How NOT to Spearfish in the Philippines!
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Puffer fish, take cover! Alun's attempting the freediving world record in Siargao, Philippines, after learning freediving breathing techniques. Eagerly signing up for a Spearfishing for Beginners course run by a handsome Spanish instructor, he quickly realises spearfishing is not only difficult, but also humiliating. "Any fish" doesn't always mean any fish!
Vagabot 3000 is off on another backpacking adventure, this time to Guatemala City. Will it be Adam or Alun who's crowned Hostel Wars champion? The search continues for the worst... I mean 'most authentic' hostel.
Tales of a Trip returns with an inspiring travel story. This time, a young Frenchman who's proactivity and patience has lead him all the way to Bolivia by motorbike! Prepare for Filipino fun, spearfishing fails, and perhaps a little travel envy.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
01:43 – Alun's sexy fishing thought
02:02 – The inventors of underwater spearfishing; freediving in the Philippines
04:32 – Alun's freediving breathing techniques
10:31 – The puffer fish incident: spearfishing gone wrong!
15:15 – Hostel Wars: Guatemala City
23:07 - Tales of a Trip - Travel story from a listener
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TRANSCRIPT
Alun:
[0:02] Hello and welcome to this episode of Tripology. It's the only backpacking show where the hosts are constantly tiptoeing from continent to continent. I'm Alun and I'm here with the ever pescatarian Adam.
Adam:
[0:17] Alun, we've got a hell of a show today, mate. We're going to have a little catch up as we do. We are currently on different continents. The second section is going to be hostile wars where we put some hostels up against each other, find out which one vagabond our new mate vagabond is going to choose and then we've got tales of a trip at the end where we hear from a lovely listener what.
Alun:
[0:34] An exciting show yeah we are on different continents two adjacent continents continental neighbors me and you aren't we.
Adam:
[0:40] We are we are you refer to me as pescatarian i've been ever so inspired by your your tuna stories that i actually have been indulging in only fish myself and it did it came undone this week mate and i'll probably share that story with you in patreon okay.
Alun:
[0:54] Well you're reserving it for patreon is that because Has your choice to be a pescetarian's been fueled by morality or by a desire to change your weight and diet? What's been fueling you?
Adam:
[1:09] It was a grave error that has resulted in me potentially having to buy myself a new backpack. So it's rather embarrassing, and I'd rather leave it to the paying customers. So I can afford one.
Alun:
[1:21] Okay, fair enough, fair enough. Well, in the last week's episodes of Tropology, I've talked about how beautiful it is that here in Siargao, I have almost unlimited access to yellowfin tuna, a beautiful fish with a very nice name. Now, I've been going to the market and enjoying that yellowfin tuna, but i had a thought the other day i was like what could make this experience all the sexier, and you know one of the most traditional ways of catching a fish in the philippines do you know about this?
Adam:
[1:55] I can I can imagine i can imagine short of just diving in and trying to catch the thing with your hands.
Alun:
[2:00] Well it's basically that the philippines is home to some tribal communities that basically invented underwater spearfishing free diving going down holding your breath sinking down to the bottom of the ocean going across the ocean floor harpooning a fish carrying it back to the surface to the surface and feeding your whole family using it so i mean i've while i'm here i've got to experiment with that haven't i spearfishing yeah.
Adam:
[2:28] Yeah no i would uh i would have said you do have to experience that thanks very much um but i always think of spearfishing not necessarily diving free diving with a harpoon but i guess sort of standing in shallow water and waiting for one to swim past and then sort of chucking very accurately trying to sort of stab the thing to the ground.
Alun:
[2:47] Yeah i think that i don't know if that comes from actual historical methodologies or whether we were just served that lie by some cartoons when we were children I think that occasionally survivalists might sharpen a stick and stand on the water's edge and throw it into the water. But that's very difficult, mate, because of the refractive properties of water. You won't ever quite know where the fish is beneath the surface. You'll think it's a few inches forward or back because of the way the light refracts. You'll be very inaccurate with that spear. And the Filipinos knew that a long time ago. They thought, well, let's get on the fish's level below the surface of the water. We have the same refractive properties there. We're going to go... hunt the fish on a level playing field but the only problem with that is we've got to hold our breath for such a long time so they got good at doing that and then everything was good they were feeding yellowfin tuna to the whole family oh.
Adam:
[3:46] Yeah jesus i guess this kind of predates scuba diving equipment and having oxygen tanks on your back i don't know if you've done this i would imagine you have because you've done a fair bit of diving in your time have you ever stayed on the bottom of the ocean and had a diving instructor hold a rock above your hands a rock or a shell or something like that some sort of sea matter and just drop it and your challenge is to try and catch the thing and the way that it falls is so tough so tough you can't do it mate it's basically impossible.
Alun:
[4:14] No most of my scuba training was free from any sort of pagan rituals satanic worship or anything like we basically just learned to scuba dive and uh no such actions took place but i was here in the philippines i thought i've got to put my spearfishing free diving skills to the desk because I've been practicing holding my breath quite a lot recently and I've got up to four minutes of a breath hold which is quite impressive I think it's.
Adam:
[4:38] Ludicrous it's ludicrous that's longer than a whole song.
Alun:
[4:40] Yeah actually that's one of the challenges of holding your breath for so long because you'll get into the you'll put some music on your thing I'm gonna hold my breath now listening to this song and then the song will end some some new pop tunes will come out the amount of times it's snapped me right out of my relaxation I've had to start all over again at three minutes 30. It's a real nightmare.
Adam:
[5:02] There will be people listening to this that think... your four minutes surely can't be true four minutes is is such an enormous length of time to be holding your breath underwater.
Alun:
[5:13] When i first tried to hold my breath properly i got two minutes which is already quite long i think but you know i used to play trumpet as a kid i um often take my mouth shut at night so i've already got good respiratory habits and i think that contributed to my elongated breath hold but very quickly with some training i do o2 and co2 tables where you get your body used to heightened carbon dioxide and less oxygen within a week of committed training i doubled that time four minutes without any not even a sip of oxygen that.
Adam:
[5:47] Is incredible so i guess what compounds this issue when you're underwater is not only the pressure because i don't know how far you dive down but is it five seven maybe even ten meters and then you've got to exert yourself with a harpoon or spear chasing fish that are trying to run away from you. It's incredible.
Alun:
[6:02] Yeah, so four minutes is my static breath hold, but of course, any kind of movement throws that time off quite considerably. So I went out with a couple of friends of mine from the jujitsu club and a Spanish guy, I don't know where he came from, but he was ever so handsome and he had harpoons all over the place. He gives you a harpoon, no trouble at all. So we go out on a boat all together Is.
Adam:
[6:26] That an erection joke?
Alun:
[6:28] Yes. He gives me a harpoon and he teaches me how to reload the thing.
Adam:
[6:33] Right.
Alun:
[6:33] And then he was just like, right, go about your day. Try and catch a fish.
Adam:
[6:39] Okay.
Alun:
[6:40] And I was like, okay, just to confirm, because I'm not really into killing animals. Maybe you are handsome Spanish man, but I'm not. So can I just confirm that I can go under the water here. And when I see a fish, I will take shot using this harpoon. Is everything okay? Is there anything that's off limits? Because I don't want to kill something which isn't like a good thing to kill. Maybe I'll go down and shoot something. He's like, you didn't just shoot that, did you? That was an ecologically endangered Filipino bay shark. And I just didn't want the smoke of that. So I just wanted to make sure, should I look for any particular fish? And he was just like, no, you can get anything. The boatman will eat it. No matter how stinky and shit that fish is the boatman will have it so you can and if you see a shot take a shot.
Adam:
[7:30] But are you doing fishing for someone else is there someone else that you're you know tasked with feeding or if you do you get a little piece of the pie as well.
Alun:
[7:38] I've got quite a lot of dependence here in the philippines now i've been here for two two months so i've got to provide for the whole family no no well the the vibe was that i was going to try and catch a fish but if it was something that was a little bit shit or no one else wanted the boatman would have it so nothing was going to go to waste right oh.
Adam:
[7:59] Right cool cool even the boatman elite that's where that old filipino.
Alun:
[8:02] Expression comes from oh that's a boatman's fish they say so so i was kind of had my fins on i had this harpoon it's like a rubber band powered harpoon the first shot i go down under there i see a little fish it turns to me fear in its eyes i think i can't hunt you little guy and i fired the harpoon straight into a rock broke the tip off my harpoon immediately.
Adam:
[8:27] But hang on are you trying to make it look like you're trying to the spanish the handsome spanish guy you're trying to make it look like you just you missed it was unfortunate.
Alun:
[8:34] Yeah i look up to the surface i see him looking down there with his great big chiseled square jaw and i go i sort of just fire into a rock break my harpoon and i look at the fish and i say yeah let that be a lesson to you. I'm saving you. I'm saving you all. I'm on your team here. So they all swim off the ungrateful little bastards and I have to spend the next 10 minutes repairing my harpoon. That was shot number one. And then basically, I mean, long story short, Adam, I was in the water for three hours pretending to spearfish. And it gets to a point where you become very habitualized to the whole process. And after a while, I did start to see the fish as somewhat of my adversaries because, If you spend three hours spearfishing and don't get anything, it becomes a little bit embarrassing. The boatmen were jumping off the boat, sinking down, shooting a fish in, I mean, you can only describe it as its face, and then immediately coming back to the surface. They were catching, you know, I would say they were catching about three fish every five minutes. They were shooting fish at quite a clip. and i was duck diving down firing at rocks firing at coral at one one time i shot a fish but i was too far away so the tip of the harpoon just sort of smacked it in the face and it wasn't close enough range to kill it so it swam off or bazed and confused it.
Adam:
[10:00] Wasn't going fast enough to break it through its scale.
Alun:
[10:02] No yeah it was an armored fish and i felt very upset by this whole going on It did get to a point where I was like, okay, I'm going to take an opportunity and I'm going to kill a fish here because they're taking the piss a little bit and everyone's laughing at me. The boatsmen are feeling disappointed. I've got to do something.
Alun:
[10:22] So I sink down, right? I hold my breath. I think I've got four minutes here with which to operate. i go i go down to the bottom of the ocean and i'm surveying my surroundings and i see this dopey looking little yellow fish swimming around the coral right and i think oh well you seem like you don't seem very happy you know what i mean okay you seem like if if anyone's got to go it's gonna have to be you so I stalk him I sort of swim up to him and most of the fish they're off as soon as you get close but this guy he he didn't fly off I was like okay take aim I was like give him a chance take aim slowly I fired at this fish the harpoon goes flying as only a rubber band-powered harpoon can it pierced this little fish and this guy proceeded to blow up oh no to five or six times his size so i now had a sort of maybe the size of three tennis balls sellotaped together he goes all big on the end of my harpoon like that and i come up to the surface and he's all inflated like a little beach ball. And the boatsman said... that's a puffer fish you.
Adam:
[11:50] Went no no fucking shit.
Alun:
[11:51] Yeah i know it's puffer fish you said well you're not going to eat it and they went you have to be a very very skilled japanese chef in order to eat a puffer fish fugu it requires quite a lot of years of training to eat that puffer fish so we're gonna have to throw that one away that was a sad moment for me as i realized that what i'd essentially done is shoot that poor puffer fish for no reason for no one's benefit other than for the horrible display it put on at the moment of being shot and it's at that moment that i vowed, i mean i'll probably not maybe well i don't know it depends i'm not going to say never but i think i've got to reassess my spearfishing strategies so.
Adam:
[12:35] That was so it ended basically an unnecessary death for this fish i'm just going to cut to the chase.
Alun:
[12:40] I would say the death was largely unnecessary yeah.
Adam:
[12:45] Your somber yeah melancholic tone there but how many of the difficulties that you were experiencing do you think were just because of the psychological issues you were going through feeling that it was somewhat unethical.
Alun:
[12:56] About 50 and…
Adam:
[12:57] Then the other 50 was you being flustered by this very handsome spanish man so.
Alun:
[13:00] Yeah you.
Adam:
[13:01] Know it's it's almost like you you basically attract what you fear and you were worried that you were unnecessarily killing a fish and then you you definitely did unnecessarily kill a fish so.
Alun:
[13:11] I would say if you're going to go spearfishing again i would say go just be comfortable with the fact that you're going to end a life in order to sustain your own life or the boatman's life and try and do it with someone slightly less attractive.
Adam:
[13:27] I think those are good tips i would also say mate that maybe it's on it's on them for not having the sashimi skills of a Japanese chef that you know ones that are able to dissect a puff of fish.
Alun:
[13:39] In a.
Adam:
[13:39] Way that's absolutely necessary to make it edible.
Alun:
[13:41] If you were taught spearfishing by a very ugly Japanese sashimi chef, that would be the ideal situation to learn, in my opinion.
Adam:
[13:55] Many of us go traveling to find ourselves but what does that really mean yeah.
Alun:
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Adam:
[14:14] You know what it's like Alun moving countries time zones jumping around from hostel to hostel and having no schedule these are reasons travelers often rule out therapy i've been using the service for six months traveling a lot during that time, hang on i don't like that delivery um you know what it's like Alun moving countries time zones jumping around from hostel to hostel having no schedule these are reasons travelers often rule out therapy i've been using the service for six months and i've traveled a lot during that time organizing therapy sessions using the online platform couldn't be easier i've been working with my therapist on some deep-rooted issues and I'm now in a much happier place.
Alun:
[14:50] Yeah, starting therapy with BetterHelp literally couldn't be easier. You simply fill out a questionnaire and you'll be matched with the therapist as soon as possible. It's also easy to switch therapists at any time with no extra cost. BetterHelp strives to pair you with a therapist that's right for you.
Adam:
[15:06] With thousands of positive reviews, us included, BetterHelp is a platform you can trust. Click the link in the description or go to betterhelp.com forward slash tripology podcast and get 10 off your first month of therapy.
Alun:
[15:17] From an authentic experience going down and spearfishing at the bottom of the ocean to the most authentic travel experiences curated by our very own travel ai vagabot we're gonna go to hostile wars, That's right, Hostel Wars, an item in which we get Vagabot, our travel AI, to choose where it wants to stay. It's always seeking the most authentic travel experience. And of course, by most authentic, Adam, it means the shittest.
Adam:
[15:54] The shittest. That's what we all strive for. It's the shittest, it's the cheapest, it's the most difficult, it's the hardest to stomach. Where is Vagabot going this week?
Alun:
[16:03] Well, we randomly generated a location to pick reviews from Adam, and we landed on Guatemala City in, of course, Guatemala. Guatemala's eponymous city. I have actually been to this place. I didn't choose the hostel that I stayed in because, of course, I want to find Vagabot a much more authentic experience than I would ever have for myself. but I am I'm the Hostel Wars champ Adam last last time Vagabot chose to stay in my hostel the worst hostel that I could find so shall I go first shall I bring you the a terrible review of a hostel in Guatemala City absolutely.
Adam:
[16:40] Do I think that speaks to the fact you're probably a better traveler than I am you know what's more authentic so let's hear it I do fancy my chances I've got to be honest but let's go for it.
Alun:
[16:48] Of course and we know that the grand prize if Vagabot chooses to stay in your hostel we will name and shame that hostel live on the podcast here is my review for a hostel in guatemala city as of yet unnamed this person's 31 to 40 years old from the usa perfect they say we had to ring the bell many times and eventually yell for someone to open the main door for us upon arrival there was no wi fi terrible atmosphere upstairs even felt creepy the shower head was dirty and some shower heads were missing, the bedroom was uncomfortable and stuffy, there was a new testament in the bedroom. I didn't know that Hostelworld is okay with hosts proselytizing to guests. Only good thing is it's close to the airport and the room had a fan. We hated every minute of being there.
Adam:
[17:44] There was a New Testament. Amazing.
Alun:
[17:47] I love the idea of this person going there and they're like, oh, it's kind of close to the airport. Oh, it's a bit dirty. What? Jesus! Come to my hostel, pray to Jesus. Come and have a proselytizing time. And they were like, we hate it here. We hate everything. I think that that reviewer might have been, I think they're an atheist.
Adam:
[18:07] Yeah, you're probably right. I wish I had as much time as they do, because that is a well-written review. an honest one and i like the fact that they said something positive at the end because that that for me builds trust it's.
Alun:
[18:17] It's a real shame isn't it that hostel let itself down by in in a very christian.
Adam:
[18:23] Country putting.
Alun:
[18:25] A religious text presumably in a drawer in a in a hostel room what an absolute shame that that hostel chose to do that.
Adam:
[18:33] Um i can imagine otherwise.
Alun:
[18:35] It's got quite good reviews that hostel but they had a dirty shower and a bible on the floor so fuck it that's what that reviewer said we'll see how vagabond deems that.
Adam:
[18:42] Yeah you can imagine the scene can't you going into the room you know like we would often do is when we were in india for example you sort of send one of you up to go and check the room to make sure it's worth staying there or value for money imagine i come down the stairs and i go Alun you're not going to believe it mate oh no what is it there's only a fucking bible in the drawer there's not oh god all right let's.
Alun:
[19:02] Go sorry can.
Adam:
[19:03] We have our money back please.
Alun:
[19:04] We just yeah yeah we're gonna we're gonna go.
Adam:
[19:07] Yeah there.
Alun:
[19:08] There was a bag of Vegeta in the last place, so we had to leave there as well. Fucking hell.
Adam:
[19:13] Can't get a break.
Alun:
[19:14] All right, mate. What are you bringing to the table for Vagabot to have a look at?
Adam:
[19:18] So the person that has reviewed this hostel is female. They're 18 to 24, and they're from Australia.
Alun:
[19:24] Okay.
Adam:
[19:25] I won't do the accent. I won't, because it pales in comparison to the one you can do.
Alun:
[19:30] It might lead Vagabot down the wrong track as well.
Adam:
[19:33] Yeah, yeah, completely. so very objectively just in a sort of monotone voice here we go, You can't even find this place. It looks abandoned and has no signage at all. It wasn't very clean. My shoes got stolen on the last day. Showers and any water from taps didn't work for a day. No compensation. No hostel atmosphere. Nothing is organised or events. I'm a stingy person, but this hostel is not worth saving money over.
Alun:
[19:59] Wow. Very scathing indeed. I like your reviews. You tend to choose short and sweet reviews that get to the point and hit home exactly what the person hated. It's a scathing review.
Adam:
[20:12] Well, what I love about this review in particular is that even though their shoes got stolen on the last day, I mean, I would argue that that's probably the worst thing that's happened to them. Well, they did say in the first sentence that you can't even find the place. I imagine that they did because that's how they stayed there.
Alun:
[20:26] Do you think it's right that they've blamed the hostel for their shoes getting stolen?
Adam:
[20:30] Do you think, I mean, the answer to that question is maybe another question. do you think that it's the hostel that breeds a culture of trust or is it the individual travelers that stay there?
Alun:
[20:40] A little from column a and a little from column b i'd have to say.
Adam:
[20:43] I think i think.
Alun:
[20:44] It's nice if a hostel has lockers but shoes i mean they're sort of fair game.
Adam:
[20:49] As someone who has had their shoes stolen before i don't know if there's any excuse for stealing, someone's shoes it can't be i don't even think it can be a genuine mistake stealing someone else's There's just no, there's such an intimate item of clothing, but there's no way.
Alun:
[21:06] It's only okay and can only be a genuine mistake if your shoes are very, very similar to the point where the person who you've stolen from doesn't realise because your shoes are there for them to also take.
Adam:
[21:18] Yeah, yeah, or if you get some sort of fortuitous upgrade. So that would be fun.
Alun:
[21:23] Yeah, well, there you go. Let's have a look at what Vagabot has to say. Let Vagabot choose the most authentic hostel, and then we'll name and shame the result.
Vagabot 3000:
[21:34] Vagabot 3000's decision. Adam's Hostel. Want to know why? Because nothing screams authentic quite like showing up to what looks like a post-apocalyptic squat, losing their shoes, and rationing water like you're on a desert island. I'll be arriving immediately, barefoot and thirsty. Book me in. Peace.
Alun:
[21:55] There you go, mate. You win that round. Vagabot's going to stay in your hostel.
Adam:
[22:00] I'm so pleased. I am so pleased. As you know, we do have to reveal the name of the hostel, and that is Central Hostel. It's about 4.11 kilometers from the city center, just so you know you got the right one. I do also want to say, even though I feel good for winning, the overall review the overall rating is 8.3 stars on hostel world so you know read a few reviews before you choose the hostel i.
Alun:
[22:23] Stayed in that hostel it was amazing but i got my shoes.
Adam:
[22:27] Stolen did you really stay in that hostel yeah.
Alun:
[22:30] I think actually one episode of um tripology is recorded in a central hostel in guatemala city maybe.
Adam:
[22:37] Oh fabulous so well the last line of the review says that this hostel is not worth saving money over um that for me is poignant because it does apply to a lot of things that we do a lot of decision making when it comes to hostels for a hostel to be so cheap but but equally as shit that it's just not worth the hassle is um low some a pretty low thing to say so maybe you disagree with that i.
Alun:
[23:01] Think actually in spite of what the reviewer says i think vagabond will have quite a nice time there and we.
Adam:
[23:05] Can check in.
Alun:
[23:05] In a future episode see how vagabond enjoyed his stay but right now adam it's time for the best item on the show we'll just come out and say our absolute favorite item where we get to hear from a listener, As they tell us their greatest travel story at Tales of a Trip. Tripologypodcast.com forward slash Tales of a Trip. Let's listen to what they had to say.
Tales of a Trip:
[23:28] Hi, I'm Elliot. I'm 25. I'm French, so sorry for my English. That can be sometimes a bit strange. I'm going to talk about the story of traveling, but it's not really the story of this travel. It's more about that story permits me after to succeed to have like a traveling life, in my opinion. So it's during COVID. I wanted to go to live in Asia, but because of COVID, it was really difficult. I needed to wait. And a friend told me to come to Switzerland because it was easier to work in Switzerland than in France. So I go to Geneva. I had some different jobs making kebabs making food delivery in bicycle making house also I think someone's making building his house sorry, and after four months I go in a bar and I ask the waiter if I was looking for someone for like a full contract job.
Tales of a Trip:
[24:26] And I was like no I'm not looking for that I'm like okay and I took a piece of tissue and write my number and my name on it and say okay if you need someone anytime any hour you can call me, I'll be there. A week after, the guy called me, said, Hey, Elliot, I don't know if you remember me, but you gave me your number. And you said that you wanted to work. So the bar is mine. And I have also a
new jean brand. Not the pants, the spirits. And I need someone for helping me to putting labels on the bubble. I was like, okay, let's go. So I go. And with that guy, his name is Quentin, if you want. And there was like a big match between him and I. a great connection and he became one of my best friends and he teached me all of the jobs because i didn't just put labels on the bottle i spent five years in this company i was a logistic manager but i have like no diplomas no experiences he teach me everything about the world of.
Tales of a Trip:
[25:23] Companies and logistic and selling and making everything so i'm really glad that it's that he believed in me and i realized in this job that i was really happy to learn that job but it's not the job i made for and i think no i know who am i and what i want in life and what i want in life is learning as i learned this job of history so i quitted this job now i'm in bolivia in uh some ipadai some of you knows nice uh and i just bought a motorbike and i'm just traveling all south america and i'm looking for another job and maybe spend five years in this place for after stopping again and moving away and start a new job and i really think my life is gonna be like that learning things take everything i can and believe in my i believe in myself for the simple and that's it and that's permit me to met Alun three months ago such a great guy thanks Alun.
Alun:
[26:28] Oh, thank you so much for sending that. Elliot, Elliot, of course, has been mentioned on a few episodes. We traveled around Brazil together and he was kind enough to send us that wonderful message. There's a lot of things I loved about that story, Adam.
Adam:
[26:42] Yeah, yeah, I agree. I mean, I am very grateful that he sent it in as well, because we have been getting a little bit of flack online by the French community after a couple of reels that have been attracting a lot of attention about their French cooking secrets. Go and see that if you get the chance. But I would say that Elliot sounds like he's had the sort of realizations that we had as well. We're experientialists. We realize that you can cut your life up into little chapters that, you know, in their own sort of in and of itself, it's a life and you learn certain things. then you take that experience and you can move some somewhere else and that's totally a perfectly way a perfectly fine way to live.
Alun:
[27:16] Yeah a couple of big takeaways for me and not only having the self-introspection to be like okay yeah a big long contract isn't what i want i'm looking for something else here and i'm on this journey of self-discovery then being proactive enough to be like hey here's my name on a napkin take it i'll be ready to to go whenever then also having the wide angle lens enough to be like okay it's not my forever job even though I'm enjoying I'm learning a lot I've got to go off and pursue other things and then you know to be so young and now to be propelling yourself around the world being in Bolivia obviously we met in Brazil and to have this knowledge of like I'm going to do this for a long time you know welcome to the topology community long-term travelers zipping around making a sustainable life of it I think that's a wonderful thing.
Alun:
[28:09] A note on Elliot as a person, because a lot of people saying, hey, we've listened to Tales of a Trip and we really like it. But a lot of these people are people that know you. That's because we collected a few recordings before we relaunched the show. And we're playing through them because they're all really good. But there's still time for you guys listening on to send your experiences and stories in. There's a link in the description. But I know on Elliot himself, I was very struck by Elliot as a person when we first met. because he he's a young guy only 25 years old i think he said but a very empathetic very likable very intelligent person and i think he's the exactly the kind of person that's like an asset to the travel community so i'm so glad he's like made this decision to keep on traveling and try and make it a sustainable thing because those are the people you want on the road those people that are great friends great adventure companions yeah.
Adam:
[29:01] I do think as well that sometimes you have to get out your own way a little bit. I know that maybe his trip or what he had in mind didn't quite come to plan, or maybe that spot in Geneva, that work contract went on far longer than he wanted. I do feel like sometimes there has to be a degree of flexibility and you have to get out your own way, as I said. And yeah, I do think that he's certainly one of us, mate.
Alun:
[29:24] Absolutely. And we're happy to have him on the team. If you want to join the Tripology team by way of sending us a great travel story, tropologypodcast.com forward slash tales of a trip there's a contact form there's all sorts of good stuff on that website go and check it out other than that though we've got the patreon section which we're going to zip off to now where we tell bonus additional stories it takes place after the show access it on patreon.com forward slash tropology podcast should we head there right now adam promptly.
Adam:
[29:52] Let's do it mate i've still got this very embarrassing tuna story to tell you so um let's head over to the lost and found it's patreon.com forward slash tropology podcast loads of cool stuff going on let's get to it yeah.
Alun:
[30:03] Let's go i'll see you there.
Adam:
[30:05] Bye.
