Episode Archives

Episode 37: Movies That Call Us to Places

August 31, 2020 admin Favorites, foodie

Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake discuss movies that give a strong sense of place.

* new episode!

What do Gail and Piper think of when they bring up movies that give them a sense of place?

Gail thought of movies with an upbeat, positive ambiance because that’s what she loves.

Piper thought of places that she wanted to visit after watching particular movies.

Both Gail and Piper have lived in different parts of the US and for a time, in different parts of the world, and they have “heart homes” – places they can imagine themselves living in and not just visiting.

Movie Shout Outs! 

At the top of both Piper and Gail’s lists (without planning) is:

Under the Tuscan Sun for Tuscany region in Italy

Gail also recommended:

Crazy Rich Asians for Singapore

ด้ายแดงซีรีส์ (Until We Meet Again) Thai drama series for Thailand

* Gail has a password protected recommendation list of boy’s love dramas for those interested

Piper also recommended:

ผู้ชายให้เช่า (Boy for Rent) Thai drama series for Thailand

บุพเพสันนิวาส (Love Destiny) Thai drama series for historic Thailand

* recommend including the search terms “eng sub” for English subtitles

Heart Homes

For Gail, her heart homes are:

  • Como lake/Tuscany region, Italy
  • Singapore
  • Strasbourg, France

For Piper, her heart homes are:

  • Thailand, near Chonburi
  • Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Tokyo, Japan

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks! 

– – – 

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FEATURED

Ep_41: Nightmare Hotels

November 23, 2020 admin Hotels

Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake share their most horrific hotel experiences.

* new episode!

Nightmare Hotels

Piper shares her worst day job biz trip experience with a hotel and shares an important lesson learned about what to do when the hotel isn’t ensuring your safety. She also shares her worst experience at a writerly conference hotel. There was also the instance in which she encountered a Mr. Mime in her hotel room.

Gail ponders why a water park would be in the basement of a hotel and air circulation isn’t up to the task of preventing that humid locker room smell permeating the entire hotel. She also shares the frustrations of flawed design in a hotel.

Lessons Learned:

Have your smart phone with you and fully charged.

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks! 

– – – 

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Episode 40: Train Stories

November 9, 2020 admin Train Trips

Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake discuss train travel memories through the years.

* new episode!

Train Stories

Piper has very contrasting train adventure memories. First, she shares her impressions of a childhood overnight train trip in Thailand, traveling with family from Bangkok to Northern Thailand. Then, she shares college late night train rides to visit friends at other colleges. Her favorite memory is her most recent train trip experience from Seattle to Vancouver.

Gail has a similar experience with sleeper trains, though her experiences were in Europe. She also shares an experience with a commuter train in Europe in which she and her friends were not the protagonists in the story, in which they brought out the “stinky cheese and smelly meat” in the train car. And, of course, Gail has lived her best live enjoying an incredibly risky street food on a train in Peru.

This episode includes a tangent or two to acknowledge how very much both Piper and Gail enjoy a wonderful, pungent, soft, spreadable “stinky cheese” – and are willing to suffer the consequences.

Someday Train Trip Wish List

Piper’s Wishes

  • Rovos Rail to explore Africa
  • Orient Express to explore Europe

Gail’s Wishes

  • Canada cross-country train
  • California vineyard train trip in steampunk

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks! 

– – – 

Get your question featured on an episode by saying hi on social media: 
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20MinDelay Ep 39 Road Trip Memories

Episode 39: Road Trip Memories

September 28, 2020 admin Road Trips

Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake discuss favorite road trip memories.

* new episode!

Road Trip Memories

Road trips are a big thing for Gail and she has many memories of various road trip memories. Shout out the Carmen. 

Piper grew up with a lot of family road trips and tended to visit her friends at other colleges in her college days as well as memories of annual road trips from New Jersey to Maryland for Otakon in order to accommodate cosplay wardrobe and accessory choices, plus con food survival choices.

Gail’s Most Memorable: New Zealand. Gail strongly recommends exploring New Zealand via road trip in camper vans.

Piper’s Most Memorable: Arizona to Maryland with Matthew J. Drake, exploring the big truck stop rest stops and convenience stores.

Gadget Pick! Best Road Trip Snacks 

Piper – Dr. Pepper and Beef Jerky

Gail – Cheetos and tea

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks! 

– – – 

Get your question featured on an episode by saying hi on social media: 
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Episode 38: Hotel Adoration

September 15, 2020 admin Hotels

Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake discuss favorite hotels in their past histories with travel.

* new episode!

Favorite Hotels of All Time

Piper’s fav: Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok

Gail’s fav: Adobe on Green Street Inn in Santa Cruz (possibly closed)

Honorable Mentions

Gail & Piper both mentioned Mandala Bay

Gail: Marina Bay Sands

Piper: Hotel Monaco Seattle

Gadget Pick! Favorite Hotel Provided Items

Gail – nicely scented shampoo/conditioner, make up wipes, and whole milk

Piper – individually wrapped insect repellent wipes

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks! 

– – – 

Get your question featured on an episode by saying hi on social media: 
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ep36 In-flight entertainment

Episode 36: In Flight Entertainment

August 17, 2020 admin Air Travel

Retrieved from the Repository: a lost episode has been recovered for our listeners in which Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake discussed in-flight entertainment choices.

*This episode was recorded in 2017, prior to the current travel advisories and restrictions.

Where have you been? 

Piper had traveled to the Princeton area for day job and it was relatively freezing as compared to where she lived, at the time, in the Phoenix, AZ area. She encountered a mysterious crate that reminded her of the Predators movie.

Main Topic: In-Flight Entertainment

Gail and Piper cry watching movies, tv shows, even commercials. They both prefer streaming services for their video entertainment. 

Both Piper and Gail use their phones to listen to podcasts.

The two of them discuss the pros and cons of in-flight WiFi and whether it’s worth it to them.

Gadgets! 

Gail – iPad and Amazon Prime Video (http://amzn.to/2Ak0PeY) plus a Kindle Oasis for reading.

Piper – mini iPad and Drama Fever, Viki (https://www.viki.com/roku) Crunchy Roll / VRV (https://vrv.co/). Writing with a bluetooth keyboard paired with her mini iPad.

*DramaFever is no longer available.

Shout Outs

Legend of Korra

Feast of Fiction – https://www.youtube.com/user/feastoffiction

Yuri on Ice

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks!

– – – 

Get your question featured on an episode by saying hi on social media: 
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Episode 35: Books That Call Us To Places

July 27, 2020 admin Favorites

Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake share books that give them a strong sense of place.

* new episode!

What do Gail and Piper think of as a book that gives them a sense of place?

Gail thought of books that make her want to travel somewhere and particularly thinks of the light of a place. 

Piper thought of not only books that made her want to travel to a place, but also books that created the perfect scene that pulled her into the book.

Gail and Piper discuss the writing craft aspect of how they think of books and a sense of place, what senses come into play, and how to research for setting. They also discuss ways to research a place when you can’t actually go there.

Book Shout Outs! 

Gail recommended:

Lord of Two Lands by Judith Tarr

The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper

*Gail particularly referenced The Grey King, the book in this series that was set in Wales.

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

Piper recommended:

Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh

*Piper struggled to remember the first short story that introduced her to this series. The title was “Stroke of Enticement” and was originally in The Magical Christmas Cat anthology.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

Gadgets!

Piper currently reads with a mini iPad because it’s closer to the size and weight of a paperback. 

Gail reads on a Kindle Oasis because it is e-Ink.

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks! (or the books)

– – – 

Get your question featured on an episode by saying hi on social media: 
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Episode 34: Rewards for Suffering

July 13, 2020 admin Air Travel

Retrieved from the Repository: a lost episode has been recovered for our listeners in which Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake discussed travel rewards programs and related credit cards.

*This episode was recorded in 2017, prior to the current travel advisories and restrictions.

Where have you been? 

Piper had traveled and returned from Chicago, but ORD is one of Piper’s hellmouth airports.

Both Piper and Gail agree the food scene in Chicago is off the charts good.

They also agree that when traveling for pleasure and fun, the off-seasons are the times they prefer.

Main Topic: What’s in your travel wallet? Rewards cards and programs

Gail’s longest running credit card associated with an airline is with an American Airlines rewards program. But! American shut down their hub that was Gail’s preferred home airport.

Piper has opinions about corporate cards. She prefers to put her day job business travel on her own credit card(s). For authorly expenses, she has a Chase Sapphire Preferred card and uses the reward points for experiences like a cooking class in New Orleans. For day job and personal travel, Piper is converting to American Airlines Executive Platinum for better miles per dollar value and access to business lounges – which is worth it to her when she travels for day job.

Gail has also cycled her use of her American card into a different part of her life. She has moved to a Southwest card, because Southwest is the hub nearest her and the airline with which she books the most flights. She also has the Chase Sapphire Preferred, like Piper.

Gadgets! Travel wallets

Gail – Trifold men’s wallet. http://amzn.to/2yFPW8P

Piper – Taxi Wallet. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Taxi+wallet

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks!

– – – 

Get your question featured on an episode by saying hi on social media: 
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Episode 33: Most Memorable Flight

June 29, 2020 admin Air Travel

Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake share their most memorable flights to date.

* new episode!

Where have you been? Nowhere, because shelter at home.

But! Piper and her partner, Matthew, look forward to a new apartment (in the same building) with more space.

Gail and her SO explore their neighborhood.

Main Topic

Piper’s most memorable flight – a positive memory of Piper’s first experience of Business Class on an international flight (very different from domestic First Class/Business Class).

Gail’s most memorable flight was very memorable, but not positive. And yet, it was quite the epic journey including a flight on a tiny “prop” plane.

Bonus runner up from Piper – tiny plane emergency evasive maneuvers!

Gadgets! 

Gail – Request to our listeners: the search for a perfect protein bar. What do you recommend?

Piper – Face masks, for many reasons.

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks!

Watch the video of Gail and Piper recording this episode live and uncut on YouTube!

– – – 

Get your question featured on an episode by saying hi on social media: 
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Episode 32: Iron Chef Airport and Listener Questions

June 15, 2020 admin Air Travel, Listener Questions

Retrieved from the Repository: a lost episode has been recovered for our listeners in which Gail Carriger and Piper J. Drake play “Iron Chef” Airport edition at the request of a listener.

*This episode was recorded more than a year prior to the current travel advisories and restrictions.

Where have you been? 

Piper was at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Seattle and discussing the solutions hotel management implements to provide power outlets at the bedside.

Gail was at a vintage hotel for a writing retreat.

Question for listeners: Do you actually use the clock in a hotel room? Do you trust the clock alarm?

Main Topic

Challenge from a listener: “Iron Chef” Airport Bodega edition – you have 10 minutes and only an airport convenience store from which to select your entire meal. What do you select for dinner and how do you make it seem maximally palatable?

Piper did this at Phoenix Airport, at a convenience store in Terminal B and got lucky, so she also recalled a significantly smaller airport with a limited selection convenience store.

Gail goes for the smoothies and looks for SmartWater, then tries for hummus or string cheese and a salty snack of choice.

Gadgets! Another listener question: when you travel, is there a thing you collect as a memento of your travels?

Gail – silly, quirky shot glasses for her father, but mostly looks for consumables that are unique to the area for others and looks for jewelry or scarves for herself

Piper – used to collect shot glasses or challenge coins from military bases, also always on the lookout for souvenirs for friends and family

Shout out to fellow author, Myke Cole (https://mykecole.com/)

Special thanks to Kelly for editing this episode!

Thanks for listening. Travel smart. Pack the snacks!

– – – 

Get your question featured on an episode by saying hi on social media: 
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     @20minDelay
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Use the hashtag: #20mindelaypodcast