Our Favorite Travel Memories and What They Taught Us

Join Rachel Satow and Ian Andersen as they explore the transformative power of travel. From breathtaking views in Switzerland to unexpected adventures in Paris and serendipitous connections around the globe, this episode uncovers the moments that make journeys unforgettable. With candid stories, laughter, and thoughtful insights, our guests share why travel is rarely about the destination—and almost always about the people and experiences along the way. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that will change the way you see the world, whether you’re planning your next adventure or reminiscing about travels past.

Chapters
(00:01) Awe-Inspiring Travel Landscapes
(03:37) Unexpected Adventures and Mishaps
(19:36) Memorable Encounters with Strangers
(29:56) Places That Feel Like Home
(37:55) Lessons Learned from the Journey

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Creators and Guests

Host

Ian Andersen

Demand Gen & Marketing Operations Manager

Host

Rachel Satow

Senior Marketing Strategist

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Let's get to it.

Brandon Giella: Rachel, what is one
travel memory that left you speechless?

Rachel Satow: Speechless.

it would probably have to be standing
at the top of young Frow in Switzerland.

have never seen a view that cool.

it was it like I was truly speechless.

Truly speechless

Brandon Giella: I love that you said that.

I wrote down louder Bruin.

Is near, which is like close by,

louder Bruin.

That area, like in Switzerland
is the most, it's like you're,

you're looking at a painting that
you can like put your arm into.

It is so wild.

Rachel Satow: it's so pictures there and,

Brandon Giella: yeah,

Rachel Satow: it's obviously one
of the most beautiful countries

in the entire world, but I, when I

Brandon Giella: yeah.

Rachel Satow: I was speechless and I've
been to a lot of mountains, I'm from.

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: in Appalachia,
like I've been to

Ian Andersen: Those are

Brandon Giella: Are there mountains.

in Pennsylvania?

Are,

Rachel Satow: hey, hey, hey.

It's

Brandon Giella: are there
mountains in Pennsylvania?

Yeah, that's a

Fair, point,

Ian Andersen: but fair enough.

Yeah.

Brandon Giella: Fair.

Okay.

Yeah.

Rachel Satow: beautiful.

Brandon Giella: totally agreed.

And that's also why like a bottle of
water there is like $20 because it is so

beautiful and everybody wants to be there.

But yeah, it is, it was also the
inspiration people say of Rivendale

in Lord of the Rings that Tolkien was
traveling there and thought it was

so beautiful that that must be where
the elves live, which fair enough.

but yeah, it's beautiful.

I have pictures that don't do it justice.

It is so gorgeous.

So gorgeous.

Okay, Ian, what about you?

Ian Andersen: mine's a tad more local.

I guess I have a kind of few ideas
that that spring to mind, but I think

the one that really stands out that
I really remember just sort of in the

moment, just kind of being in awe, it
was, We were driving from, Portland,

Oregon to to Madison, Wisconsin.

my parents, my son, and we go through
Montana on I-90 and you come sort of out

of the mountains and, you overlook the
north side of Yellowstone and like Big

Sky and you're sort of up on one mountain.

You know, and then there's, I don't
know, however many miles of valley,

but then on the other side is Big
Sky and it's just, I mean, it's,

it's one of those places that like.

That you feel utterly insignificant,
you know, in, in kind of a good way of

just like, this is, like, that scene
would've been the same 500 years ago,

you know, a thousand years ago, whatever,
it was, it was very just breathtaking.

Brandon Giella: hmm.

I'm glad you said that.

It, it is that feeling of insignificance
in, in a way, not, not totally.

Humans are important.

Yourself is important.

But it, it makes you like that self
forgetfulness that is awe inspiring.

Like it just releases your mind of so many
anxieties and things that we think about.

And it's that great CS Lewis quote that
says, it's not about thinking less of

yourself, but thinking about yourself

less.

Yeah.

And I just, I love that quote.

Yeah.

And it's also a nod that there are many
amazing, beautiful places in America.

You

Ian Andersen: I mean, our
country is freaking enormous.

Like it's easy to forget just
how big it is, uh, especially

everywhere or, or whatever.

Like it really is, but it's
bigger than Europe, you know?

Uh, it's, it's thirds the size of all of.

South America.

It's like,

yeah, our country is enormous and there's,
so I'm from the southwest, but I've

lived in, I think about every region of
the country, um, in the contiguous uh,

everywhere just some really awesome,
amazing, very unique, you know, stuff

to see that, that is, is beautiful.

I live, I live.

15 miles from the third biggest
river in the world, you know?

And it's, it's easy to sort
of just take for granted.

And then you drive over the bridge
and if you think about it and you're

looking at the Mississippi of just like.

Holy crap.

This thing is huge.

You know, especially if you travel
like around Europe and you, you hear,

you know, you, you always hear of
the Rhine or the sun or, or there's

a rinky ding gl rivers compared to,
you know, like there might as well be

a stream compared to the Mississippi

or, or the Missouri or Ohio or any of the
big rivers, like right by where I live.

You know, it's, it's pretty incredible.

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

I wanna say it's the largest.

I could be misquoting and I'm thinking
of Mark Twain or something, but I wanna

say it's like the largest by volume,
river, like output at the mouth of

Ian Andersen: there's, yeah, some
weird stat like that, but I mean,

it is, it is un unbelievably big.

Brandon Giella: That's great.

Ian Andersen: You

Brandon Giella: Yeah, especially in Texas.

I live in Texas.

You can drive through Texas for
like 16 hours and you're still in

Ian Andersen: my, uh.

Brandon Giella: just crazy.

Ian Andersen: When I was a was a teacher.

Her school, her best friend at the
school, uh, was from Boston had

lived out in, um, from Western New
Mexico, lived out there for a couple

years, went home to to Boston, met
somebody at like a, a conference,

a teacher's conference who, uh.

Who He, he had weeks later had
something in, uh, in Dallas, Dallas

and thought, oh, like I drive to
Connecticut or Rhode Island all the

time, like, new Mexico's a state away.

I'll drive over there and, and
like 14 hours later, you know?

Yeah.

Brandon Giella: Yeah,

Ian Andersen: yeah, that's.

Brandon Giella: that's great.

Mad respect for, Thomas Jefferson's
scale of his real estate purchase many,

many years ago.

okay.

We, we girls could gab forever
and Rachel has more things to say.

but the last thing I also wrote down St.

Peter's Basilica in, in

Rome, in the Vatican.

I walked into that building.

And by the way, the Pope
was speaking, if you go on

Wednesdays, apparently he, like, he
talks and there's like a zillion people

listening to the Pope and he was this

tiny little speck across the square.

But anyway, but that building just
looking up at these like 200 foot

tall ceilings and you're just like,

holy

Ian Andersen: that

Brandon Giella: Which is a

whole other historical problem

Ian Andersen: there is something
and whether it's, I don't like,

so I've been, uh, to, uh, to and,
and Istanbul, and then even like.

Uh, near where I grew up, of holy
places for, for Native Americans like

Canyon Dee or Chaco Canyon or something.

And like wherever you
are, whatever religion,

somewhere a big preponderance
of people feel is holy.

There is something about that place,
like, you know, I, I don't know if it's.

Uh, just kind of in your what, but
there, there is something about

a place that people feel is holy.

You know, whatever the, the
religion or, or belief system is, is

incredible.

Brandon Giella: Yeah, I like that.

I like that.

Re respecting the holiness of this place.

Whatever your beliefs may be.

yeah.

Yeah.

It's one of the, I think it's
the only time I've ever in a

building literally left speechless.

Like

Ian Andersen: And then
it is just everything.

You've seen everything before on
postcards and in movies and whatever,

but like there is something about like
seeing the Sistine Chapel for yourself

of just it being sort of mind blowing.

Yeah.

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Rachel,

Rachel Satow: Yes.

Brandon Giella: us a story.

Of when you were traveling and things did
not go as planned, what did it teach you?

Rachel Satow: So I mean, we all
have these, I had, I had, when I

was first thinking about this topic,
I was originally thinking, okay,

I've had so many when, especially
when it comes to work travel, where

things just do not go as planned.

and there was one instance,
I was traveling for work.

We were flying out of
Gainesville Regional, which is.

A pretty small, like two to three
gate kind of, kind of a airport.

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: I was traveling
with my coworker and it was

just the two of us going and,
we were ready to get on a plane.

It was a 6:00 AM flight.

It was the very first
flight out of Gainesville.

We were so excited to get out there.

We were going all the way to California.

We were so pumped.

It was like, all right, cool.

It's gonna, we're gonna get there
with plenty of time to do something.

The plane was then delayed 12 hours.

And we sat there in the Gainesville
Regional and I was thinking

to myself, I am less than 10
minutes away from my house.

Brandon Giella: Oh, Uhhuh.

Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: for the rest of the day.

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: we ended up sitting
there in the airport, in this two gate

airport for the, the full 12 hours and

Brandon Giella: Mm.

Rachel Satow: it out there.

Everything else went out,
went off without a hitch.

But,

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: of the bigger ones,
and obviously the more entertaining

one was we went to Paris.

I went to Paris in 2018 with a
really good friend of mine, to

celebrate his GA graduation.

And one of the things that we both
really wanted to do was go to Versailles.

Obviously.

It's

Brandon Giella: Obviously.

Yep.

Rachel Satow: it's so wonderful out there.

So we.

Embark on our journey to make it out
to Versailles and we take a look at the

metro the line on the metro to get to
where we needed to go was closed down.

I don't know if it was arrogance, I
don't know if it was steadfastness.

It was a feeling of just, we'll,
we'll take a couple of other lines and

get around the fact that this line.

Is closed.

That didn't happen obviously because
we, neither of us speak French.

neither of us can read French and neither
of us had working cell service at the time

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: that specific
area where we were.

And, so we, we went into it with
a ton of just, you know what,

if we get there, we get there.

If we don't, we don't.

ended up.

In, I couldn't even tell you
what area of Paris we were in.

we after a couple of hours
of attempting to make it out

there, we were, we were hungry.

We retired, we were

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: we stopped in
to what looked like a mall.

I mean, malls here in the
US are very different to

Brandon Giella: Yes.

Rachel Satow: And we walk into
this mall and there's a water park.

the mall where you

Brandon Giella: Huh?

Rachel Satow: purchase
from a vending machine.

Bathing suits to go to the
water park in the mall.

So we, we just ended up walking around,
like checking out the, the, the waterpark

for a little bit before ultimately being
like, we need help and to get home.

So we ended up asking the people at the
front desk of the mall, but it was just

such a random thing to stumble upon
and we never made it out to Versailles.

That's the sad part.

Brandon Giella: Oh, gee whiz.

That was a, that was an
emotional rollercoaster.

so I did not know there
was a waterpark in Paris.

I

Ian Andersen: to go to the mall.

Brandon Giella: It sounds fun.

Yeah.

I never, well, for good reason, I
never, I never try to go to a mall when

Ian Andersen: I, you know,
what strikes me though,

Brandon Giella: Uh, interesting.

Okay.

Ian Andersen: especially, and maybe
it's mostly in Europe, but uh, of.

in malls, but like how similar many of
them are just to being an American mall.

Uh, gets like disappointing as,
uh, in 2018 I went to and uh,

I know, like socks or something
like, just kind of a random thing.

And happened, I was staying at an
Airbnb and there happened to be a

mall across the, across from me.

And uh, I was just like, every
store store I can go back into

and Cape Gerardo,
Missouri, like it's stuck.

Brandon Giella: I, your, your stories
are, highlighting expectations when

you travel, lower your expectations.

As excited as you may be, you just
never know if you're gonna get there.

but Versailles.

Rachel Satow: gonna stumble
upon a waterpark in a mall.

Brandon Giella: That's right.

Yeah.

I was saying this before
we were recording.

I was talking about how, I was
recommending to somebody recently

that was going Paris for the first
time that you let Paris happen to you.

Like, just leave time in your schedule.

I know you're gonna print out
that itinerary from ChatGPT but

leave a space for wandering.

Just wander.

Let nothing, be on the schedule for
this block of time and just go walk.

You'll enjoy yourself.

Ian Andersen: Paris.

I mean, you know, and you could say
the same for New York, London, Rome,

whatever, but like cities like that, that,
that are so historic and have so much.

Of those kind of like bucket
list items that you want to hit.

I'm sure places like Tokyo and
Beijing and stuff are, are similar.

I've just never been.

But like, you're never going to experience
everything you want to, especially

on like a week trip or whatever.

Like the loo you could go spend a
week there, you know, just going back

every day and hitting a new part.

So like you're.

You're never gonna hit
every single one of those.

So I totally agree.

Like maybe have like an
idea of what you want to do.

You know, we're gonna work our way
towards the Eiffel Tower or whatever, but,

Rachel Satow: Yeah.

Ian Andersen: you know,
then just let it happen.

Rachel Satow: Yeah, I think that's one of
the things that that experience taught me.

'cause I am a serial planner.

I will have every second of every minute

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: knowing exactly where
we're gonna be when we're doing things.

It's, it's one of my greatest
flaws and my greatest strengths.

I recognize that about myself.

but in that moment I had to.

I had to relinquish that
kind of like control of the

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: because not only did we
have no idea where we were, we had no idea

how to get back and we had no idea what

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: So, and it was,
it's honestly, one of my funniest

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: like

just the two of us, and I can
remember the look on his face when

we walked in, we saw this water
park and we wouldn't have had that.

Super laughable moment.

If it weren't for the fact that
thing, something went wrong and we

just had to go with the flow and, and

I think that's like one of the
best parts of when things go

Brandon Giella: Yep.

Rachel Satow: kind of

have that humbling moment of
you just gotta go with it.

You just gotta go with it.

Brandon Giella: Which by the way,
is the entire point of travel is

to have those moments like that.

Ian Andersen: Yeah.

Brandon Giella: my, uh, story is we were
on our honeymoon and I did not plan.

The time of things.

Well, I got time zones wrong.

I didn't think about, oh, we're gonna be
super jet lagged and you're gonna be real

tired and it's the morning, but you feel
like it's four o'clock in the morning and

you're exhausted and you've been up all
night 'cause you didn't sleep on a plane.

'cause nobody sleeps on a plane when
you're near the cattle car and you

spend $300 on your ticket to Paris.

Um, in a five star hotel 'cause it was
our honeymoon and they did not have

a room available for five more hours.

And so we left all of our bags and we
walked to the ar triumph, and my wife sat

on the step, or you know, the, the area
near it and wept because she was so tired.

And it was the first day
in Paris on our honeymoon.

And

so we eventually, no, not a great start.

And we went, um, It's a very nice hotel.

And we were like, well, we
just, we just need to sleep.

We're just, we're miserable.

And so we slept in the lobby and they
were not happy about that, but we

learned that day that if you would
like to get a room faster, fall asleep

in the lobby at a five star hotel
and they will find a room for you.

And they eventually did, which is great.

Um, down, um, everybody in in
DFW Texas can relate to this, but

going to, uh, love field instead
of DFW, which is 45 minutes away.

Common mistake.

It's like a rite of passage.

Um, my, those are my stories.

Ian, what's your

story?

What did it

Ian Andersen: The, the one that
comes to mind was, mentioning

going to, to Budapest, in 2018.

I, my flight connected through, Madrid
and, and at first I'd, I'd even tried

to think about, I'd never been to Spain.

I, I really still haven't, other than
spending a layover in Madrid airport.

but I'd, I'd.

I thought about trying to kind of squeeze
a day in there or whatever, but events

and I just, kept the same itinerary.

Well, we got to Madrid and similar to,
to Rachel, our flight was delayed like

18 hours, but they never really told us.

Like it was like, oh,
it's delayed an hour.

Or, you know, two hours, maybe,
you know, four 18 hours straight.

So I, I couldn't like, leave the
airport and go wander around.

I had to, to stay there.

That was, that was pretty miserable.

So I don't know what lessons that really
taught me other than, try to avoid,

what's the Iberia Airlines or whatever,

Rachel Satow: I

Ian Andersen: but.

Rachel Satow: lesson learned
there is always bring.

Something to do

Brandon Giella: Oh man.

Yes.

Rachel Satow: other than your phone.

You know, make sure you have a,
a coloring book for the kids,

and a book for yourself for

Ian Andersen: yeah.

Thankfully I was by myself.

If I'd had my kids with me, I
don't think we would've lived that.

That

Brandon Giella: what an iPad is for.

Ian Andersen: that would've been rough.

Yeah.

Right.

Brandon Giella: But also that's
when you learn, uh, that's

what in an airport are for.

They, they, They,

allow you

Ian Andersen: Yeah.

And that why they charge.

Yeah.

Five times the amount is
a bookstore anywhere else.

Yeah.

Brandon Giella: So these
cities are made up of people.

Of course.

Uh, Rachel, tell some of the people or
persons or person that you have met,

uh, while you're traveling and, uh,

Rachel Satow: Um, so I mean, I've
met, I've met a ton of wonderful

people while traveling and there have
been individuals who took me and my

significant other in during COVID while.

We were traveling and we
just ended up not having a

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: to go and

they opened their home.

There have been people I met when
I was in Amsterdam Dam on the

same trip as our Paris trip, who.

We're, we're sitting at a bar
and all of a sudden someone that

I went to college with shows

Brandon Giella: Huh.

Rachel Satow: and like, is sitting next
to us and we're, I was like, wait, what?

What is happening?

but one of the most standout ones
is, it was a, a while back ago

before I started mountain biking.

And, as you all know, I'm, I'm
an avid mountain biker now.

so trips look a little bit different,
My significant other, he was going to

ride this one trail that I just knew
that I couldn't do it because it was

well beyond me, at that point in time.

And so it was like 30
miles away is Amic Falls.

This is in Dansville,

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: it is the tallest waterfall
in Georgia and I think the third,

third or fourth tallest east of the

Brandon Giella: Huh?

Rachel Satow: Um, it's a big waterfall.

Brandon Giella: Didn't know that.

Rachel Satow: If you haven't been.

but there are multiple ways to hike it.

And I set out, I was like, he's
gonna be gone for a couple of hours.

I'm gonna go drive over there.

I'm gonna do the hike to the top.

Start the hike.

It's wonderful.

I'm by myself.

And there are people all around
kind of doing the same trail.

And I noticed that me and another
female hiker were just kind

of like going back and forth.

Like I would stop for a break and
she would go ahead and then she

would stop for a break and I would go
ahead and at one point we both just

kind of stopped and we were like,
do you just wanna hike together?

It would probably be
way somebody to talk to.

her name Rubina was and she's wonderful.

We're still friends on Facebook.

shout out to Rubina, but
she made the whole hike.

So much because I didn't feel
like I was like, just out

here trekking along on my own.

And then at the, like, I got to
meet somebody and learn all about

them and how, you know, what brought
herself by do Amicalola herself.

and what, when we got to the
top, we, we took each other's

photos and then walked back down.

and It since then.

I mean, we haven't spoken,
but it's, it's nice to still

follow along on her, you know,

different journeys and vice

versa.

And it's, it's kind of fun, like
the different connections you can

have when you're just doing a shared
activity, with complete strangers

and, and whether or not you can, you
know, make a friend along the way.

Brandon Giella: mm

Rachel Satow: she was great.

Brandon Giella: I love that.

I love that travel is
better when done together,

even with strangers.

Yeah, I like that.

Rachel Satow: in some,
in some standpoints, you

Brandon Giella: Mm, mm-hmm.

Your, your college friend story made me
think of, on our honeymoon, I saw a friend

from college that was our flight attendant
on our flight on the way to Paris, and

I was like, what a strange small world.

And you just never know who you're gonna
run into one night when you're traveling.

Rachel Satow: isn't that the
funny thing about like when

we're talking about the people.

Who travel and, and like, you know,
a while back we were talking about,

how whenever you're traveling be just
be cognizant of the fact that you're

traveling to somebody else's home.

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Amen.

Rachel Satow: that when you meet
these people across the world, whether

you are the tourist or they are, and
you just, you're interacting with

someone as, in your travels, you know.

you look to the right of you and
there's somebody that you've,

you graduated college with

Brandon Giella: Yeah.

Rachel Satow: and you haven't
seen or spoken to them, it

makes the world feel so small

Brandon Giella: yep,

Rachel Satow: you have to
think what are the chances,

Brandon Giella: yep.

Rachel Satow: Like.

Brandon Giella: Yep.

Rachel Satow: What are the chances,
and that was a one in a million, I'm

sure, scenario where someone I knew
was traveling at the same PO, same,

same time as me to the same city,
sat down at the same bar at the same

time, and I happened to know them.

Brandon Giella: That is the cra Like think
of the statistical odds of that happening.

Christine ran into a friend, my wife ran
into a friend, outside the Redwood Forest.

When we were just traveling to California,
we just pa ran into each other and we were

like, what the heck are you doing here?

Like that ha.

That has happened like multiple times.

That's weird.

Rachel Satow: It makes the

Ian Andersen: the

Rachel Satow: so small.

Brandon Giella: Yeah.

Ian Andersen: the Redwoods
are the only place.

The Redwood Forest is the only place
I've ever felt claustrophobic in my life.

Brandon Giella: Really?

Ian Andersen: after college I drove,
I, I moved from southern Mexico up to

Portland, Oregon, and I decided to drive
straight to the coast and just go up

Highway one until after San Francisco.

I took kind of a little jaunt into to
go through the redwoods, and I happened

to hit it sorta as right as the evening.

Was coming in and the fog starts
coming in and the fog was, you know,

maybe like 30, 40 feet over my car.

And you're going through this like
narrow little winding road with the

fog over and these trees are just
so ungodly enormous that, yeah, I

felt, I felt truly claustrophobic.

It was a weird, weird

feeling.

Yeah.

Brandon Giella: That's fascinating.

'cause I went and it was gorgeous weather
and we just saw these 300 foot tall trees

and you're just like, it's just gorgeous.

I, but claustrophobic is funny.

well for me, I didn't have any particular
person, but I had lots of flashes of

all these characters that we've run
into, total strangers, you know, our,

our cooking instructor, random people
we met in Italy that like could speak

Italian and kind of gave us some great
recommendations and, you know, just

all these kind of random characters.

But, anyway, but it's always
fun meeting, meeting people.

Ian Andersen: I, one of my wildest,
weirdest, travel stories right

after college, I sold my car so
I could buy tickets to Greece.

and spent, a few weeks in Greece.

Yeah, it was, it was great.

And my first night there, like I
got in, I stayed at a hostel 'cause

I was 22 and before I had back
issues and money to steal and stuff.

so I stayed at a hostel, but it was,
it turned out to be, I didn't know

this beforehand, but it turned out
to be kind of a business traveler.

Hostile, hostile, re And there was a group
from Turkey who were there and on business

in Athens and got to chatting with one of
the, the guys from Turkey who had gone.

To college in Texas at University
of Texas, and was just so excited

to have somebody to talk football
with because anyone I get, you know,

you spend more than five minutes in
Texas and you're, you're addicted.

so he invited me out with them.

They were gonna go to this like
Turkish restaurant that they knew

that was, apparently, you know, this
like amazing, very authentic Turkish

meal and we go and it was beautiful
and it was a really nice night.

And, we're there about 10 minutes
before the waiter comes up and is like,

you know, we recommend you guys going
back to your hotel because they're bed

in a international incident between
Turkey and Greece that evening.

And.

There were like threats on Turkish
NA nationals going on and stuff,

and here I am this like 22-year-old
white boy from New Mexico.

Like, I have no idea what's going on.

I just happened to be in this group
that is now like getting threats

and stuff and on the walk back to
the hostel there of like people

yelling at yelling at our group.

And it was, it was wild.

It.

There's this like uninhabited group
of rocks basically in the Aian that

are claimed by both Turkey and Greece
and they're always doing flyovers

with their air force and stuff.

And I guess, and pilots being pilots
are always like playing chicken and

ended up, Running into each other.

these two fighter pilots,
the Turkish pilot survived.

The Greek pilot died.

the Turkish pilot landed in the sea and
was picked up by a Greek fishing boat.

He had a pistol and like
held the creek fisherman at.

like back with his pistol until a
Turkish ship showed up to pick him up.

And, so all of Greece was rather
pissed off at Turkey that day and

it was not the best day to meet
a group of international Turkish

travelers.

But, but we're Freds on Facebook
and we still wish each other

happy birthdays and whatnot.

Or

Brandon Giella: Facebook
connecting the world's travelers.

Ian Andersen: yeah, if I see Texas.

If I see Texas football won
or lost, I might say something

every now and then, but yeah.

Brandon Giella: That's funny.

That's great.

it's like the Trojan War
all over again, right?

I

mean, they've been fighting in that area

for 3000 years,

Ian Andersen: Yep.

Brandon Giella: the world is
small and history repeats itself.

Those are the two takeaways from

this conversation.

Rachel Satow: Yeah,

Ian Andersen: you do will change anything.

Yeah.

Brandon Giella: Uh, just a little
resignation for your Tuesday afternoon.

so, okay.

Last question is to talk about a
destination that is a home away

from home, and what made it special
beyond just your tourist experience.

Rachel, you go first.

Rachel Satow: so.

I wouldn't necessarily say this was
like a set out to travel, it was before

I had moved to Florida, because I was
born and raised, raised Pennsylvania.

and I was, you know, obviously, you
know, in high school all students

kind of, you know, get to make the
decision of where do I want to go to

college if I want to go to college.

Where would I like to end up?

And I was in my search, I was doing,
I was traveling a bunch to different

colleges and whatnot to, to go tour.

And, when I mentioned this to
my aunt who at the time lived

in Florida, she was like.

you ever considered a Floridian
college, like a Florida,

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: down to Florida?

It's warmer here.

And I didn't have any
on my radar actually.

and so that summer, as I did every
summer, I came down for a couple of

weeks to visit them and she convinced
me to come to the University of

Florida and tour the university.

at that point I had seen quite a few
schools and there were a couple that were.

Absolutely stunning, like beautiful
castle style schools up in the northeast.

But when I walked onto the campus
of the university, I was like, oh,

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: this place feels sunny.

It feels warm, it feel, and not
because it's literally in Florida,

but it just like had that essence of

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: feeling
when you're at your home.

of like a nice warm cup, cup of tea
is, is really like the feeling that

I had when I walked onto the campus
and I, I went into the stadium and

like, it was almost like the decision
was made for me in that moment.

I was

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: this feels like a
place where I can come and I can be

comfortable and in myself and, and learn.

And that was, that was really like when
I decided, okay, I'm fully moving to

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: to Gainesville and I
have stayed since, since graduation.

I'm still here because I had
such a, such a calling to

Brandon Giella: Hmm,

Rachel Satow: It was one of those moments
like when you're just traveling that.

You find a place that feels right
and, and it, it felt right to me here.

And I've had a

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: those places.

Chattanooga is one of those places too.

I have a lot

Brandon Giella: Oh, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: and, and they're
showing you all of the things that

make their day to day so special.

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: it's like,
oh, I could move here.

This is nice.

And it feels like

Brandon Giella: Hmm,

Rachel Satow: you're there.

But

Brandon Giella: hmm

Rachel Satow: been a couple, but
that, that's the one that, and I'll,

I'll shout it from the rooftops.

I love Gainesville.

It's great.

Brandon Giella: hmm.

That was the day that
Rachel became a Florida man.

Rachel Satow: Florida woman
and, and, and a gator.

That was the day, that was the

Brandon Giella: That's great.

That's great.

That's great.

This Florida man, memes
are always so funny.

No.

yeah, I, I love that and I love that
it was, it was college that did that.

'cause yeah.

College can mean so many different things.

There's so many different people, but
it feel like you're at home in a place

that's far away across the country.

It's really special.

Rachel Satow: And with hundreds
of thousands of more people.

I grew

Brandon Giella: Yes.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Rachel Satow: grew up in a small town, and
the university definitely has way more,

Brandon Giella: Hmm,

hmm.

Rachel Satow: my hometown.

So it

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Rachel Satow: it is
definitely, I love it here.

Brandon Giella: That's great.

I had a similar feeling in a college
town and I wrote down Oxford, England.

That, that to me, when I, I've
always known I would like Oxford.

All my favorite writers are Oxford men.

Oscar Wild.

C, s Lewis, so on.

and when I got there I was
like, yep, this is about what I

hoped and dreamed it would be.

And it has forever been that.

And I've been, I think, three
times now, and every time I go, I

feel like I should be there, but

I'm

Ian Andersen: I'm more of a

Brandon Giella: So.

Ian Andersen: man myself, but.

Brandon Giella: That's fair.

That's fine.

That's fine.

Cambridge is great.

I haven't been, but I should go.

Ian, what about you?

Ian Andersen: I think the, the one
that immediately springs to mind,

is this little town called Mole.

Hey, Mexico.

it's on the Baja ca, California
Peninsula in, Baja, California.

Sir.

On the Gulf side, so
not on the Pacific side.

when I was a kid, we used to
travel to to Mexico all the time.

Just being right there.

And if you, there's a town, in Sonora
called Yms that, there's a ferry that

goes across the gulf and the ferry
takes you just north of this town.

Mohe that, One year, the first year
we went, like the, the, truck, my

dad's truck that we were driving,
something happened and broke down.

And so we were kind of stuck in this
town for a night, because they didn't

at at the time, it could be different.

Now, I haven't been in probably 20
years, but, at the time it, didn't have.

Like power lines connecting the, the
town, everything ran on these like

big backup generators that only would
run between like 11 in the morning

and like four in the afternoon.

so every day, during the day, during
that time, everybody would be really

busy trying to get everything done, and
then the electricity goes off and, you

know, and everybody likes candles and.

Bonfires and everything else, and just
basically has a party every night.

and the first, we, we had gotten
there, early, early evening, like

late afternoon, early evening.

So the mechanic wasn't able to
look at the car until the next day.

and we found this like little tiny
little Motel Inn thing that, more of a

kind of bed and breakfast kind of place.

That the people just like invited us in

and, you know, we hung out all night.

we had spaghetti with clams
that had been like, dug out of

the, the Baja like that day.

And and it was just, it was, it was like
a great, just a great little feeling.

And then.

Pretty much every, at least every
other year, if not every year

for the rest of my childhood.

We, we went back there and stayed
at that little inn for a, a couple

nights and yeah, it was, it was
always, always a lot of fun.

I, I definitely want to
go back sometime soon.

Brandon Giella: When was the
last time you've been there?

Ian Andersen: It was a while.

It was when I was in college, so
probably oh 3 0 4, somewhere in there.

Brandon Giella: Yeah.

Cool.

Yeah.

Do for a trip.

That'd be really special.

Take your own family back
and do that whole thing.

It'll

Ian Andersen: Yeah, definitely

Brandon Giella: That's cool.

I love that story.

And I, I love the idea, this is
romantic, but I love the idea of

like, nobody has power after 4:00

PM we're all just hanging out, you know?

Ian Andersen: It, it was very odd,

but it was, it was very,
it was a lot of fun.

Brandon Giella: That's cool.

That's cool.

That's special.

anything, anything else you
guys would like to share about

your favorite travel memories?

Ian Andersen: No, no.

I think we, we tell enough
ag anecdotes on here.

We

Brandon Giella: Yeah, probably,

Ian Andersen: sure we'll, we'll, catch it

Brandon Giella: This is supposed to be

a short

Ian Andersen: episode.

Brandon Giella: Yeah.

Rachel Satow: were our takeaways?

Our takeaways were with an open mind.

Don't try

Brandon Giella: Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: of your,

Brandon Giella: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Satow: planned bring entertainment.

Brandon Giella: Yeah, because you
never know what's gonna happen.

Ian Andersen: You never
know when you'll be

Brandon Giella: Bring a book.

Ian Andersen: You'll never know
when you'll be without electricity,

Brandon Giella: Yes, yes.

Bring a physical book with you,
you'll thank yourself later.

but I, I think if I could distill it even
further, it's travel is about people.

I think every one of our stories, barring
the, the, the view of the Swiss Alps,

is it's about people, either people that
told you to go someplace, the people

you met along the way, or being stuck
in someplace and having these memories

that you could go back to and have these
friendships with these people, mostly

via Facebook, but, but that you can
keep up these kind of relationships.

Like that's, that's the thing
that makes travel memorable.

Rachel Satow: absolutely.

Brandon Giella: Well,
thanks for your time.

This was

enjoyable and I hope people listening
will share their own stories with us.

So

please get in touch with the Switch by
team and tell us your own travel stories.

I would love to hear more stories.

This is great.

Thank you both.

We will see you next time.

Rachel Satow: thanks

Ian Andersen: thanks Brian.