Speaker 1: Hey Bessies, Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2: Today on the bright Side, we're spilling the secrets to
Speaker 2: planning the ultimate international vacation with travel expert and co
Speaker 2: founder of the travel company Elsewhere, Alexis Bowen. She's here
Speaker 2: to reveal the three essentials for making your trip absolutely
Speaker 2: unforgettable and why going solo might be the best part.
Speaker 1: Plus, stand up comedian and TV host Jesse Crookshank joins
Speaker 1: us to talk the sexiness of mothers and minivans. She's
Speaker 1: also taking us back to performing Improvent High School with
Speaker 1: none other than comedian Seth Rogen and Nathan Fielder. It's Monday,
Speaker 1: August twenty sixth. I'm Danielle Robe, I'm Simone Boys, and
Speaker 1: this is the bright Side from Hello Sunshine, a daily
Speaker 1: show where we come together to share women's stories, laugh, learn,
Speaker 1: and brighten your day. Happy Monday, Danielle. All Right, you
Speaker 1: know what we gotta do? Hmm, It's Monday. We got
Speaker 1: to kick off the week with on My Mom Monday.
Speaker 1: It's our op ortuinity to share stories that motivate us
Speaker 1: inspired curiosity and provide a fresh perspective for the week ahead.
Speaker 2: What you got, Okay, I'm gonna give you a little
Speaker 2: bit of a curve ball, but stick with me. I
Speaker 2: think quitting is underrated. What's the best thing you've ever quit?
Speaker 1: My job? Okay, when did you quit your job? I
Speaker 1: quit my job two years ago, being a reporter. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was the best thing I ever quit.
Speaker 2: Did you have any like fallout after? Did you cry
Speaker 2: or were you relieved?
Speaker 1: No? I didn't cry. I quit it with the most
Speaker 1: piece that I've ever had making a decision.
Speaker 2: I've quit a few jobs in my life. I'm like, actually,
Speaker 2: the Queen of quitting, are you really?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Because here's the thing. I think quitting gets a bad rap.
Speaker 2: Quitting can be like taking off a pair of shoes
Speaker 2: that are too tight, or taking off your bra after
Speaker 2: a long day. You just feel like, why didn't I
Speaker 2: do that earlier?
Speaker 1: Was instant relief? You know?
Speaker 2: I think whether it's leaving behind a stress job, or
Speaker 2: an exhausting friendship, or even a hobby that doesn't bring
Speaker 2: you joy, quitting can clear space in your life for
Speaker 2: things that truly make you happy.
Speaker 1: I'm going to quote Steve Harvey. Okay, he says, you.
Speaker 2: Can't buy a new car when the old car is
Speaker 2: in your garage. You gotta make space, And so for me,
Speaker 2: quitting is not about giving up. It's about giving in
Speaker 2: to yourself and honoring what works for you and what
Speaker 2: truly brings you joy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2: Well, I came across this article about quitting, but it's
Speaker 2: about quitting a book.
Speaker 1: We ever quit a book. I have strong feelings about this.
Speaker 1: I'm unable to quit books. Oh, I have to finish
Speaker 1: them once I start. Okay, So I actually totally disagree.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna have it out ready, Yes, I'm going
Speaker 2: to give you what the article says, and then we'll disagree.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: Sophie Verschbau wrote a piece from The Atlantic giving all
Speaker 2: of us a rubric for deciding whether it's time to
Speaker 2: put a book down without finishing it, which is hard
Speaker 2: to do for a book lover. But before I begin,
Speaker 2: there are those of you, you like Simone, who struggle
Speaker 2: with abandoning a book and feel like you gotta finish
Speaker 2: no matter what.
Speaker 1: And I see you.
Speaker 2: I feel like life is too short to ever read
Speaker 2: something you're not thoroughly thrilled with. So as we go
Speaker 2: through this, I want you to determine if you're a Simone.
Speaker 1: Or if you're a Danielle.
Speaker 2: Okay, So she says Number one, before dropping a book,
Speaker 2: you need to figure out what's motivating you to stop
Speaker 2: reading it. Is it bad writing or is the author
Speaker 2: experimenting in a creative way that might push you as
Speaker 2: a reader, but you're sort of uncomfortable with.
Speaker 1: So the book that I'm currently thinking of, the writing
Speaker 1: was just bad. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2: See. I always feel bad saying the writing is bad
Speaker 2: because it's like, maybe it's just not for me.
Speaker 1: Is it bad writing? Like who gets to decide that?
Speaker 1: I think if you've read enough books, you can decide
Speaker 1: what's bad writing and just bad storytelling, like flat characters,
Speaker 1: you know, not well developed. Right, that's a good point. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, She says that reading is linked to empathy, increased empathy,
Speaker 2: which I think is cool and one of the best
Speaker 2: opportunities we have to digest experiences and opinions that we
Speaker 2: don't agree with or haven't considered is reading. So sometimes
Speaker 2: you got to like push through Number two. Time constraints.
Speaker 2: She says, for busy people, reading is a luxury, So
Speaker 2: I kind of have a page constraint. I'm like fifty pages.
Speaker 2: If I'm not in I'm actually lying I'm being generous.
Speaker 2: If I'm not in in twenty pages, I'm out. That's nothing.
Speaker 1: I know. I feel like you got to give it
Speaker 1: one hundred. I can't do it. I don't have time.
Speaker 1: There's too many books I want to read. I feel
Speaker 1: that very strongly.
Speaker 2: Do you ever Sometimes I go into a library and
Speaker 2: I get anxiety because I look around and I'm like,
Speaker 2: I don't know anything.
Speaker 1: I need to read all of these books. I do
Speaker 1: feel that. I also feel the tension between we have
Speaker 1: books at home and I want to buy this book. Yes,
Speaker 1: that is so relatable. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2: Number three, she says, you got to stop gamifying reading.
Speaker 2: Don't just push through for the sake of bragging rights.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at you. It's not bragging rights, it is.
Speaker 1: That's not bragging rights for me. It's a personal thing
Speaker 1: for me. It's like I made I bought this book,
Speaker 1: which means I made a commitment to read it, so
Speaker 1: I'm going to finish it. It's like it's a personal
Speaker 1: covenant that I make with myself, even if it's like
Speaker 1: a six hundred page book. Yeah, I mean, I don't know,
Speaker 1: six hundred pages, that's a big commitment. I don't read
Speaker 1: a ton of six hundred page books. I gotta be honest.
Speaker 2: Well, the next one is sort of funny because she's
Speaker 2: kind of going back and forth.
Speaker 1: She might agree with you.
Speaker 2: She says, if it's a trendy book, that you have
Speaker 2: to keep going so that you can hate on it
Speaker 2: intellectually with your friends and be a real critic.
Speaker 1: I love how real this is. That's so you can
Speaker 1: walk up into the book club like guns blazing. Yes.
Speaker 2: So I have a friend named Brooke who is like
Speaker 2: my reading buddy, Like she always reads.
Speaker 1: She has so much time on her hands, way more
Speaker 1: than me, and so she.
Speaker 2: Reads all the books, especially the trendy ones, as soon
Speaker 2: as they come out. And she told me this year
Speaker 2: I have to read The Women and all fours and
Speaker 2: I haven't started either, and it's killing me.
Speaker 1: The Women is on my list too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1: The last one is lean on the Live.
Speaker 2: She said, there's no sunk costs, like you said about
Speaker 2: buying a book and not finishing it if you didn't
Speaker 2: pay for it.
Speaker 1: I'm currently fighting with my library. Why because they say
Speaker 1: that I haven't returned like ten books from my kids.
Speaker 1: So I try to have returned them so when I was.
Speaker 2: Growing up in Chicago, there was always a day in
Speaker 2: April where you could bring in a ton of canned.
Speaker 1: Goods to the library.
Speaker 2: It was like a drive of a can goods drive
Speaker 2: and if you brought in enough, they would waive all
Speaker 2: your overcharges.
Speaker 1: I need to see if that's an option at my library.
Speaker 1: I swear I've returned these books.
Speaker 2: Okay, So have I convinced you otherwise? Are you still
Speaker 2: on your page? So to speak?
Speaker 1: These are good, you know, questions to think about. I
Speaker 1: think that for me, if I'm going to get really deep,
Speaker 1: it's like I don't want to make a commitment that
Speaker 1: I can't keep. So like I it's like, what, that's
Speaker 1: so funny that you attribute books to that. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's part of Yeah, it's just part of like an
Speaker 1: over writing life philosophy. Like if you say you're going
Speaker 1: to do something, do it. Yeah. Yeah, but maybe I
Speaker 1: need to loosen up a little bit. No, I don't.
Speaker 2: It's I think if you've like, you know, tied those
Speaker 2: two things together, that's that's totally fair.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay. A book that was really easy to finish
Speaker 1: was Wild Mmmm. That is a book, It really really is,
Speaker 1: And it's a book that got me thinking a lot
Speaker 1: about the role that travel plays in my own life.
Speaker 1: Research shows that traveling is beneficial to personal growth. It
Speaker 1: leads to greater emotional agility, creativity, and empathy. But if
Speaker 1: you've ever had an international journey that's deeply touched you
Speaker 1: on a personal level, like, you don't need to see
Speaker 1: the research. You know how transformative travel can be. A
Speaker 1: recent Forbes article actually cited a survey that revealed that
Speaker 1: eighty percent of all travel decisions are made by women.
Speaker 2: Isn't that really Yeah, that is not the case in
Speaker 2: my house. My dad is our travel agent. Interesting, what's
Speaker 2: your mom's role in all of it?
Speaker 1: Everything else? I thought you mine in the house. No, no, no,
Speaker 1: Like when it comes to travel and planning, travel's way
Speaker 1: too much travel and planning trips. My mom's the restaurant gal. Nice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: she makes the reservations, so she'll like go through the
Speaker 1: Yelp reviews or whatever they're in that country.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how about you, Oh, he does the reservations in
Speaker 2: your house?
Speaker 1: You are, Michael Gosh, that's a really good question. I
Speaker 1: think it's kind of shared. I think it's shared marriage
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four, But you have completely different travel approaches.
Speaker 1: Like I'm a wanderer. I just want to I just
Speaker 1: want to go to a city without a lot of
Speaker 1: structure and wander. Although I do think there's there has
Speaker 1: to be a balance between structure and spontaneity. I call
Speaker 1: myself a traveler. My husband prefers vacation, and there's a
Speaker 1: difference between travel and vacation, big difference. I think travel
Speaker 1: is about discovery, vacation is about relaxation.
Speaker 2: I think if you go and travel, you need you
Speaker 2: need a vacation after.
Speaker 1: Sometimes, yeah, I think it's good to like try to
Speaker 1: weave in the vacation elements in the travel.
Speaker 2: But my dad has this travel rule. He says, you
Speaker 2: always end on a beach. So, like if you have
Speaker 2: eight or ten days of like tough touring, because he
Speaker 2: wants to tour from like eight am to eight pm. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that somehow you have to end two or three days
Speaker 2: on a beach.
Speaker 1: That's smart. Yeah, that way you come back feeling rested.
Speaker 1: Oh another travel hack. So whenever you return, make sure
Speaker 1: that you've taken a day off, a buffer day, so
Speaker 1: that you don't go right back to work after making it.
Speaker 2: I'm laughing because I want every single ounce of the
Speaker 2: time off I have. I will take a red eye
Speaker 2: and show up to work at eight am that morning.
Speaker 1: I hear you, but there is something really nice about
Speaker 1: having a day to adjust. Totally agree, I just it's
Speaker 1: not me. Well, our next guest has had the travel
Speaker 1: bug since she was thirteen years old. Alexis Bowen went
Speaker 1: on to create Elsewhere, a travel company that was eventually
Speaker 1: acquired by Lonely Planet, and together they're on a mission
Speaker 1: to make tourism better, more sustainable, and more ethical. And
Speaker 1: today Alexis is telling us about the solo trip that
Speaker 1: changed her life, the benefits of traveling so and how
Speaker 1: to do it safely. That's after the break, stay with.
Speaker 2: Us, Alexis, Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 3: Hi, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2: You've traveled all over the world. Is there a solo
Speaker 2: trip that has changed your life? Oh, that's such a
Speaker 2: hard question. I've done a lot of solo trips. I
Speaker 2: would have to say my first one has to be
Speaker 2: the most formative for sure. Actually, I took my first
Speaker 2: international trip solo, which is kind of wild, and I
Speaker 2: was thirteen years old, so I mean it was a
Speaker 2: totally new experience that blew my mind and really got
Speaker 2: me the bug.
Speaker 1: Where did you go? Would you tell us a little
Speaker 1: bit about that trip?
Speaker 4: I went to England and Ireland. I always wanted to travel.
Speaker 4: I always wanted to see the world, and I grew
Speaker 4: up with Irish grandparents, so I grew up with people
Speaker 4: who came from a different place and talked about it,
Speaker 4: and so I just wanted to see where they came from.
Speaker 4: I didn't grow up traveling. My parents didn't take us
Speaker 4: all over the world. And I think a lot of
Speaker 4: people who end up in the industry got the bug
Speaker 4: from that from their parents, But for me, it was
Speaker 4: just totally innate. I've always had this sense of adventure
Speaker 4: and wanting to see kind of what was out there,
Speaker 4: and always just wanted to see the world.
Speaker 3: So at twelve, I was like.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna take this in my own hands, and I'm
Speaker 4: gonna get myself a passport and I'm gonna buy a
Speaker 4: ticket and I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: Go, Wow, that's incredible.
Speaker 3: Wow, Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
Speaker 4: So I convinced the owner of this cafe down the
Speaker 4: street to let me be a bus boy on the
Speaker 4: weekends during their brunch rush, and it took me about
Speaker 4: a year, but I saved up enough money to buy
Speaker 4: a plane ticket and got myself a passport and I went.
Speaker 2: You turned your passion into a profession because you started
Speaker 2: a new travel company called Elsewhere, And I think the
Speaker 2: mission is so brilliant. It's about curating itineraries defined by
Speaker 2: local communities, and I have a.
Speaker 1: Personal investment in this.
Speaker 2: I hate a tourist trap, Okay, I really do any
Speaker 2: place that, like everybody tells you on a blog or
Speaker 2: any sort of list to go see, I want to
Speaker 2: go see something two or three steps like more distinct.
Speaker 1: To that place.
Speaker 2: So I'm so curious how you incorporate local businesses and
Speaker 2: these local recommendations to enhance the travel experience.
Speaker 4: Yeah, this, Danielle, this is something that's so important to
Speaker 4: me and was really what we thought about when we
Speaker 4: were building Elsewhere. So the traditional travel industry, you work
Speaker 4: with an agency, they're probably based in the US, and
Speaker 4: they actually work with other companies all over the world,
Speaker 4: And we knew that it was really the locals and
Speaker 4: those local agencies who had their finger on the pulse
Speaker 4: of what's new, what's cool.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: Also, like you said, the things that you should avoid,
Speaker 4: those tourist traps, and so we kind of we wanted
Speaker 4: to cut out the intermediary. We wanted to connect travelers
Speaker 4: directly with these local experts on the ground who grew
Speaker 4: up there, know their home country inside and out.
Speaker 3: Love it, live to share it.
Speaker 4: And so that's what Elsewhere is about, where a travel
Speaker 4: platform that connects travelers to these local experts to plan
Speaker 4: and book your trick.
Speaker 1: So, alexis we are part of the Hello Sunshine family,
Speaker 1: and Cheryl Strade, the incredible author of Wild who walked
Speaker 1: the Pacific Crest Trail alone, is as well, and she's
Speaker 1: become one of my travel inspirations. And this quote of
Speaker 1: hers really sums it up for me. She says, it
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with gear or footwear, or the
Speaker 1: backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era, or even
Speaker 1: with getting from point A to point B. It had
Speaker 1: to do with how it felt to be in the wild.
Speaker 1: And that is that's the reason why I travel. I
Speaker 1: just want to be wild and feel wild. And I
Speaker 1: know that we both share this philosophy of trying to
Speaker 1: go to the destination that's not where everyone else is going.
Speaker 1: So how do you choose where to go and what
Speaker 1: would be your recommendation for people who are looking for
Speaker 1: the right destination.
Speaker 4: There's a reason that bucket list places are bucketless places.
Speaker 4: But I love this term of second city, So that's
Speaker 4: the Marseille instead of Paris, or like I did recently,
Speaker 4: I went to the Ecuadorian Andes in the highlands and
Speaker 4: Ecuador instead of Peru, which is largely touristed. And you
Speaker 4: do have a better experience, because I mean, for me,
Speaker 4: I do think a better experience is kind of boils
Speaker 4: down to a tourist to local ratio.
Speaker 3: When you are more immersed in.
Speaker 4: The place, you can have authentic exchanges with people. You
Speaker 4: can see things without a million selfie sticks or cameras,
Speaker 4: and that's what's so great about traveling is getting you
Speaker 4: out of your space. I think what's so amazing about
Speaker 4: travel is that you know it's in the real world,
Speaker 4: but it's a world outside of your own, and it's
Speaker 4: full of these unpredictable experiences and it's hard to do
Speaker 4: that when you're just on the same circuit as everybody else.
Speaker 4: And I think as well, in choosing these second cities
Speaker 4: or these places that are off the beaten path, like
Speaker 4: I said, It gets you out of your head a
Speaker 4: little bit.
Speaker 3: We're totally siloed.
Speaker 4: We're like constantly fed things that reinforce our interests in
Speaker 4: our opinions, and travel gets you out of that loop,
Speaker 4: and I think that's really powerful.
Speaker 1: How I planned my solo trip to Southeast Asia, I
Speaker 1: knew a lot of people were going to the beaches
Speaker 1: in Thailand and they had become super overrun. So I
Speaker 1: decided to go to Laois instead. And honestly, when I
Speaker 1: went to Luwong Probong, it completely like exploded my world
Speaker 1: and opened up my mind in a way that completely
Speaker 1: changed my life. I know you went to Southeast Asia
Speaker 1: too on a solo trip. I did tell me some
Speaker 1: of the highlights.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean again, no plans. This is also pre smartphone,
Speaker 4: So I think there's a beauty in the pre smartphone
Speaker 4: era as well, is because you have less plans, you
Speaker 4: have to talk to people to figure out what you're
Speaker 4: going to do, what's good, how you get where you're going.
Speaker 4: And I actually kind of have a nostalgia for that
Speaker 4: era now. But yeah, I was eighteen years old. Everyone
Speaker 4: was doing their Europe trips and Southeast Asia was more
Speaker 4: exciting but also a lot cheaper, so I decided to
Speaker 4: buy a ticket to Bangkok. All the flights in Bangkok
Speaker 4: land at two in the morning. I don't know why.
Speaker 4: And I show up and two in the morn in
Speaker 4: the middle of Bangkok with no plans at all. And
Speaker 4: you know, the beginning was a little rough. I'm not
Speaker 4: gonna lie. I took a while to get my footing,
Speaker 4: but once I did. I also ended up in Laos
Speaker 4: because I was close to overstaying my thirty day tourist
Speaker 4: visa and I had to jump the border, and I
Speaker 4: thought about Burma. Burma was not possible at the time.
Speaker 4: It was quite dangerous and actually I was close to
Speaker 4: the border of Burma on a bus when these Burmese
Speaker 4: guards came in onto the bus, stopped the bus in
Speaker 4: the middle of the street. Came in armed guards. Everyone
Speaker 4: started to kind of freak out. I had no idea
Speaker 4: what was going on. People were pulling out their passports
Speaker 4: and I realized they were looking for Burmese refugees, and
Speaker 4: so they kind of laughed at me as like this
Speaker 4: young girl by herself. But Burma was out of the question,
Speaker 4: so I went to Laos instead, and Laos I had
Speaker 4: the same experience. It was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2: Alexis, how many trips do you think you've planned so
Speaker 2: far professionally?
Speaker 4: Oh, my gosh, I mean thousands. I've been in the
Speaker 4: industry for a long long time.
Speaker 2: So having planned thousands of trips, what do you think
Speaker 2: are the three pillars or a great trip?
Speaker 4: You should know somebody on the ground, not so much
Speaker 4: for a safety reason, but just to really get beneath
Speaker 4: the surface of a destination and be able to experience
Speaker 4: it from their perspective. I think that's really important. Another pillar,
Speaker 4: I would say is having some structure, but not too
Speaker 4: much structure. You want to leave it open enough that
Speaker 4: you can say yes to an opportunity that arises or
Speaker 4: something unplanned that's exciting. I think those are the moments
Speaker 4: that really make your trip special. And the third pillar,
Speaker 4: I'd say, and this is kind of like my personal
Speaker 4: travel philosophy, is to always take that extra bus whatever
Speaker 4: that is, if it's a bus, about the extra plane ride,
Speaker 4: Just go to the next town that you want to
Speaker 4: go to, and there you're just going to have a
Speaker 4: better experience. Less tourists, like I said, but more authentic exchange,
Speaker 4: immersive experience.
Speaker 3: And I just find that It's always been a good
Speaker 3: decision for me.
Speaker 2: When you start planning, obviously, fo cuisine restaurants are a
Speaker 2: big thing. If you don't know somebody on the ground,
Speaker 2: where do you start.
Speaker 3: I like talking to people.
Speaker 4: I know people turn to Google, and Google can be
Speaker 4: a great resource, but I really do just like asking people.
Speaker 4: I also like seeing what restaurants are crowded. I don't
Speaker 4: like restaurants that have an English menu. If they don't
Speaker 4: have an English menu, that's a good sign. If they
Speaker 4: don't have a long menu, that's a good sign too.
Speaker 4: They've only got a couple dishes, it means it's fresh.
Speaker 4: If it's fresh, the restaurant is packed with locals. It
Speaker 4: doesn't matter if it's you know, Michelin starred or a
Speaker 4: hole in the wall, it's going to be great. And
Speaker 4: I prefer the kind of more neighborhood vibe.
Speaker 1: Anyways, that's such a great tip. I always say, if
Speaker 1: you find the spot that has the longest line of locals,
Speaker 1: your set totally.
Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about safety because I
Speaker 2: think traveling alone as a woman can be both empowering
Speaker 2: and challenging. I know that I've felt that way. I
Speaker 2: think While it offers a lot of independence and opportunity
Speaker 2: for personal growth and excitement, there's always safety concerns And
Speaker 2: I don't know if it was just imprinted on me
Speaker 2: because of my parents, but it's always on the forefront
Speaker 2: of my mind. So in one survey, more than seventy
Speaker 2: percent of women who responded said that they worried about
Speaker 2: their safety when traveling alone. I hate even saying it
Speaker 2: because I wish we could just get up and go
Speaker 2: the way men do. But I think you have to
Speaker 2: be cognizant, especially traveling to certain places, and so I'm
Speaker 2: curious what you say to women who feel apprehensive about
Speaker 2: traveling solo and what to look out for.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there are some easy, practical tips that I sometimes
Speaker 4: do if I feel uneasy about a situation. You know,
Speaker 4: things like getting dropped off a block away from your
Speaker 4: location so people don't know exactly where you're staying. If asked,
Speaker 4: I always say a friend is just meeting me, or
Speaker 4: my partner or my spouse, whatever, those kind of things.
Speaker 4: Sometimes I've even worn a wedding ring to kind of
Speaker 4: send off those kind of questions or unwanted attention.
Speaker 3: So I've done all of those things.
Speaker 4: But really what I tell people is that I understand
Speaker 4: feeling unsafe, but these are the minority of experiences, and
Speaker 4: I tend to really be trusting, and I think being
Speaker 4: in the kind of power seat where you are aware
Speaker 4: of your surroundings and you feel empowered puts you in
Speaker 4: a safer position. I trust my gut for sure. I
Speaker 4: get out of situations where I don't feel okay. I
Speaker 4: follow cultural norms, you know, etiquette, dress code, things like
Speaker 4: that you want to be respectful, and you will also
Speaker 4: be treated with more respect. All of these things are
Speaker 4: ways to not stand out as well, you know, along
Speaker 4: the same lines, learning a few words that.
Speaker 3: Also helps, and also talking to strangers.
Speaker 4: I know I keep saying this, but this contradicts your
Speaker 4: mom's advice, But I think by you taking the step
Speaker 4: to speak with strangers, that power dynamic changes and really
Speaker 4: opens you up to whole host of new experiences that
Speaker 4: will really transform your understanding of the place.
Speaker 1: I think what you said about the bad experiences or
Speaker 1: instances of crime or homicide, even like those are really
Speaker 1: the minority, and I think the benefits really outweigh the
Speaker 1: risks for traveling as a woman alone. And that's what
Speaker 1: the research shows as well. Would you elaborate on some
Speaker 1: of those benefits. What have been the real standout benefits
Speaker 1: to you of traveling alone?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean research shows that traveling is good for
Speaker 4: your brain, it's good for your mental health.
Speaker 3: But I just think traveling is so important.
Speaker 4: It really gives people a wider and more inclusive view
Speaker 4: of the world. It reinforces this shared humanity that we
Speaker 4: all have. I really believe that if everyone traveled the
Speaker 4: world would it would honestly be a better place. There's
Speaker 4: so many things, getting outside, having new experiences. These are
Speaker 4: all rewiring your brain, boosting confidence, improving productivity. Research shows
Speaker 4: that going outside increases optimism and feelings of hope. You know,
Speaker 4: these are all important things.
Speaker 1: Okay, it makes me very sad to say this, but
Speaker 1: summer is almost over. I think it's my favorite season,
Speaker 1: and it's a bit of an existential crisis. But let's
Speaker 1: find the bright side. We're going to start looking ahead
Speaker 1: to twenty twenty five and start getting excited about where
Speaker 1: we'll go then. So what do you predict will be
Speaker 1: one of the more in demand travel destinations next year?
Speaker 4: Italy and Japan. Italy is everybody's favorite country in the world.
Speaker 4: Japan is an incredible, incredible place. But I think what's
Speaker 4: also made it so popular in the last couple of
Speaker 4: years is that it had one of the longest closures
Speaker 4: during COVID, and so when it finally reopened, I think
Speaker 4: it was closed for about three years, people were just
Speaker 4: so hungry to go and to see what was going on.
Speaker 4: That hand continues to be our most requested and most
Speaker 4: traveled to destination.
Speaker 1: Are there any places that you would suggest that we
Speaker 1: add to our potential travel destination lists.
Speaker 4: I just got back from Ecuador and it was amazing.
Speaker 4: It was incredible. We were in the Ecuadorian Andes and
Speaker 4: the highlands. We're staying in a hacienda. We were living
Speaker 4: chakra life, which is like Ecuadorian cowboys, and we were
Speaker 4: riding horses in this area. Hacienda's in a valley called
Speaker 4: the Avenue of Volcanoes, and so you're surrounded by seven volcanoes.
Speaker 4: Is absolutely stunning, and you ride horses and you feed
Speaker 4: the lamas, and you eat in at the hacienda and
Speaker 4: stuff that's grown from the hacienda. Even the milk from
Speaker 4: the coffee that we had was like milked from the
Speaker 4: cows outside that day. It was just a really beautiful experience.
Speaker 4: And I think a lot of people don't think about Ecuador.
Speaker 4: They think about the Galapagos, But Ecuador is one of
Speaker 4: the most biodiverse places on the planet. And if you
Speaker 4: fly into Quito within an hour four and a half,
Speaker 4: you can have multiple extremely biodiverse places. You can have
Speaker 4: the Cloud Forest, which is one of the best places
Speaker 4: in the world for bird sighting.
Speaker 3: You can go to the.
Speaker 4: Adean Highlands like I did, which is completely different flora
Speaker 4: and fauna and landscapes and it's just absolutely stunning. You
Speaker 4: can go to places with hot springs and incredible hiking.
Speaker 4: And Kito is actually the first UNESCO World Heritage Site
Speaker 4: ever and people don't know that. It's colonial center is
Speaker 4: one of the most preserved and it's really beautiful.
Speaker 3: So I think people are sleeping on Ecuador. I think
Speaker 3: more people need to go to Ecuador.
Speaker 1: Alexis, thank you so much for joining us on the
Speaker 1: bright Side.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1: Alexis Bowen is the co founder of the travel company Elsewhere.
Speaker 2: We're taking another short break, but when we come back,
Speaker 2: comedian and TV host Jesse Krukshank joins us to talk Motherhood, Minivans, MTV,
Speaker 2: and more, Don't Go Anywhere.
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Bestie's. Before we close out the show, We've
Speaker 1: got a special segment for you in partnership with Airbnb.
Speaker 1: Jesse Criikshank is a woman of many talents.
Speaker 2: She's a stand up comedian, a TV host, and the
Speaker 2: creator of the new mom Whods website, which she calls
Speaker 2: an imperfect guide to motherhood. And in her new comedy
Speaker 2: special Minivan Money, she pumps breast milk on stage, making women, girls, mothers,
Speaker 2: and people everywhere very proud. Jesse, welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me, and we're in person.
Speaker 2: This is really just very thrilling, It really is. And
Speaker 2: we have to tell everybody she wore bright Side yellow.
Speaker 2: I did you came and you came to play well?
Speaker 5: I said to you, I was like, I should have
Speaker 5: put on something more professional. I literally, like, basically, am
Speaker 5: not wearing pants. It's so hot in Los Angeles. I
Speaker 5: came in poolside attire to record this podcast.
Speaker 1: All right. We just talked to Alexis Bowen about solo
Speaker 1: travel and as a comedian, you're on the lot. I mean,
Speaker 1: in my eyes, you're a professional traveler at this point,
Speaker 1: what are some of your best travel hacks and tips?
Speaker 5: Oh my gosh, like you would think I would have
Speaker 5: my little carry on and my No, I'm the girl
Speaker 5: who they open the bag at security every time, and
Speaker 5: like my chicken cutlets fall out and my hair extensions
Speaker 5: they're like going through red weave at the I am
Speaker 5: so disorganized when it comes to travel, and it's because
Speaker 5: I have three.
Speaker 1: Little kids at home, so get it.
Speaker 5: Most of my life is trying to like keep their
Speaker 5: lives together, and when I have to hit the road,
Speaker 5: I am throwing shit in my bag and like if
Speaker 5: I make the airplane on time, then it's a success.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I love this answer because it's so relatable, Like
Speaker 1: this is perfect.
Speaker 5: Okay, good, Yeah, I don't even have a bag to
Speaker 5: put my clip on extensions in.
Speaker 1: They go raw dog in with raw dog, Jessie. Oh no, no,
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 2: Well, we have to send you a big congrats because
Speaker 2: you have your first ever stand up special minivan money.
Speaker 1: I love the title. How did you name it?
Speaker 3: Thanks?
Speaker 5: Well, I went on the road before this became a special.
Speaker 5: I went on the road on tour when I had
Speaker 5: identical twin boys who were three, maybe four at the time,
Speaker 5: and I had just had a newborn baby.
Speaker 1: Which is this that's wild that you took that on right.
Speaker 5: This is why my hair extensions are just sitting loose
Speaker 5: in my bag because I can bear.
Speaker 1: I mean, and while you're pumping on stage, and while.
Speaker 5: I'm pumping on stage, thank you, Danielle.
Speaker 1: You just took it in your bra.
Speaker 5: Oh no, I came out with fully exposed liquid breast
Speaker 5: pumps with milk actively pouring from my bosom while dancing
Speaker 5: to the Bactory boys everybody.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing that I love.
Speaker 2: There's this quote that I associate with the best type
Speaker 2: of comedians, which is, if you can make them laugh,
Speaker 2: you can make them listen.
Speaker 1: And so you're making everybody laugh.
Speaker 2: But I think you're saying something deeper too, hm am
Speaker 2: I giving you too much credit?
Speaker 1: Probably, No, that's exactly right.
Speaker 5: Also, I think the minute you walk on stage and
Speaker 5: you give people permission to laugh at you, and you're
Speaker 5: able to laugh at yourself, and like, I have very
Speaker 5: few inhibitions, and I sort of like, am me and
Speaker 5: this is it, And I have a baby at home
Speaker 5: and I'm coming up pumping, and like, deal with it,
Speaker 5: and that sort of sets the tone first an honest
Speaker 5: and candid night of hilarity. But minivan money is because
Speaker 5: I have like a bit in the tour about how
Speaker 5: I want nothing more than to own a minivan, and
Speaker 5: I don't understand how we still have this idea that
Speaker 5: like men with ferraris are like.
Speaker 1: Ooh, he's he's hat he's rich. No, he's not the
Speaker 1: rich one.
Speaker 5: It's the mom of four in the Siena with like
Speaker 5: the kids whose daycare cost fifty grand and who's eleven
Speaker 5: year old just got braces for ten grand and she's
Speaker 5: gonna have to drop that on the rest of them,
Speaker 5: Like that's the woman. We should get horny for the
Speaker 5: woman the damn minivan that is wealth.
Speaker 1: That's well, yes, honey, I agree.
Speaker 5: So next time I come to do this pot, I'm
Speaker 5: gonna pull up in a straight up. Guys are going
Speaker 5: to be fanning yourselves in your crop tops, like, oh,
Speaker 5: she's made it.
Speaker 1: My mom's favorite car ever, was the Honda Odyssey. It
Speaker 1: was with the bucket seats.
Speaker 2: The bucket seats because my brother and I would stop
Speaker 2: fighting about who was in the middle.
Speaker 1: So you grew up in a minivan, Yeah, I did.
Speaker 1: I'm here with you, lucky lady. Okay, So before you
Speaker 1: normalized pumping on stage as a comedian, that's not exactly
Speaker 1: how you originally burst onto the scene. A lot of
Speaker 1: audiences got to know you from your MTV days hosting shows,
Speaker 1: including The Hills After Show alongside Dan Levy. Did you
Speaker 1: ever imagine this being your next chapter?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: How did you would you connect the dots for us
Speaker 1: between those two? Yeah? I mean no.
Speaker 5: When I was at MTV, Dan and I were just
Speaker 5: like drunk half the time and we never sat down
Speaker 5: and we're like, would you like to have children?
Speaker 1: One day?
Speaker 5: We were no, But yes we hosted The Hills After Show,
Speaker 5: which I think are producers initially just thought in Canada
Speaker 5: we had to create a certain amount of Canadian content
Speaker 5: for a like, for every thirty minutes of American programming,
Speaker 5: we had to have a Canadian show. So our producers
Speaker 5: were like, well, let's just throw Dan and Jesse on
Speaker 5: after every episode of lauguna Beach in the Hills and
Speaker 5: they can talk about it like no one cared. We
Speaker 5: were an afterthought. It was called the After Show and
Speaker 5: like we had it was ourselves. One producer really was
Speaker 5: not supposed to be successful, and then it became like
Speaker 5: the biggest show on the network. Our ratings were higher
Speaker 5: than the Hills on some nights. We got bought by
Speaker 5: MTV US, and literally with every single moment of success
Speaker 5: that that show had, everyone in the building was.
Speaker 1: Like, what is going on?
Speaker 2: But it's because you two are so funny together individually
Speaker 2: and then together too.
Speaker 5: I think we have we still to this day like
Speaker 5: he's one of my closest friends. We have good you
Speaker 5: know you too feel probably feel that way about each
Speaker 5: other when you meet someone who like can finish your
Speaker 5: sentences or has the punchline to your Joe, or you
Speaker 5: are like, you're like kindred spirits. So we did work
Speaker 5: really well together, and I think that sort of like
Speaker 5: pointed me in a more comedic direction.
Speaker 1: I read that prior to your days on MTV, you
Speaker 1: were also in an improv troupe with some lesser known
Speaker 1: comedians Nathan Fielder, Seth Rogen. I am. I have so
Speaker 1: many questions to ask you about this because I'm such
Speaker 1: a huge fan of both of them. Please my first question,
Speaker 1: Nathan Fielder, what was his vibe like when he was
Speaker 1: performing improv? Was he still doing kind of like that
Speaker 1: dry same delivery that he has or did he have
Speaker 1: more range?
Speaker 5: The literal exact same. Nathan Fielder was the same man.
Speaker 5: He's one of my closest friends now to this day.
Speaker 5: He's the same now as he was.
Speaker 1: When he was fourteen, fifteen, sixteen years old.
Speaker 5: And Seth Seth too. Seth was just like a stoner
Speaker 5: kid in high school. He literally had bleach blonde dreadlocks.
Speaker 5: Nobody looked at Seth and thought like that guy's a star,
Speaker 5: said him to Hollywood.
Speaker 1: It was the opposite.
Speaker 5: If you were like put least likely to succeed in
Speaker 5: our high school yearbook, it would probably have been Seth.
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
Speaker 5: And I think the funny thing was that we were
Speaker 5: on this improv team and we were successful, like our
Speaker 5: in our province in British Columbia. We won the provincial
Speaker 5: championships and then we went to the nationals the Canadian
Speaker 5: This is so.
Speaker 1: Embarrassing to what was the name of the team.
Speaker 5: We were like Point Gray High School as our high
Speaker 5: school improv team, okay, And when we got to the nationals,
Speaker 5: we were doing like Seth and Nathan style of comedy,
Speaker 5: very cerebral, very low key, not like Jim Carrey vaudeville style,
Speaker 5: and we got there and everyone was doing human pyramids
Speaker 5: and like full on musicals, and our jokes about the
Speaker 5: Bible did not hit. And I think we finished last
Speaker 5: or second to last in the National Improv Championships because
Speaker 5: people weren't ready for that style.
Speaker 1: I think at that time. And now Righteous Gemstones is
Speaker 1: a huge hit, right ahead of your time. Yeah, y'all
Speaker 1: got the last laugh for sure. Now that you're on
Speaker 1: the road, you have a new side hustle. You started
Speaker 1: hosting on Airbnb. You have to tell me about that,
Speaker 1: because I'm about to start hosting on Airbnb for the
Speaker 1: first time.
Speaker 5: Oh gosh. I mean, I'm away so much. So we
Speaker 5: have a little guest house. It was a garage, and
Speaker 5: during the pandemic, I had identical twin two year olds
Speaker 5: running around and suddenly had to shoot a daytime talk
Speaker 5: show from home and was like, I'm gonna have to
Speaker 5: do it in the garage. So we converted the garage
Speaker 5: into a beautiful six hundred square foot guest house.
Speaker 1: And because I'm on the road so much, it kind
Speaker 1: of just sits there.
Speaker 5: And at one point I thought like, what if we
Speaker 5: just rented it when we're away, like when we're not
Speaker 5: in the house. And we did it and it was
Speaker 5: so easy, and we made, like you said, a little
Speaker 5: extra income while I was away. And I thought like,
Speaker 5: oh my gosh, why don't we do this every time
Speaker 5: we travel? And I feel like, honestly now, as a family,
Speaker 5: we travel more because we can just I mean, it's
Speaker 5: it's not cheap to go anywhere these days, especially if
Speaker 5: you have a family. And I remember one time we
Speaker 5: were like, let's go on a road trip for a
Speaker 5: long weekend, and we pulled over at a diner on
Speaker 5: the side of the road, and our meal for my
Speaker 5: five person family was so expensive. And so it really
Speaker 5: does sort of justify that expense for us, is that
Speaker 5: while we're gone, someone can be a guest at our
Speaker 5: Airbnb and we can make, you know, a little extra
Speaker 5: passive income.
Speaker 1: While we're away. Okay, so you're going on tour this fall.
Speaker 1: I'm so curious which is the tougher crowd a comedy
Speaker 1: club or the family dinner table.
Speaker 5: Oh my god, my family, yeah, oh god, my family.
Speaker 1: My children are like, what do you do? Why do
Speaker 1: people think you're funny?
Speaker 5: Like, no, no, no, I can crush on stage like
Speaker 5: give me a theater or whatever.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Like at home, I'm the least funny person. In fact,
Speaker 5: my kids think my husband is way funnier than me.
Speaker 5: No way, Yeah, my husband's like the Human Pyramids, doing
Speaker 5: the Human Pyramids and the music like way back at
Speaker 5: that improv competition. I'm I'm slightly more cerebral. My kids
Speaker 5: don't get.
Speaker 1: It yet, you know what I mean. Jesse, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for coming on the bright Side. Thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us. Thank you guys. Jesse Crookshank is a stand
Speaker 1: up comedian, TV host, a mom of three, and so
Speaker 1: much more. You can catch Jesse on tour this fall,
Speaker 1: and you can find her guest house on You Guessed
Speaker 1: It Airbnb. This segment was in partnership with Airbnb. That's
Speaker 1: it for today's show. Tomorrow, we're back with another edition
Speaker 1: of shelf Life. Author Rainbow Rowl is here to talk
Speaker 1: about her book Slow Dance, which is this month's Reese's
Speaker 1: Book Club Pick. Listen and follow the bright Side on
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: I'm Simone Voice. You can find me at simone Voice,
Speaker 1: on Instagram and.
Speaker 2: TikTok Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok that's ro Ba.
Speaker 1: Y see you tomorrow, Folks, keep looking on the bright side.