0:00

On parts unknown, Anthony

0:02

Bourdain helped to see the world with new

0:04

eyes from beautiful temples and me and

0:06

mine. My crew and I are among first to record

0:09

what has been unseen for decades by

0:11

most of the world to sharing meals with

0:13

trailblazers on the lower east side of New York

0:15

City. When was the last time you guys something that's put

0:17

in your mouth. I know you eat well, but this is like.

0:19

This is pretty incredible. Now you can

0:21

revisit your favorite episodes right from

0:23

your podcast feeds. Anthony Bourdain,

0:26

Parts unknown. Listen wherever you

0:28

get your podcasts.

0:37

I'm

0:37

Katrina Tawsey, and this is Out Travel

0:40

Assist.

0:43

This

0:43

week or talking all about travel

0:45

immersion and how you can fully immerse

0:47

yourself in the local culture of the

0:49

destination you're visiting.

0:53

We'll talk trends. You'll be navigating

0:56

something new, probably trying to decipher

0:58

signs in foreign language, You

1:00

may even be lucky enough to get

1:02

a little lost. Here from digital nomad,

1:04

Maria Parrette. So I shoot at their

1:07

house at ten AM, I have out of

1:09

Rocky and an espresso, coffee

1:11

and alcohol together. And really get

1:13

down to business. So hundred percent.

1:15

I will always say yes. to someone

1:17

who will show me how to make their local food

1:19

and that has happened a few times here.

1:22

Here we go.

1:37

Your travel experience isn't just

1:39

about the destination. It's about

1:41

the entire journey in all of the minor

1:44

victories and even setbacks along

1:46

the way. Sometimes that

1:48

means taking the scenic long route as

1:50

opposed to maybe an immediate taxi

1:52

or Uber ride from the airport. But

1:55

sometimes it also means getting

1:57

lost. Sometimes it means finding

1:59

that absolutely delicious restaurant

2:02

that is off the beaten path or

2:04

maybe means taking a different

2:06

turn and finding the most beautiful shops

2:08

you've ever seen. Whichever

2:10

it is, we all try to live

2:13

like a local or at least when we're traveling

2:15

to that destination, we wanna travel

2:17

as the locals do. Do what

2:19

they do. really sort of eat what they

2:21

eat, see, what they see. To

2:24

me, that's how I like to really

2:26

immerse myself into a destination.

2:29

Today is gonna be the absolute perfect

2:31

episode where we talk just about that

2:33

and all of the tips for how you can

2:35

fully immerse yourself into the vibrant,

2:37

low local culture of wherever you're visiting.

2:40

Alright, Christie. So what does the research

2:42

talk about in terms of immersion

2:44

into another culture? What are some

2:46

of the effects? So maybe the first

2:48

thing we can do here is unpack

2:51

what Immersive travel is.

2:53

Immersive travel is described as

2:56

experiencing a destination by

2:58

actively and meaningfully engaging

3:00

with its history, people, culture,

3:03

food, and environment. And

3:06

for many travelers, this has the potential

3:08

to be transformative. But

3:10

I think the question we run into is

3:13

How do we have this kind of transformative

3:15

experience when the average trip length

3:17

for Americans is just

3:19

three to seven days? It

3:21

can feel like not enough time to become immersed,

3:24

but the good news is

3:26

it is actually enough time.

3:28

I thought what I could do today is share with you

3:30

some tips based on my own experiences,

3:33

those of travel experts, and

3:35

from some of my speaker colleagues who

3:37

are

3:37

frequent travelers

3:39

that anyone can use to make

3:41

their trip more immersive regardless

3:43

of how long you'll be there.

3:45

Number one,

3:46

public transit. This

3:49

is my favorite tip because it's

3:51

so simple and so inexpensive. But

3:54

taking public transportation whether

3:56

it's a bus, a subway, an above

3:58

ground train, instead of

4:00

grabbing a taxi or hiring a car service,

4:03

is a great way to make sure you feel

4:05

like you've immediately been immersed in the

4:07

city you're visiting. You'll be

4:09

surrounded by locals Many of

4:11

whom will probably be very impatient with you.

4:14

You'll be navigating something new,

4:16

probably trying to decipher signs in a

4:18

foreign language, you may even

4:20

be lucky enough to get a little lost.

4:22

So take the metro in Paris or

4:24

the underground in London or hail a

4:26

tuk tuk in Bangkok. and it may

4:28

end up being one of the most memorable

4:30

parts of your trip.

4:32

Two, learn a few

4:34

phrases in the local language. I

4:36

love to use duolingo or a similar

4:38

app before trip. It's a great way to

4:40

learn a couple keywords like hello

4:42

and goodbye, please and thank you.

4:45

Where's the bathroom? Or how much does

4:47

that cost? And it's

4:49

amazing how knowing just a

4:51

little bit of the local language can

4:53

allow you to connect more with people

4:55

and navigate a new place in a

4:57

deeper way quickly. Okay.

5:00

Number three. and my good friend gave me

5:02

this one. She's a great traveler.

5:03

Go to

5:04

a local corner store or the Bodega.

5:07

Browse all the unique snacks and

5:10

food items that you may never see at

5:12

home. And then ask the people working

5:14

there for recommendations on where to eat

5:16

and what to do in the neighborhood. Number

5:19

four, sit at the bar and

5:21

strike up a conversation.

5:23

Some of my absolute favorite memories

5:25

from my travels has been a result of

5:27

talking to

5:28

strangers. Whether

5:29

it's the bartender or the person

5:31

next to you, sitting at the bar counter

5:33

can make it easier to meet people. You

5:35

can learn about the culture, and you can get

5:37

tips on things to do and

5:39

what touristy stuff to skip.

5:42

The last one, number

5:44

five, In order to become fully

5:46

immersed, you gotta leave the resort.

5:49

You might even need to leave the hard

5:51

trot and tourist areas entirely. Do

5:54

your research, of course, make sure you're

5:56

making smart, safe decisions, but

5:58

the best way to feel immersed

6:00

is to eat where the locals eat and go

6:02

where the locals go and most

6:04

of the time that is not going to be the

6:06

heavily torristed areas. So

6:09

your homework for your next trip

6:11

Go out there. Try one

6:13

of these tips. Get immersed

6:16

and come back transformed. Oh,

6:19

cool. Alright. Thanks Christy.

6:27

Today, I'm joined by Young fearless

6:30

global traveler and self

6:32

described digital nomad. Maria

6:35

Correct. Maria grew up

6:37

in a rural Pennsylvania community

6:39

just on the foothills of the Appalachian

6:41

mountains. And while almost all

6:43

of the people around her from her peers

6:45

to her family, stuck around their

6:47

hometown, she was

6:49

determined to get out and find

6:51

a new experience. She

6:53

eventually found herself living in

6:55

Europe, and now Scoder,

6:57

Albania. I found

6:59

her fearlessness and tenacity to experience

7:02

new cultures so inspiring, and

7:04

I hope you will too. Hi,

7:07

Maria. Welcome to Outtravel the

7:09

System. So good to have you on the show today.

7:12

Thanks for having me.

7:14

Maria, so tell me a little bit about

7:17

yourself, your background, and how

7:19

you got to where you are today.

7:22

So I grew up in a

7:24

very small area of, like, five hundred

7:27

people in the middle of nowhere in the

7:29

Appalachian Mountains. It's

7:32

very, like, heavily based on oil.

7:34

And it's I actually

7:36

grew up, like, a few

7:37

miles from where the first oil well in North

7:39

America was drilled. And

7:41

my father actually

7:42

worked in the local oil

7:44

field as well. So I am very

7:46

much like versed into that,

7:49

but unfortunately since,

7:51

like, the early nineteen hundreds, the

7:53

oil industry has just gone

7:55

down. I mean, as most fossil

7:57

fuels in all of America

7:59

have. They've been running out. And

8:03

so

8:03

that just put a really big

8:05

damper on where I grew up and

8:07

it just is a

8:08

very big reminder of how

8:11

much our area is struggling because this

8:13

thing that gave us all jobs is

8:15

now desolate So

8:16

it's pretty depressing. But

8:20

I

8:20

don't know, like, when you grow up in that

8:23

type of environment, you

8:25

feel like you don't have any options because no

8:27

one ever leaves. And

8:29

the only way I ever saw people leave

8:31

was through academic scholarships or

8:34

sports scholarships. So even

8:36

though I didn't think I could get out, none of

8:38

my friends have really left,

8:40

but I ended up going

8:42

to my undergrad in Kansas,

8:44

and that's kind of what launched my

8:47

experience to start traveling because I had

8:49

those opportunities once I got out of that

8:51

area. Did you

8:52

experience any sort of a

8:55

culture shock? Because the place

8:57

where you gear up, you kind of describe it as

8:59

this really small, almost like sheltered

9:01

place.

9:02

Yes. And that's kind

9:05

of the crazy

9:05

thing is that it just kept happening

9:08

in small steps. I don't think I would

9:10

have been able to handle such a

9:11

crazy culture shock moving to

9:13

Albania. ten

9:14

years ago, you know.

9:16

But moving from an

9:18

environment in America to a different

9:20

environment, they're still vastly different.

9:22

No one kind

9:23

of understands unless you grew up there,

9:25

you don't understand the depression

9:27

and the suicide and the drug

9:29

abuse and all of the really, really terrible

9:31

things that come along with those small

9:34

Appalachian towns. They don't

9:36

really

9:36

understand that unless you're from there.

9:38

But,

9:38

yeah, going from that to Kansas,

9:40

it was vast different. I still moved

9:42

to a small town, but

9:44

the

9:44

economy was a lot better. People

9:47

had jobs from the university and

9:49

I know there's a lot more hope and

9:52

optimism that I experienced.

9:54

So were any of those small

9:56

steps like travel experiences, like,

9:58

when was the first time that you

9:59

actually

10:01

traveled? I

10:02

ended up going on this

10:05

trip to Egypt. It was like a a

10:07

medical trip in a way

10:09

and not that I know that much about

10:11

medical things. but we are going we had a

10:13

contact there, a doctor in

10:15

Cairo that needed some help. He

10:17

was treating a lot of Syrian and

10:19

Sudanese refugees. and this was in two

10:21

thousand fifteen, so there are

10:23

still a lot of unrest going

10:25

on. But we did go and it was

10:27

life changing and it was

10:29

really my first time outside of North America.

10:32

And it's it's

10:34

quite a shock, to be honest, you know, to

10:36

be completely surrounded by Arabic,

10:39

and different

10:41

food, and just being in Cairo. If you

10:43

know anything about Cairo, it's

10:45

just a city That's kind of

10:47

crazy. It's hard to describe,

10:49

but this this need to

10:52

be

10:52

abroad and to be helping people in

10:54

some way. definitely changed

10:57

my life. It's

10:58

funny because you kind of like go

11:00

straight to the like extreme travel

11:02

experience. Everybody else

11:04

would do a guided tour in

11:06

Egypt because it's such an intense place.

11:08

But you're like, no, I'm gonna go. I'm

11:10

gonna, like, go on a mission

11:12

trip, help these refuse out really just

11:14

throw myself into it. I think that really

11:16

says something about your

11:18

personality and your your goal to have

11:20

the ultimate experience. I love

11:22

that. Yeah. Those experiences,

11:25

like, really made me grow those big

11:27

steps even though it was very hard and I

11:29

almost didn't do them for most people

11:31

when they talk about their first, like, travel

11:33

experiences, they're talking about,

11:35

like, a trip to Mexico

11:37

or, like, you know, somewhere in

11:39

Europe. These are, like, major and

11:41

very thoughtful experiences. So what

11:43

got you to eventually move

11:45

abroad? before

11:47

that. I had no idea what

11:49

Europe was like. I had never been to Europe.

11:51

I'd never been to Scotland or to the

11:53

university, of course. So I really didn't know

11:55

what I was getting myself into. It was

11:57

just a huge leap of faith for me.

11:59

So, yeah, I moved there and

12:02

spent about a year and a half living

12:04

in Edinburgh and it's so

12:06

beautiful and historic. There's yeah.

12:08

It's just incredible. Scotland

12:11

is gorgeous and I was like, I

12:13

cannot leave this place. I need to

12:15

stay in Europe somehow. Some way, I'll

12:17

find a way, so I applied to a lot of

12:19

jobs. I wasn't getting anywhere this

12:21

was when Brexit was happening as

12:23

well, so people didn't really wanna be

12:26

hiring, like, foreigners as well.

12:28

but I found a working holiday

12:30

visa in Ireland that Americans can

12:32

do. It's the only place in

12:33

Europe that Americans get a working

12:36

holiday. four.

12:38

So I jumped at that. I applied. I

12:40

went there and I worked there for a year.

12:42

So I got to travel around Ireland

12:44

more and also go to a

12:46

lot of places on in mainland Europe

12:49

and experience more of that.

12:51

And those short trips really

12:53

made me catch the travel bug.

12:55

And I just thought it's kind of

12:57

fate. I need to pursue this and that's how

12:59

I ultimately started my own

13:01

website. was when I was in

13:03

Ireland. Amazing.

13:04

And so you are living in Albania

13:07

now. How did you get to Albania?

13:10

Yes. Everyone's always wondering how

13:12

from Ireland to Albania. But I

13:14

was in Ireland and working at

13:16

some tech companies, so I got some

13:18

kind of experience like a nine to

13:20

five in these big corporations.

13:23

And while I was doing that, of course, I'd

13:25

be growing on Facebook back when

13:27

you still used Facebook and

13:29

saw these videos about Albania.

13:32

And just in general, the Balkans specifically

13:34

on India, talking about

13:36

the unique coffee culture, the

13:38

unique history, like, the

13:40

amazing food, the incredible

13:42

nature, and how kind of chaotic

13:44

and adventurous it is. And

13:46

no one was going there. And whenever

13:48

I would tell people, they would judge me so much.

13:50

So I knew that was a place that I wanted to

13:52

go. if you tell someone, I wanna go to this place

13:54

and they say, like, are

13:56

you sure

13:56

you're gonna get kidnapped? That's what I'm usually

13:59

interested. Because

13:59

those are the places that are kind of undiscovered

14:02

and usually have the most

14:04

fun stories. So

14:06

I went there and visited for

14:08

two and a half we just fell in

14:10

love. So that was kind of my next goal was

14:12

to figure out, like, what can I

14:14

do to have that life

14:16

that I just experienced there?

14:18

So

14:18

you became a travel vlogger then?

14:20

Yes. And I

14:23

get a little bit of a cringey feeling

14:25

when someone says because there's this

14:27

certain idea around travel blogging

14:29

and

14:29

they use that phrase of, like, you did

14:31

this country or you did this city.

14:34

and now you you can check it off

14:36

and you've accomplished it. It's, like,

14:38

misplaced an accomplishment. And

14:40

so that's kinda what I wanted from

14:42

my, like, travel blog as you can

14:44

call it it is because

14:46

I just never saw any articles

14:49

on me how to, like,

14:51

immerse myself in the culture. Of

14:53

course, there's more logs about

14:55

that stuff now, but back then in, like,

14:57

two thousand eighteen, two thousand nineteen, I

14:59

wasn't really finding them. And

15:00

that's kind of what made me want

15:02

to start was no one was

15:04

doing it.

15:05

Yeah. And that's a great segue

15:07

into this episode because

15:10

You know, people talk a lot about,

15:12

oh, I really wanna travel like a

15:14

local. I wanna do what the locals

15:16

do. And all of that

15:18

is really just sort of getting to

15:20

a more immersive travel

15:22

experience. Right? Because it does.

15:24

It does change how you view

15:26

a destination. Right?

15:28

So

15:29

how how do you really describe

15:32

an immersive travel

15:34

experience? Yeah. That's

15:36

that's a good question, honestly. And

15:38

I

15:38

think you can answer in two ways

15:41

as personally, like, I have my own

15:43

answer that I've found what works

15:45

for me, what I enjoy. You know,

15:47

they're just small things, like choosing

15:49

to eat at a local restaurant rather

15:51

than eating at maybe a chain restaurant

15:53

when you're in place. Even

15:55

though it might not seem like a big deal,

15:57

it does ultimately help the local

15:59

economy and that's gonna put that money back

16:01

into locals' hands, and that's just something

16:03

that maybe you don't think of when you're on

16:05

vacation or holiday. So

16:07

for me, I kinda always have that in the back of

16:09

my mind. putting that back into the local

16:11

economy. And I've seen that so much

16:13

living in Albania too

16:15

because it is growing

16:17

exponentially. and

16:19

the the tourism sector is really

16:21

kicking off now that they, like, left

16:23

communism behind not that long ago.

16:25

So you're seeing this surge

16:27

But, yeah, it's just, I think, small

16:30

steps, there's no need to do pretty much

16:32

pressure on yourself and

16:33

stay, oh, didn't do

16:34

everything perfectly. You know? It's

16:37

the small things. Yeah.

16:39

I think that's right. And I think sort of

16:41

the lifestyle that you described, I

16:43

think, is come really, really appealing

16:45

to the younger generation. Right?

16:47

This idea of being a digital nomad.

16:49

I think it really, really peaked

16:51

obviously during the pandemic. And

16:53

we saw a lot of people who were like, well,

16:55

I I did my job fully remote

16:57

for a year. I don't see why I

17:00

can't sort of continue to do so.

17:02

And I think it's because people think if I'm gonna

17:04

really immerse myself in a location, I do have

17:06

to go for a long time. So what

17:08

are some of the things that you think people

17:11

think make for a really localized

17:13

immersive experience, but in actuality,

17:15

are okay to just almost take, like,

17:17

the easy way out, so to speak.

17:20

I

17:20

need to be pretty

17:21

cautious, especially as a woman too, you know

17:23

those traveling, like, I think,

17:25

yes, of course,

17:26

you wanna have this local

17:29

immersive experience, and I love taking public

17:31

transport. And I feel like even if

17:32

you're not fluent in the language and you

17:35

somehow manage to get to your destination on

17:37

time, it feels so good. And I want

17:39

people to have that experience. Also,

17:41

if they're new to traveling and

17:43

if they don't feel safe, I think those

17:45

things come as a priority.

17:47

for sure. I would never

17:48

want someone to be

17:50

risky with, you know, their personal

17:53

well-being because

17:54

they need to have this immersive experience.

17:57

So at the end of the day, that

17:59

probably is more

17:59

important. And it is

18:02

hard to kind of gauge whether you feel

18:04

safe. Yeah. No.

18:05

That makes total sense. Obviously, like,

18:08

your comfort and safety should

18:10

come first because forcing yourself into

18:12

an experience that you're gonna feel unsafe

18:15

or uncomfortable is not gonna yield a great

18:17

travel experience in the

18:19

end. So finding, you know,

18:21

doing what what makes you feel comfortable and and

18:23

that kind of stuff is is super, super

18:25

important. Yes.

18:26

And if it is

18:28

someone's, like, first time doing

18:30

I would not shame them for taking

18:33

it XE, and then later on, they

18:35

can arrange, like, a local

18:37

guide to do a really immersive

18:40

tourist

18:40

experience, you know, like whether

18:41

that's cooking in a local home

18:44

or, you know,

18:45

finding out how oh, you make olive oil

18:47

in a certain way. You make wine in

18:49

a certain way, and you're supporting the locals.

18:52

You're getting a local immersive experience.

18:54

But you're not necessarily compromising

18:56

your time. There are

18:57

other ways around that and you don't feel safe in stepping

18:59

out of the airport.

19:00

That can be pretty daunting. How

19:02

often do you

19:05

solicit advice from locals

19:07

on the ground when you're traveling? And,

19:09

like, how do you go about doing that?

19:11

Like, how do you know who to ask? And, you

19:13

know, are there typical people?

19:16

Like, is it always tour

19:19

guides or your hotel concierge. Have you found

19:21

that, like, there's a certain person

19:23

in a certain industry that always gives you the best

19:25

kind of advice when you're traveling and you're talking

19:27

to the locals. Like, I feel like some people

19:29

might say, like, oh, the taxi

19:31

drivers always have the best advice in

19:33

terms of like where to go eat or

19:35

people really swear by their concierges

19:37

at the hotel or some people might swear by

19:39

the, you know, the walking tour

19:41

guide that they used. Do you have, like, a

19:43

a go two person that you usually

19:45

ask? I do. And it's

19:47

kind of funny that you mentioned the taxi drivers

19:49

because it might be, and I

19:51

probably wouldn't take the taxi driver's recommendations.

19:53

I just feel like in the many countries,

19:56

they they can be

19:57

a little bit shifty, you know?

19:59

But

19:59

for me, personally, I would usually

20:02

ask waiters and waiters. Those

20:04

I I always get the best recommendations.

20:07

Like, because they have so many friends,

20:09

you know, same level, oh, yeah, this coffee

20:11

shop on my birdsong. So that's I know

20:13

that's croissants or, you know, my

20:15

uncle, he owns this restaurant. you

20:17

have to go there. It's really really

20:18

good. And you can tell how much they care

20:21

because usually it's the people in their

20:23

family or their friends in

20:24

their local neighborhood and they're trying to do

20:27

promote that. So you mentioned that

20:29

you've, you know, met

20:30

friends and, you know, just sort

20:32

of speaking to the locals and things

20:35

like that. have you ever had

20:37

somebody like invite you over to

20:39

their house for dinner? I feel like those

20:41

sometimes are like really

20:43

immersive opportunities that people

20:45

always like strive to have?

20:47

Yes. I feel the exact

20:49

same way. That's always my goal. It is

20:51

really hard to have those when you

20:53

go to a place for short time.

20:55

But, yeah, when you when those fall into

20:57

your lap, it's bliss.

20:59

And that's kind of one of the reasons

21:02

why I like living in a place for a longer period of

21:04

time because you can have those

21:06

experiences, whereas it's very hard

21:08

to have that if you just go somewhere for

21:10

a weekend. So some

21:12

of the times that I've had that in

21:14

Albania, my first one

21:16

was in the first place that I lived

21:18

in the beach town in the south.

21:20

I went to my friend's

21:22

house, I asked her, can your mom teach

21:24

me how to make this

21:26

thing that I kept hearing about from other

21:28

albanians called Petula? which

21:30

is like albanyan fried dough that

21:32

you have in the morning at breakfast, kind of like a

21:34

doughnut, and you can have it with savory

21:37

or So I got there around

21:39

ten AM. I hitchhiked there

21:41

because I wanted to try it. I hitchhiking is

21:43

very safe in Albania. And so if I'm gonna try

21:45

it anywhere, I'm gonna try it here where I

21:47

know it's safe. And so I got

21:49

there. And of course, they

21:51

have their homemade what

21:54

we would think of as moonshine,

21:56

but it's called Rakia or Rakia,

21:58

and it's made from grapes. It can be used

22:00

it can be made from

22:02

many other fruits, but the main one

22:04

is grape. And

22:05

almost

22:06

all the families make their own

22:09

racky, their own wine, their

22:11

own olives, their own olive

22:13

oil, stuff like this. And so

22:15

when I get there, she offers me

22:17

some of her family's racky because

22:19

they're very proud of what they make at

22:21

home. And of course, I'm not gonna say

22:23

no even though it's ten AM, so I had, you know,

22:25

a shot of espresso and a shot

22:27

of Rocky. in traditional Albanian

22:29

fashion and then her mom

22:31

taught me how to make these like

22:33

Albanian doughnuts and stuffed

22:36

peppers as well. And then we also learned

22:39

about traditional dance. Her mom

22:41

loves the traditional dance called valet.

22:43

They're probably I'm probably saying it

22:45

wrong. But so I

22:47

was very bad at that, but it was a

22:49

cool experience to try to learn

22:52

the dance. And

22:52

then another time that happened was

22:55

I

22:55

made videos about Albania

22:57

on TikTok because it's beautiful and I

22:59

want people to know about how amazing it is.

23:02

and one of them went viral and

23:04

a journalist

23:05

from the top, like, Alpenia

23:08

TV network contacted me to

23:10

be on the show. So

23:12

I did that, and then she

23:14

let me know afterwards. Like, if you're ever

23:16

in the capital, Tarona,

23:18

make sure to let me know when we can meet

23:20

up. so I thought she would just want me

23:22

to come for a coffee or something like

23:25

this. And in true, like,

23:27

Albanian fashion. It's like, when

23:29

you have Albanian friends, you just

23:31

learn to say yes. Like, you just show up

23:33

and they have this whole plan. I'm gonna take

23:35

you to this local place. I'm gonna

23:37

take you to my favorite swimming

23:38

So it's best to just not even ask what

23:40

you're

23:40

doing. So she takes me to this, like, racky

23:43

bar, and we try these different

23:44

rakis, and then she

23:46

tells me, you know, if it's okay with you, you

23:48

can come

23:49

home with me. And I was a little bit

23:51

taken back because it's like ten PM at

23:53

night by this point. And

23:56

most Albertians live with their families because

23:58

it is kind of hard to live on your own.

24:00

You don't make enough money to do that. So and it's

24:02

a very family oriented culture.

24:06

And she's like my mom and dad, they've

24:08

prepared all this food, and

24:10

they've been like preparing for this all

24:12

day for you. we've never had a foreigner in our

24:15

home. So you'll kind of be the

24:17

first foreigner and you're also I've never had a

24:19

foreign friend. You're my first foreign

24:21

friend. and she tells me this, and I'm just

24:23

so shocked because it's I

24:25

don't know.

24:26

It's it feels

24:27

like you're really not

24:29

changing someone's life, but when someone tells you

24:32

something like that, it's like it's kind of a big

24:34

deal. You

24:34

feel like there's a little bit

24:37

pressure because you're the first foreigner that

24:38

they've ever really met. And

24:41

of course, I say yes. So we go

24:43

to her house and I walk

24:45

in and her parents grate me

24:47

and they give you, like, little slippers

24:49

to wear. Like, take off your

24:51

shoes, put on the slippers kind of, like, probably

24:53

what you have Asia as well. And I walk

24:55

around the corner. I see this whole

24:58

table of food, like so much food

25:00

and a lot of it is, you know, what they

25:02

make themselves. their own honey, their own

25:04

olives and everything. And

25:06

I'm like, your mom didn't need to go to all

25:08

this trouble and she like, oh, this is the bare

25:10

minimum in Albania. This

25:12

is nothing. And I was like, really,

25:14

this is the bare minimum, but

25:16

it was just

25:16

like, I left there a changed

25:19

woman after all of that happened. I

25:21

was like, what just happened? I don't know who I

25:23

am anymore. That was

25:25

amazing. I feel like

25:27

when people

25:27

talk about, like, living or traveling

25:29

like a local, it's that

25:31

experience that you just described that everybody sort

25:33

of wishes to have. But you you do have to kinda

25:35

use your best judgment with those. Right?

25:38

Like, You don't don't go home with

25:40

everybody people. Make sure that, you

25:42

know, try and do a little bit of

25:44

vetting beforehand. Right? Like, do you do

25:46

the first? Exactly. Safety first.

25:48

Obviously, you were in Albania. You, like, live

25:50

there. You you met this

25:52

person on on TikTok or whatever. What

25:54

about when you've, like, just traveled,

25:56

like, for vacation to a different destination? Has

25:58

that do do you do stuff like that?

26:00

Or or it's never really

26:02

happened to you to that extent.

26:04

It is a lot harder to do that when you're

26:06

just in a place for a short time. You

26:08

know, the main thing was It's

26:10

like, yeah, I was living there for a longer period. I

26:12

knew this was so common to invite people

26:15

over. It's not weird. I'm not gonna

26:17

get kicked so I felt completely safe. I even

26:19

actually hitchhiked the way there because she lived

26:21

outside of town. So that was my

26:23

first experience of hitchhiking. which

26:25

is like completely safe to do that in Albania. Everyone's

26:28

super friendly and they love helping

26:30

out people and seeing a foreigner hitchhike.

26:32

Everyone was very confused.

26:34

because it was the off season as

26:37

well. But, yeah, I have a full experience with

26:39

that. I could type there and

26:41

but I

26:41

think, yeah, when you go to a

26:43

place for time unless it falls into your

26:46

lap, it's very hard to make those

26:48

organic.

26:49

Yeah. I the one time where I

26:52

feel like that's that

26:54

happened to me. So I

26:56

was in Spain with with my friend,

26:58

I was younger, so we were staying

27:00

in in hostels and stuff like that. And hopefully, my parents

27:03

don't get upset when they hear the

27:05

story. But we were staying in a

27:07

hostel and we were in

27:09

Granada Spain. And

27:11

we just started talking to

27:13

the people who were working the front desk

27:15

at our hostel. We were asking them where

27:17

we should go and that kind of stuff.

27:19

And they said, well, we get off

27:22

in, you know, an hour just

27:24

come with us. We'll take you out for, like,

27:26

a, you know, it was a Friday night. They're like, we'll

27:28

just take you and show you what we do

27:30

when we're here. And so we went with

27:32

them. We, you know, we,

27:34

like, went to, you know, like a bar,

27:36

had some sangria, and then they were,

27:38

like, well, we're gonna take you to, like, the

27:40

real the real granada. And my friend

27:42

and I were, like, what is that

27:44

gonna be?

27:46

you know, these guys spoke English. It was broken

27:48

English, but, you know, they they spoke. And so

27:50

they they start, like, sort of leading us down. It

27:52

was, like, a hundred percent, like, a dark

27:55

alley. just absolutely one of those scenes. And

27:57

I was like, you know, I

27:58

I luckily, the

27:59

movie

27:59

taken hadn't come out because I

28:02

think had seen that movie,

28:02

I probably wouldn't have done this. But, you

28:05

know, and so

28:06

we finally get to our destination. It was

28:08

this place called The Booger Club. And I was

28:10

just like, okay. this was

28:12

not in any of the guidebooks. Yeah. That's right.

28:15

We used guidebooks because that's how long ago this

28:17

was. So we went into the booger

28:19

club and it was an absolutely bizarre place, but

28:21

we had but we had,

28:23

like, a great time and, you know, we're walking back

28:25

to our hospital by ourselves at night. And it

28:27

was a little bit sketchy, but it ended up being

28:29

okay. But you

28:31

know, I I think you have to be in the

28:33

right mindset for those situations.

28:35

And so we were, you

28:37

know, kinda going with the flow, wanted to

28:39

have a local experience brands, but we we

28:41

did still have our wits about us. I

28:43

try not to think about what

28:46

possibly could have happened if, you know, it it went

28:48

in the other direct but it ended up being a really,

28:50

really great night out. You know, we

28:52

grabbed we grabbed food and stuff like that.

28:54

So it was a it was a lasting

28:56

memory. We still sort of talk about So I

28:58

think there's an element of risk when

29:00

you're doing these sort of immersive

29:02

experiences, but, you know, they they

29:04

definitely pay off pay off in the

29:06

end. That's for sure.

29:07

Yes. And I think one thing you could

29:09

probably do is to just try to take as

29:11

many precautions so that way you feel good

29:14

enough to go and do those

29:14

types of things. you know, make sure someone knows

29:17

where you are and just

29:19

to be aware of your surroundings, you know, maybe don't

29:21

have too much alcohol or

29:23

if you don't feel like that's safe. And that way, you

29:25

can say yes. Yeah.

29:27

I love

29:28

that. Great tip. Let's talk a little

29:30

bit about how do you choose

29:32

where you're gonna stay when you're traveling. Like,

29:35

because I think a lot of people

29:37

feel like if they really

29:39

wanna have an immersive experience

29:41

that they need to stay in like a

29:43

vacation rental or a

29:45

hostel or something like that versus a

29:47

hotel. Do you personally feel

29:50

like that alters your experience at

29:52

all wherever you're staying. To

29:54

be honest, I

29:54

think it does alter it. I think the

29:56

two biggest things that you can have

29:58

for immersive

29:59

immersive experiences as food and

30:02

where you stay. So that's usually

30:04

what I try to emphasize to

30:06

people. You know, if you can't necessarily

30:09

avoid a hotel, then just focus on

30:11

the food and having some local food

30:13

experiences. You know, it just depends on what

30:15

someone is comfortable with. But I do think

30:17

that staying at an

30:19

apartment might give you a better feel because

30:21

a lot of the time those apartments would

30:23

be more in a local area. So you can go to

30:26

the bakery on the corner and get

30:28

stuff in the morning fresh. And that's something

30:29

as Americans, we don't really have

30:32

that

30:32

idea of bakeries being everywhere and

30:34

going to the cafe in the morning. So

30:37

having that that

30:39

experience

30:39

the same

30:40

that the other locals would have

30:42

or like, say, if you stay in

30:43

hotel, a lot of times the hotels

30:46

are in an area that's

30:48

very touristy, so you kind of have

30:50

to walk further distance

30:52

or take a

30:52

taxi or something to be able to be in

30:54

that environment. So the things

30:57

around you would maybe be in McDonald's

30:59

or, you know, any other chains

31:01

or something like this because it's the

31:03

city center or, you know, in

31:05

a resort area. And so I I

31:07

think that just location wise

31:10

you're

31:10

gonna have more of a local experience because

31:12

that is where the locals live usually.

31:14

Yeah. That's pretty true. I

31:17

will say even as I travel like domestically in

31:19

the US, I still, you

31:21

know and I I personally

31:24

like staying in hotels, But

31:26

when I do stay at hotels, I make a

31:28

point to not eat or

31:31

hang out really in in the

31:33

hotel very much. So I try

31:35

to find you know, what's the best

31:37

taco place nearby or the best breakfast

31:39

spot or the best coffee shop and and things

31:41

like that. So I think, you know, when

31:43

you're in a hotel, obviously, you have to a

31:45

certain extent, the comforts of

31:48

normality to a, you know, I guess,

31:50

for for a westerner. But,

31:53

you know, but you're right. Like, when you're in these

31:55

different areas, you can maybe get a

31:57

chance to see things that are a little bit

31:59

different or you

31:59

know, experience the the food and and the

32:02

culture and and those types of

32:04

things. Yeah. And see, you're very

32:06

intentional about the food and also just

32:08

because someone wants to stay in a hotel, you can still

32:10

find locally owned hotels. It just takes a

32:12

little bit more research. Or, you know,

32:14

those cute little boutique hotels

32:16

owned by a

32:16

little families, So you can still have that

32:19

experience that you're wanting. It's just

32:21

maybe don't gravitate

32:22

towards immediately booking

32:24

a health in. If you're in a new place, you know, in the US, it's a

32:27

little bit hard to find, boutique things

32:29

sometimes.

32:29

But if you're in that foreign country,

32:31

it could be pretty easy to avoid

32:33

going with the big chains. and

32:35

still getting a hotel if you want. Yeah, for

32:37

sure. Do you still find yourself doing the

32:39

big touristy attractions as well? Like,

32:42

when you go to France, do you

32:44

still do those things when you go to a new

32:46

destination? That

32:47

is such a good question. I think

32:49

I did most of that stuff

32:52

before COVID. and that is kind of what

32:54

sparked me to want to have

32:56

different experiences. So

32:58

in a way, I can't

33:00

ever say to someone you shouldn't

33:02

go to the colosseum

33:03

because I went and it was really cool.

33:05

But my trip to Rome was mainly

33:07

full of those types of things and I

33:09

didn't have any look experiences. So even though

33:11

it was life changing, it's something I

33:13

always dreamed of going and seeing,

33:16

it still didn't fulfill me in a

33:18

way. Like, you could have an exciting trip, but

33:20

it didn't to fill me. So with COVID

33:22

happening, I

33:22

kind of thought it would

33:24

be better to live in a place,

33:27

like, if things were

33:28

to get sticky again with COVID. I love that

33:30

I'm in Albania because it has the

33:32

way of life that I enjoy. It's still

33:34

very affordable for me and I

33:36

can go see like

33:38

nature and not, I don't

33:40

know, like, be I'm in

33:43

a good place, if that makes sense.

33:47

So

33:47

for me,

33:48

I've tried to focus on local travel since

33:50

then, and I haven't really

33:52

thought about going to see something

33:55

super touristy. But, yeah, honestly, I

33:57

think I'm just

33:57

like a sixty year old at heart because

33:59

crowds

33:59

annoy me. So I just try to

34:02

avoid them and I know going to those big places,

34:04

they're gonna be crowds.

34:05

Yeah. I mean, you're not alone on that one.

34:08

Before we wrap up,

34:08

Maria, I just are there any other

34:11

sort of last tips or advice that you can

34:13

give everybody in terms of how to really immerse

34:16

yourself in a culture

34:18

while traveling?

34:20

Yeah. I think one thing that is

34:22

very,

34:22

very important is to just

34:25

kind of be humble in the

34:27

way of to realize that we don't

34:28

know everything. I think I'm speaking more to,

34:30

like, the

34:31

western listeners with this, whereas I

34:32

feel like we're always

34:34

told that we're the most important.

34:36

We have all this passport privilege. We can

34:38

go to so many places without visas.

34:41

And then I see a lot of

34:43

people show

34:43

up to countries because I'm

34:45

living in a foreign country and I see other,

34:47

you know, westerners come here and

34:49

oftentimes they can be very

34:52

arrogant because think we are kind of told

34:54

this narrative that we're better. So it's it's good to just be

34:55

mindful and think, you know, to realize

34:58

as

34:58

travelers, we don't know everything.

35:01

and to just take a beat and

35:04

listen to what the locals have to say rather than

35:06

acting very

35:08

rationally. Yeah. That's a great tip. You know,

35:10

whether you're trying to have a really immersive experience or not, it's a great

35:12

philosophy to have. Right? It's

35:14

just

35:16

to be respectful for the local culture and customs and

35:18

and things like that. Yes.

35:21

Definitely. Maria,

35:22

what a great conversation? I mean, I'm

35:25

not your parent, but I have to say, I'm

35:27

really proud of you. Like, do we

35:30

like, you you

35:30

started off the conversation by talking about

35:32

how you're from a place where nobody ever gets

35:34

out. And you felt like that was it. You're never

35:36

gonna get out. And, like, look at you now.

35:39

You just name dropped. Like, some

35:41

of the most obscure destinations that, like,

35:43

really seasoned travelers have never even been to.

35:45

So I I applaud

35:48

you. You really you really did it. You now have a girlfriend. Thank

35:50

you. You're so sweet. And I think

35:52

that is why I enjoy these places. It's

35:55

because from a place that no one wants to go

35:58

visit. And I can kind of

35:59

relate to how people feel when you're in a

36:02

place

36:02

that, yeah, you don't feel like you have a lot of options,

36:05

and I just want people to come and enjoy

36:07

the beauty of Albania and to enjoy other

36:09

countries like this. But to be

36:11

super respectful because there's so much

36:14

that's happened that we don't really understand

36:16

as foreigners. Alright.

36:18

Well, if people want to follow your journey or maybe

36:20

ask you a few questions. Where can

36:22

they learn more about you or contact you, I

36:24

guess, if

36:26

they want? So my main thing that I do is I run a

36:28

website map checking dot com.

36:30

It's my

36:32

initials, NIP. and checking because

36:34

I like hiking. So, Matt, oh, that works.

36:36

Yeah. Yeah. You can read all of my new

36:38

articles there. It's all about slow travel and how to

36:40

have immersive

36:42

experiences. And if they want to send me a quick message, you can go

36:44

to my Instagram, which is the same

36:46

MAP checking as well.

36:50

Maria,

36:50

thanks for coming on the show today. It's been a pleasure. Thank

36:52

you for having me.

36:53

It's been great.

36:59

What an amazing

37:01

and inspiring episode?

37:04

Not only has

37:06

Maria really taken the

37:08

initiative to go and get what she

37:10

wanted out of life, but she

37:12

had just such great

37:14

tips about how to immerse yourself and get the most out of

37:16

your travel experience. And that can

37:18

happen no matter where you're traveling to

37:20

and in any destination.

37:22

So all

37:24

of you really try and find some meaningful ways

37:26

to enhance your experiences. And honestly,

37:28

I kinda wanna go to Albania now

37:32

and I don't know if I'm gonna try some of that but maybe

37:34

I will. Maybe if I'm in someone's house and they

37:36

offer it to me, you know, I don't wanna be rude,

37:38

so we'll give it a go.

37:42

Do you have any bizarre travel

37:44

experiences that have happened to you while

37:46

living or visiting abroad? If so,

37:48

go ahead and share your story with us on

37:50

social media, and don't forget to

37:52

tag Expedia.

37:54

For more info on episodes, guests,

37:56

And to find travel inspiration, be sure to visit

37:58

out travel the systems blog at

37:59

expedia dot com forward

38:02

slash stories forward

38:04

slash podcast. I

38:07

wanna thank

38:07

Maria Perrette for joining me today. If

38:09

you have any questions, comments,

38:12

thoughts, or better yet

38:14

travel suggestions, Be

38:16

sure to DM us. We are at Expedia on Instagram. Oh,

38:18

and don't forget to give the show

38:21

a follow and subscribe on your favorite podcast

38:23

player so that you don't

38:25

miss an episode mode as soon

38:27

as it drops.

38:28

I'll travel the system is

38:29

brought to you by Expedia with special

38:31

thanks to PRX and Sonic

38:33

Union. I'm the

38:35

exec producer and your host, Miss Reina Tawson,

38:38

special thanks to the following.

38:40

Additional writing by Camu

38:42

Alolia, producer

38:44

for she Kashama, Associate producers, Simon

38:46

Mohammed, and Nathaniel Taylor.

38:48

Production assistant is Alex

38:50

Teal and Carolina Garago, see

38:54

music and original composition by

38:56

Kevin j Simon, music

38:58

edit, sound design, and

39:00

mix by

39:02

Rob Balingall, and music supervision by Justin

39:04

Morris. Executive producer and

39:06

writer, Halle Petro,

39:08

PRX executive producer,

39:10

Jocelyn Gonzalez, out travel the

39:12

system is recorded with Sonic Union

39:14

in New York City. Canada. Be sure

39:16

to tune in next

39:18

week for our season four wrap up. I can't

39:20

believe we are at the end of the

39:22

year. We have come a long way,

39:24

but the next

39:26

episode is gonna be a good one. Till next This

39:28

is your host, Ms. Rena Tasi for

39:30

Out Travel the System. Find us on

39:34

Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

39:36

Happy travels.

39:52

From

39:56

PRX.