meals, and how taste changes in the air.
Inspired by Kevin Kelly's “50 Years of Travel Tips,” slightly younger #nerdbirds Brendan and Rachel apply their Book Club snark to a blog post that felt in sync with their travel ethos, sharing personal stories that support (and sometimes question) advice on travel from an intentional, engaged perspective.
In a nod to the podcast’s first episode on April 1, 2020, #nerdbirds Sebastian and Rachel break down two of David’s January travel mishaps that felt more April Fool’s than New Year fresh. Learn more about navigating international check-ins, understanding partner airline/codeshare bookings, and scanning the airport like a lion on a savanna 😎
In Part 4 of the Travel Gym series, listen in as #nerdbird Rachel asks both John the Traveler to reflect on organizing his first Mexico City CuriosiTrip in January and Robin from the Cortona School of Photography to share wisdom from 27 years of leading photo workshops in Tuscany. Learn about leading group trips with intention, handling detours (literal and emotional), and balancing structure with spontaneity.
Luggage regrets? #nerdbirds Brendan, Sebastian, and Rachel have a few, along with opinions and advice on size, wheels (or not), colors, packing cubes, laundry, and all the creative ways one can bring various food and plants on a plane -- from leis and orchids to bricks of cheese and lilikoi chiffon pies.
Cheap theater tickets in London, Taco Boy stickers in Durango, and off-season Christmas markets in Milan: Welcome to the world of 2024 travel moments from #nerdbirds Brendan, Charlie, and Rachel. Learn more about mattress runs, space (or the lack thereof) on transatlantic lie-flat seats, and making the most of a missed connection.
It only took three years since our first visit to the Travel Gym to come up with a Level 3 version of building travel muscle. Part 1 focuses on John the Traveler's thought process while building a Mexico City CuriosiTrip for a group, and Part 2 looks at the powers of observation, purposeful wandering, and reflection.
Buenos Dias! Brendan shares his first impressions of Mexico City, followed by special guest John the Traveler whose first visit sparked an idea to lead a CuriosiTrip to the city in January 2025. Learn more about how to flex your travel muscle to cultivate curiosity in a new location!
Visit https://nerdbirds.co/ for show notes, photos, and links
Visit https://johnthetraveler.com/mexico-city-2025/ for CuriosiTrip details. Limited spots remain!
The #nerdbirds celebrate six years since the Virgin America final flight with a meetup at the Los Angeles airport. Brendan and Rachel review the Flight Path Museum and a presentation on the history of LAX, and share tips on spots that are mostly walkable (!) from the airport, from burgers with planes coming in just overhead to the airport’s famous color tunnels. Rachel also reviews the latest security innovation with Delta’s Digital ID, along with their newest lounge, and shares seat advice for sunset photography from the sky.
#nerdbirds Rachel and Sebastian adjust to economy seating on a Porter Airlines flight to San Francisco, and share highlights from Toronto—where residents are chatty and poutine rules the day.
Since Brendan and Sebastian had never been on an inaugural flight, it was time to go on one (eh?) and go on one they did: Porter Airlines from San Francisco to Toronto. Listen in as Rachel attempts to stay sane with the two most animated #nerdbirds (on a small plane) (for five hours) while reviewing the airline and learning a few insider tips from the Canadian crew. A fellow traveler joined as an impromptu guest at the end, with stories of working at an airport.
What do the Newark, New York JFK, and Seattle airports have in common? Could burnt avocado toast in Chile compete with a Times Square Applebees for the worst food on the ground? #nerdbirds Brendan, Charlie, Rachel, and Sebastian share their answers to the best and worst flights, airports, hotels, food, and experiences of 2023.
Still more September travel stories await, with Rachel recapping her afternoon at the "CES of Aviation" and a more-recent thwarted attempt at a millionth mile flight. The two events had more in common than she realized, and she and fellow #nerdbird Sebastian ponder how much technology can help during a flight disruption.
More stories from late summer travels await, with #nerdbird Sebastian sharing his Rockstar experience on Virgin Voyages. Rachel's only contribution is explaining why she no longer travels during the summer, despite stumbling upon a cereal vending machine, finding a rat in the Detroit airport, and observing fireworks from high above in Utah.
Travel Tales return with a focus on late summer/September experiences: Eric talks about his spontaneous ride on a blimp, Charlie recaps a record number of canceled flights, and Rachel starts to ponder where to take a millionth mile flight.
When Lightning Round episodes were the rage in 2020, some of the #nerdbirds answered questions about all things passports. For 2023, a few more (Brendan, David, Pilot Sarah, Sebastian) appear and share thoughts on passport design from esoteric countries (and a micronation), what happens when one loses all forms of ID when traveling, and the end of passport stamps with the move toward biometric IDs.
Pilot Sarah retired as a commercial airline pilot in January and reflects on her final flight -- "a wedding and a funeral on the same day" -- complete with rolling delays, paper airplanes, water cannons, and heartfelt tributes. She and co-host Rachel also chat about what happens during retirement flights, and changes in an industry with a pilot shortage.
As a nod to our (not-so-former?) Design Series episodes, #nerdbirds Brendan and Rachel discuss an exhibit of Air India's award-winning vintage Maharaja posters at Poster House in NYC, and share interesting art finds during a recent San Francisco airport field trip.
What happens when 27-time Disney Cruiser Sebastian and first-time "it's-not-a-cruise-it's-an-expedition-ship" Rachel record an episode? Typical #nerdbird banter ensues, from (lack of) Internet connectivity and handling seasickness to ship (and flight) upgrades. Learn from all of Rachel's mistakes when she spontaneously went to Antarctica as Sebastian summarizes advice for planning a smooth(er) journey.
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