WEBVTT - Can Julie Become a 'Regular' at a Pub in Ireland? 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.120 What prompted you to solo travel for the first time. 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:09.039 I wanted to see her and it was now or ever. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:12.200 You don't see that much anymore these days. 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:13.960 This is the first time I've done it. 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:18.439 They were very intrigued by me walking in there, because 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:20.000 I went pretty much crocodile dum d. 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.800 Can I get the same sour got yesterday? The ginger sour? 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:28.639 So I'm at the diving board right now and I 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.600 think I'm going to jump in. This is insane. 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:36.640 Were you nervous about anything? 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:39.280 Yes? Everything. 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.760 This is Solita stories of what really happens when you 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:55.200 travel alone, the beautiful, the messy, and the moments where 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.920 you say yes and surprise yourself. I'm your host, Julie Pine. 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:06.600 The first time I ever traveled by myself was on accident. 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:10.480 I was twenty one years old, studying abroad in Barcelona. 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.560 I planned a spring break trip to Italy with some 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.840 Americans from my program, and then a few days before 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.080 the trip they all dropped out. But I still wanted 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:24.240 to go, so I did. I visited Rome, Florence, Milan, 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:30.120 and Cinque Terre completely solita. I expected to feel lonely, but 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:33.720 I found that I met more people because I was alone, 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.319 I made more eye contact, I asked for help, I 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:40.160 got more invites, like the time I said yes when 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.120 a group of strangers invited me to dinner, where the 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.760 restaurant owner flooded us with free lemon cello. He ignored 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:50.120 the other patrons just so he could calmly sit and 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.480 tell us his stories. That whole night felt like magic. 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:59.160 When my semester in Barcelona ended, I wanted to keep traveling, 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.160 but I was as a broke student. So I asked 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.520 around and I discovered one of the cheapest ways to 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:09.120 stay in Europe was to walk across it on a 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:14.640 trail called El Camino Santiago Compostela, otherwise known as El Camino. 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.480 The main Gamino path is a five hundred mile walk 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.880 across the north of Spain. I carried everything on my back. 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.560 I slept in hostels for no more than eight euro 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:29.000 a night. I woke up at dawn. I ate cans 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.480 of tuna on the side of the road, and I 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:35.280 prayed in churches that my feet wouldn't give in too blisters. 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:39.480 And the beautiful thing about the Gamino is that even 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:44.880 if you choose to walk it alone, you're never really alone. 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.960 My first few days, I sinked my pace with an 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:51.480 elderly Irish man who was walking his own solo trail. 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:56.679 He was in his seventies, following in the literal footsteps 0:02:56.720 --> 0:03:00.720 of his late daughter, she completed the Gamino alone a 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.679 few years back, and then she sadly took her own 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:08.040 life earlier that year. He walked with her Camino passport 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:11.919 in hand, which tracked her exact route with stamps from 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:16.440 the hostels and restaurants she visited. As we followed her 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:20.400 trail together, I started to notice that this elderly man 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:24.680 called the same person every night before bed. I assumed 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:27.679 it was a family member, maybe his wife, but when 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.920 I asked him, he told me it was his publican. 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.920 That's when I learned that in Ireland, the publican is 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.120 the guy who runs your local pub. So my new 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:42.560 friend was doing pillow talk with his bartender. I was tickled. 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.360 It was a ritual that screamed, go take on the world, 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:50.800 but hurry back. You belong here in this pub. I imagined 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.920 the Irish pub as this magical place where, of course 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.680 everyone knows your name, but also your mom's name and 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.600 your bad moods and your favorite song, and now the 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:07.640 stories of how you conquered Spain on foot. I finished 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:11.720 the Camino and I continued my travels across the world alone. 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:15.680 In Morocco, I learned to surf. During the quiet months 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.839 of Ramadan. In Tijuana, I made friends with Lucha libtefighters 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:23.520 and Argentina. I fell asleep on a bus, woke up 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.040 in the wrong town, and then lived there for over 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.839 a month. I was the girl on the back of 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:32.159 the vespa in Monaco. I flew to Edinburgh just to 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:36.599 see the clowns. And I've contracted dysentery and bedbugs more 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:40.760 times than I would ever admit on a podcast. Now 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:44.440 I prefer traveling by myself, even when I do have 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:47.680 people to go with. It's where I'm closest to my 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:53.320 own curiosities. And you know what, fifteen years later, I'm 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:57.960 still thinking about that irishman and his publican. What did 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.600 he have in that pub? And what is the DNA 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:06.080 of that feeling of belonging? Could I ever belong in 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.640 a pub in Ireland? How much could I even belong 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.360 in a new place when I'm just passing through Solita? 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.240 Now I know I can't answer these questions from the 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:21.640 Solita headquarters of my bedroom closet in Brooklyn. So in 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.279 the spring of twenty twenty six, when I get my 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:28.239 own chance to travel to Ireland, I make it my mission. 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.679 I'm going to become a regular at an Irish pub. 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:35.040 What was it fifteen years ago? 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.920 I was doing the Caminoda Santiiro, which is like a 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:40.080 pilgrimage walk. 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.760 Across the north of Spain, the Camino the Camino. 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.680 I started my Ireland trip in Dublin for one night 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.640 before traveling to a tiny mountain town called Kilfinnan for 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:54.440 an audio arts festival. That's where I met John and 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:57.919 we quickly became friends. John's in his late fifties. His 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:01.000 family's been in Ireland for generations and he inherited the 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:04.320 family farm, although he retired early, saying he was bad 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:07.240 at farming. John offered to drive me to the bus 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:09.919 station where I'd be catching my bus to Galway to 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.600 start my five days of solo traveling. So, of course 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.600 I took the opportunity to pick his brain about the 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.920 importance of publicans. Do people not usually have that much 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:21.400 of a relationship with Republicans? Oh? 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.520 In a small tone, you do absolutely, yeah, you have 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:26.800 that relation. Oh god, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what. 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:31.240 That's Well, when I'm in Galway, my mission is to 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:32.880 try to become a local at a pub. 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:39.039 Okay, what did that involve? I don't know who's going 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:41.400 to win the match? What do you think it involves. 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.920 Do you think it's possible? Well? Probably probably not. How 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:49.640 long are you inna go before four nights? Okay? If 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:51.320 you go in there every night, you know you'll be 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.040 You won't be a regular, but you will be a 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.400 you will be known. How long do you think you 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:58.719 have to go to become a regular? 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.840 I would say in your case, being a bit of 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:03.680 a looker, I would say if there was a man 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:05.600 behind the counter, i'd say the second night. 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.080 Oh god, but that sounds like a bad regular. 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.320 No, no, no, what's it like in New York? I mean, 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:13.760 do you know? No, I don't go. 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.160 There's a bar in my neighborhood. 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:17.560 It's a little too expensive. 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:19.880 I would never go every night because it's just as 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:24.640 a part of the It's not lady. 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:29.200 It's not lady. Why do you say that, I'm gone 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:31.400 be old fashioned over That's not the case. That's not 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.360 the case here. No, but I mean, I was. 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:36.560 At a pub in Dublin and I had this really 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.360 friendly older gentleman buy me a drink, and when he 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:41.360 found out I was alone, he was like, Oh, I'm 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:43.480 going to stick by you because I actually I just 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:45.760 don't want you to be lonely. You're a woman here alone. 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:48.560 And I thought it was really well intentioned. 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:49.560 Oh, I'm sure it was. 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:50.520 It was well intentioned. 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:52.440 I thought he was a sweetheart. And I also thought 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:53.040 it was like. 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:59.680 It was showing something inappropriate. No, but like I didn't 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.040 need to be protected in that way, like I can 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:06.320 find for myself being alone, and I actually sort of 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:13.200 like being alone. In Spanish, a female alone translates to sola. 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:18.520 Solita is a little more complicated. That diminutive etha gives 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:23.080 the word a layer of pity. Ah she's alone, poor thing. 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:27.000 In Puerto Rico, where my family's from. It also invites 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:33.200 gossip or cheese me ahino solita, Ah, she came alone. 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:38.240 You'll never guess why solita gets wielded against women, as 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:42.120 if being alone is a mark of failure. But when 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:46.480 a woman reclaims the word for herself, say being a solita, 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:51.480 she's owning the power of solitude as a deliberate tool 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:56.440 of possibility. When I tell people I'm traveling alone, I 0:08:56.480 --> 0:09:02.319 get one of two opposite responses. First is disbelief. They 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:06.680 say I'm brave, maybe reckless. They show concern, They ask 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:11.360 about safety, about loneliness, as if I shouldn't be doing it. 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:16.320 The other response is a resounding applause, which I will 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.360 credit with the popularity of the early aughts book and 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:23.840 movie Eat Pray Love. This response assumes that the world 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:28.240 is simply a backdrop from my journey of personal transformation, 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:33.520 which is a Western fantasy, and neither of these responses 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:38.920 leaves room for the reality. Traveling alone as a woman 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:43.120 is risky, and it's beautiful, and it's messy, and you'll 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:46.880 probably learn over and over that the world is not 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:50.600 your oyster. But I don't think that that should hold 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.520 women back from taking the plunge, and the numbers show 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:58.679 it hasn't. A study found that over three quarters of 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:04.120 all solo travelers identified as women in twenty twenty five US. 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.680 Women make eighty two percent of all travel decisions in 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:09.920 the home, so it makes sense that they turn their 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:14.320 decision making onto themselves. There was a huge uptick in 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:17.840 Google searches for the phrase solo female travel in twenty 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:21.040 twenty two, and then something broke open at the end 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:23.880 of twenty twenty five because those Google searches hid an 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:28.560 all time high, nearly tripling overnight. Experts say that the 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:33.440 broader shift points to women having more socioeconomic independence. Look 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:37.000 at women from ages twenty five to forty four, Morgan 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.320 Stanley predicts that in just five years, almost half of 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.560 those women will be single. They're not only free from 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.600 the financial responsibilities of having to raise a family, they 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:51.000 also don't have the built in travel buddies. But it's 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:55.720 not just women in childbearing ages. It's also women like Chris, 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.319 who I met in my hostel in Ireland. 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.600 How long have you been solo traveling? First experience? And 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:03.240 how old are you? 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:03.920 Sixty? 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:06.800 And what prompted you to solo travel for the first time? 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:09.880 I wanted to see her and it was now or ever? 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:12.400 Were you hoping somebody would come with you? 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.480 I had asked my son to come, but he couldn't 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.800 get the time off, so I didn't want anyone else. 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:18.320 I want to do what I want when I want. 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.360 Were you nervous about anything? Yes? 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:22.960 Everything? 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.679 In a study of almost three thousand solo female travelers, 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.120 personal safety is the number one worry. Number two is 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:37.680 higher costs. The next few worries something bad will happen, 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:42.800 language barriers, and a worry about dining alone, feeling lonely 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:46.520 and getting lost. Hi, is this the best to gall it? 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:47.400 Yeah? 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:48.960 Great, you got to get her. 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:56.400 What time is this and it's four thirty? Oh that's 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.640 six thirty. Oh shoot, I get my Times message. Is 0:11:59.640 --> 0:11:59.880 it okay? 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.360 Take this one? Thank you so much for your kindness. 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:02.800 Thank you. 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.360 If you couldn't tell by me booking the wrong bus ticket. 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:13.920 I'm a type B traveler. The only thing I really 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.040 book when I arrive to a place is my accommodations. 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.520 I book a hostel in the center of Galway, walking 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.280 distance to dozens of pubs, and then the rest of 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.960 my plans I leave up to chance. And since I'm single, 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:29.720 why not crack the door open for a bit of fun. 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.840 On the bus to Galway, I open Hinge and I 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.360 edit my profile to say I'm traveling from New York 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.800 looking for someone to show me their favorite spots in town. 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:44.200 I start swiping and one of the first profiles is 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:48.880 a man named Mark. He's cute, he's creative, and he's Cuban. 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.640 I message him, saying, another Latino in Ireland, and within 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:56.680 an hour we've made plans to get coffee. The next day. 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:00.280 I step off the bus in Galway, drop my bag 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:02.760 off in the hostel, and head out for my first 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.960 walk around the city. And within four minutes of my walk, 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:11.760 I spot Mark from Hinge outside of a pub. I 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:14.680 avoid him for now and wait for tomorrow's date, but 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:18.920 obviously I voice note my best friend, how small is 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:24.000 this city? Literally just spotted him on the steps of 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:28.440 a pub. That's fucking crazy. I keep walking, and just 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.440 twenty minutes later I start to hear Puerto Rican SOUTHSA 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:37.520 music blaring down the street, music from my tiny archipelago 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:42.520 in the Caribbean here in Ireland. I run over, Are 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:43.240 you guys dancing? 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:44.000 So yeah? 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:59.120 New York, New York. They offer me a beer and 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.079 we dance for over an hour. They invite me to 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:04.360 come dance with them at a local pub. Later on 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.840 that week, a woman from Uruguay named Pamela tells me 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.400 that she works at a nearby bakery. I told her 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:15.199 I would definitely stop in the next morning for coffee. 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:27.480 Thank you. I visited Pamela for the same reason I'm 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:31.120 wanting to become a regular at a pub. It's something 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.880 that I chase in every new place I visit. I 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.400 travel the world hoping to see something new, but to 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:43.720 feel familiarity. One of the world's most famous travel writers, 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:47.600 Rick Steves, has written about it. He outlines three different 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.200 ways to travel. He says you can either travel as 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:56.680 a tourist, a traveler, or a pilgrim. A tourist is 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:01.960 there to consume. They seek relaxation, entertainment, and escape from 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.720 their regular life. On the opposite side of that spectrum 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:11.120 is the pilgrim. They're there to challenge themselves in search 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:16.000 of some sort of personal transformation. And then right there 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.280 in the middle between the tourist and the pilgrim is 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:24.840 the traveler. The traveler arrives to a due place wanting 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:29.760 to be a temporary local. They're willing to exchange comfort 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:34.840 for realness, hoping to immerse themselves in the experience of 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.840 what it might be like to actually live there. And 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.760 I don't really stick out as a visitor in Ireland 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.240 as a white Latina, I have the privilege of not 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:50.960 getting bothered by racial microaggressions or stereotypes or intrusive questions 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:54.880 about my heritage or appearance. White women have been at 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.720 the center of popular Western narratives of female solo travel, 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:04.040 so these nuance of identity are often under explored, and 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:08.160 I do think my diasporic identity plays into my desire 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:12.000 to become a temporary local. I grew up in the 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.800 continental US with two parents from Puerto Rico who had 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:20.000 only just moved from the archipelago a year before I 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.520 was born. I grew up feeling like I was neither 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:29.200 Kei Nida. Yeah, neither from here nor from there. So 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:34.280 when I travel, I'm always sort of seeking an understanding 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:38.440 of what it's like to belong to that place. Now, 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:42.760 the only thing missing is my regular pub, so I 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:49.600 hit the road to start looking for it. Yeah, that 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.720 one didn't really even have a bar or anywhere. 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:53.800 In the city was kind of empty. 0:16:53.840 --> 0:17:00.000 Group is there an upstairs? I stop into it. Least 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.680 least seven pubs on my first night in Galway. I 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.199 need to find a pub within walking distance to my 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:09.760 hostel for safety late at night, but they're all full 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:12.879 of other tourists, so I give up on my search 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:16.080 for the night, and I go back to my hostel discouraged. 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:19.399 I lay in bed with a bad case of the 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:24.800 night one blues. It happens almost every trip. On the 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:29.280 first night, I'm tired, feeling out of place without my 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:34.400 usual comforts and routines, asking myself what am I doing here? 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:39.919 I'm spending my hard earned money on myself, hoping to 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:45.320 find something profound. I can't even find a pub. I 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:48.760 almost give up on my mission completely until the next night. 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:53.680 I've exhausted all the old school Irish pubs within walking distance, 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:58.159 and so when I pass a craft beer bar, I 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.440 walk in, Hey are you yeah? 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:01.720 It is? 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.440 I don't know what's like your specialty here. I've been 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:10.080 given three pieces of advice for becoming a regular at 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:15.120 a pub. One go regularly, two make friends with the staff, 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:19.160 and three have good crack which stay with me here 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:23.520 translates to creating good banter at the bar. So I 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.919 walk in and immediately I connect with the bartender, Sean. 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.639 Today is Monday, and Sean tells me that on Wednesday, 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.760 my last day in Ireland, he's quitting his job at 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:36.720 the pub to finally pursue his career as a writer. 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.600 And I can't help but cheer him on. I talk 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:42.800 to the woman at the bar next to me. She's 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.240 here every night because her dog is scared of other dogs, 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.160 so eleven pm is the only time she can take 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:53.119 her for a walk. I ask Sean for a drink recommendation, 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:56.840 and he pours me a sour beer, which feels scandalous 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:00.560 in the land of Guinness. I leave after two beers. 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.560 I don't like to get drunk when I travel by myself, 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.440 and on my way out the door, I say, see 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:11.440 you guys tomorrow. Did I just find my pub? After 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:25.760 the break? A whirlwind romance that stops before it starts. 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:31.479 One of the best parts of traveling by yourself is 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:35.920 asking for help. You really can't pretend that you know everything, 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:39.840 and being by yourself, people tend to go out of 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:42.560 their way to help you. When I go on a 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:45.000 free walking tour, which is one of my favorite things 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:47.879 to do in a new city, I ask my guide 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:51.359 Anna if she has any advice for my mission to 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:54.800 become a regular at a pub. Anna is an immigrant 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:57.880 from Brazil and she's been in Ireland for ten years. 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:00.320 She fell in love with this country. He came an 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:04.440 Irish historian and it turns out pubs actually shaped her welcome. 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:07.920 So when I tell her about my elderly Irish friend 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:11.000 from the Camino, she helps me fill in some of 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.040 the blanks I see. 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:16.240 Everybody in the pub was actually just like, oh geez, 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.160 you know, like do you know Sheamus, He's just going 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:20.560 up now doing the Camino like Jesus Christ. Fair play 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:22.520 to him, you know, like the whole lot. And then 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:24.320 he would just ring from there and just share a 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:26.360 few of the stories with the public, you know, which 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:29.439 your men, the bartender or something. Then he would share 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:32.240 all the news around, you know, because you have to 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:34.240 think not just what you were doing on your side, 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:35.639 that you were just chatting with your meny he was 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:38.360 ringing the public and every time, but imagine the impact 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:42.080 of his actions back here in Ireland, like me coming 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:44.359 from Brazil, you know, the population of Ireland is the 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.560 same population of just my city alone. 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:49.440 And I love. 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:51.720 Being a small country liketist. And in Ireland there was 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:54.800 just this immediate gentleness, like they look you up and down. 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:56.560 They know, we're just like, oh, come in here, one 0:20:56.560 --> 0:20:57.080 of us now. 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:00.240 I tell Anna about my fascination with pubs, and it 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:03.879 turns out when she first arrived to Ireland, one of 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:08.000 the first few jobs she could get was as a publican. 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:13.840 Okay, I can tell you a funny story about that. So, 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:16.320 So I used to work in a pub called the 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:20.119 Old Triangle in Lockray, just outside of go Away, like 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:24.000 small little town, you know, just all the drinking regulars 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:25.640 would be like, you know, older men and they're like 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:29.159 fifty sixty seventies plus ish kind of vibe. There'll be 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:31.600 like a karaoke every Friday night. There would be like 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:34.480 country music every Saturday night. It was hopping, you know, 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:36.800 like it was the place. They were very intrigued by 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:39.120 me walking in there because I went pretty much Crocodile 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:41.760 Dundee style. I really needed a job and I never 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:44.679 worked in a pub before, just arrived in Ireland, and 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:47.120 I said, listen, I do need a job. I'm competent. 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:48.879 I'll go for it, like see what I can do 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:51.359 if I get a trial. And first of all, I 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:53.760 couldn't understand what my boss was saying. He taught like 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:57.200 and I was like, I have no chance of working here. 0:21:57.240 --> 0:21:59.879 I can't even understand your man bosh. I went for 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:02.920 I managed and I learned very quickly the gift of 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:07.440 the gap, you know, the chatting, the understanding and the locals. 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:09.879 They go to a pub, and they continue going to 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:12.280 a pub for a reason because they're well taken care 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:15.040 of there. It becomes a natural dance once you learn it. 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:17.120 I used to be the main person behind the bar, 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.440 you know, just you know, kind of locking up and everything, 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:21.359 and I would be there just pouring a few slow 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:25.000 pines for them, as they call it. And then I 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:27.120 realized at some point in my life that my social 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:30.000 life was basically just having the full on chats with 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:32.600 those like five six older leads and then in the 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:34.960 end of the night just being the taxi driver to 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:37.400 all of them. And it was just the most hilarious 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:39.080 thing because I would have my car full of them 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:41.480 leads and me being like the baby streit, just like, 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:43.560 oh let's go and behavior, oh gid, you cannot smoke 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:45.640 in here or go on or get out now. And 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:48.400 you know, I wasn't expecting for any payment to bring 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:50.240 them around, you know, and any of that. But one 0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:52.520 day my boss will be like, whit a minute, you know, 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:55.080 because you always poke like a dinosaur. I was like, 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:57.000 wait a minute, have you you guys have no shame 0:22:57.000 --> 0:22:59.000 of yourself, Jesus Christ, look at this young lady there. 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:00.000 Just bring your guys around. 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:01.680 You would pay a TAXI, why would you not pay her? 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:03.919 So everybody was just like, oh, Jesus personally go like 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:06.320 twenty quid into like the recal story. So it was 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:10.080 always such a lovely natural way of interacting. And then 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.280 I went to watch the Saint Patrick's parade in Lockray, right, 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:17.600 And then I realized when I was watching the parade 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:19.960 with a friend of mine that I knew all the 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:22.760 leads that were in the parade. They were driving the tractors, 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:24.919 drinking a pint of Gainness as they were driving on 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:27.040 the parade, and I was looking at it, and I 0:23:27.119 --> 0:23:29.320 was like, God, I am really part of this because 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:31.720 I know all them leads, I know all their stories, 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:35.120 I know the whole lot. And that's the beauty of 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:38.480 becoming a local. In my case, I was working a 0:23:39.040 --> 0:23:42.080 very different magic, but very very beautiful. 0:23:43.000 --> 0:23:46.680