Travel Tales from the #nerdbirds

Pilot Sarah retired as a commercial airline pilot in January and reflects on her final flight -- "a wedding and a funeral on the same day" -- complete with rolling delays, paper airplanes, water cannons, and heartfelt tributes. She and co-host Rachel also chat about what happens during retirement flights, and changes in an industry with a pilot shortage.

As a nod to our (not-so-former?) Design Series episodes, #nerdbirds Brendan and Rachel discuss an exhibit of Air India's award-winning vintage Maharaja posters at Poster House in NYC, and share interesting art finds during a recent San Francisco airport field trip.

What happens when 27-time Disney Cruiser Sebastian and first-time "it's-not-a-cruise-it's-an-expedition-ship" Rachel record an episode? Typical #nerdbird banter ensues, from (lack of) Internet connectivity and handling seasickness to ship (and flight) upgrades. Learn from all of Rachel's mistakes when she spontaneously went to Antarctica as Sebastian summarizes advice for planning a smooth(er) journey.

It's anniversary month: Five years since the Virgin America final flight where the #nerdbirds met, and three years of this podcast! Co-host Rachel chats with Sebastian, Pilot Sarah, and Brendan about how travel has changed and what their magic wish would be to transform anything in aviation. Listen in as they reminisce from parody airline websites to going thru security pre-9/11, and get a sneak peek at Pilot Sarah's new career.

While honorary #nerdbird Pilot Sarah was flying her final flight with a commercial airline, friends and family were having a good time sharing stories of her love of aviation. Listen in as #nerdbird David learns about life with a pilot in the family from Sarah's spouse, brother-in-law, and son -- live on the flight.

Because #nerdbird Eric can't hog all of the airline inaugural celebrations, co-host Rachel finally goes on an inaugural flight (ZipAir from Tokyo to San Jose) and swaps tales with Eric's inaugural flights: JetBlue from Boston to Kansas City, and Delta's new A321 from Boston to San Francisco. They share the wild and wacky tales of pomp, random airports, and chalk cookies -- and look ahead to finding flights in 2023.

In the first of a series of episodes recorded during Pilot Sarah's retirement flight festivities, #nerdbirds co-host Rachel's seatmate David gets asked the uncomfortable questions during dessert (with a few inflight interruptions). Listen in on David's take on feeling rich and growing up with those who weren't into adventure or travel.

The "ask the #nerdbirds the same uncomfortable questions" series continues, with co-host Kai quizzing Brendan and learning that even a Los Angeles native can enjoy public transit!

Continuing from last episode's conversation about flexing your creative travel muscle, #nerdbird Rachel asks Charlie the six questions she and Kai answered in December 2022. Charlie's answers share a perspective on only recently starting to travel, combined with managing family group trips. Bonus tidbits on renewing American passports and using mobile data in Japan are included :)

Co-hosts Kai and Rachel revisit the Travel Ninja Gym and up the ante with stories and advice on how travel can spark inner transformation -- or not! Few stones are left unturned as they discuss situations and topics that force them to think about how, why, and how often to travel.

#nerdbirds Kai & Rachel, with input from Pilot Sarah, discuss how scents are one of the strongest memory recall triggers, and how scents impact our journeys, for better or for worse!

Travel Tales Time! #nerdbirds Brendan and Rachel compare their recent trips based on phases from the Traveler Lifecycle. Contrast Brendan's meticulous planning a year in advance vs. Rachel's three days, along with how they arrived, top moments, top hiccups, and heading home.

#nerdbirds Kai and Rachel ponder how weather factors into planning for and rolling with the travel punches, with stories from dealing with heat in Singapore and Hawaii, to smog in China, a tsunami in Tokyo, and bitter cold in Berlin. They ponder whether avoiding places because you don't like the weather is just learning what you like vs. living a more "authentic" experience.

When #nerdbirds co-host Rachel overheard Brendan pondering what (paper-based) books to bring on an upcoming trip, she wondered if anyone else reads while traveling. Learn more about what the other #nerdbirds (don't) do, listen to a few stories of books that inspired tourists and fellow airline travelers, and find some short stories from our past review of Airplane Stories for your next trip. Show notes and resources can be found at https://nerdbirds.co/episode157/

The #nerdbirds are back after a summer break full of flight delays and cancellations -- with thoughts on the complexities of cruise ships, what's an "authentic" Hawaiian experience, a prison-themed hotel and scooter adventures in Helsinki, experiences with bias in facial recognition software at the airport, and a preview of our next episode (good reads when traveling).

Pilot Sarah needs some company in the honorary #nerdbird department, so it's time to welcome Flight Attendant Joey! Co-host Rachel dug up the lightning round initiation questions from 2020 and Joey was more than up to the task, with tales of travelers losing common sense when they board a plane and favorite eats while on the road (although Rachel still isn't sure about Joey's favorite restaurant in Seoul, where you could suffocate on your extremely fresh meal!). They both banter about their favorite quiet airplanes, Airbnbs vs. hotels, and the dream of an airline that only accepts nice passengers :) This is the last episode for Season 8, and co-hosts Kai and Rachel decided that if most Europeans get weeks of summer off, they can too! We'll return in August.

It's time for another Brendan's Book Club episode, where he and fellow #nerdbird Rachel review "The World: Travels 1950-2000" by Jan Morris. A deeply fascinating series of articles from Jan's travel assignments to every part of the world, the book also includes a tale of her gender transition. The #nerdbirds explore her white British (and often colonial) perspectives when writing along with her keen powers of observation, and make connections to how we live and explore cultures today.

In a quick return to a shorter Travel Bite episode, #nerdbirds Kai and Rachel ponder the awkwardness of restarting travel after so much time staying put, and provide a quick update on our "slow season" post-episode 150.

Pilot Sarah spent two months earlier this year becoming a Captain, and answers questions from the #nerdbirds -- everything from bathrooms on airplanes to the number of stripes pilots wear on their sleeves, flight simulator pranks, and the changing views of Earth from far above.

#nerdbird Sebastian has been on over 20 cruises, and shares his stories with co-hosts Rachel & Kai -- including fun things to do on a ship, how to handle seasickness, and a reminder to always read your cruise documents before getting stuck in the wrong city.