S1E17 - Traveling Introvert w/ Shannon Ebler (Part 1)
Episode Description:
In this episode, I am joined by my good friend Shannon Ebler. She is another one of my closest introvert friends and we talk about her adventures outside the country and her experience living on the east coast. Shannon being a social and anxious introvert, I was curious about her adventures and how she prepares for traveling. I haven’t traveled much, so I love hearing her stories. Let me know your traveling stories. Are there places you have on your bucket list? Do you have any plans in the future? Let me know on social media.
Disclaimer:
Some parts of the transcript may be edited for better readability, but the content remains the same. Mostly removed duplicate words, vocal filler words, and added/removed some words for clarification.
Transcript:
Hey, everyone! This is Meliza, and I'm the Talkative Introvert. In today's episode, I am joined once again by another close, introverted friend of mine. I'm loving that my friends and family are excited about my podcasts and are taking interest in this new hobby of mine. Regardless if I end up getting big or not, I love just having these to be able to look back on or not look, listen back on. And I mentioned before, it's just a great archive of memories of friends and family. And I'm just happy to have this and have these recordings to listen to. But I will do some solo episodes for sure because I really do enjoy doing those. So, stay tuned for those. All right, I'm just gonna get right to it. So, let's get into the episode. Joining me today is my good friend Shannon Ebler. We've been friends for years now. We actually went to high school together, but we didn't become friends until like freshman year of college when we had a class together. And we've been friends ever since. Hi, Shannon. How you doing?
Shannon 01:11
Hello! I'm doing good. I'm excited and a little nervous.
Meliza Manalo 01:18
Don't be nervous.
Shannon 01:19
I know. It's just like, one of those things of like, 'Oh, I'm doing a podcast.' It's so weird. Cuz this is definitely out of my comfort zone. You know when I was listening to all of your episodes, especially the earlier on ones and you're like, "Oh, I want to have friends on." I was like, that could be really fun. So, it's like, now I'm like, oh! I hope her listeners like me. And I feel like that's such an introvert thing too. Especially via podcast. I hope they like me.
Meliza Manalo 01:48
I think so. I think people enjoy kind of the ones that I do with other people. So, it's like a good conversation and I feel like there's not a whole lot of introverts talking. There's a bunch of introvert podcasts, but they're not super popular. You know, they're not like the Joe Rogan's and like the... Why can't I think of anything right now? You know, those popular podcasts.
Shannon 02:18
Those popular ones. Yeah. I only listened to three podcasts.
Meliza Manalo 02:22
Oh, really? What do you listen to?
Shannon 02:24
Yeah. So, I listen to yours.
Meliza Manalo 02:25
Oh, thanks. One of the three.
Shannon 02:30
And then I listen to 'Noble blood' with Dana Schwartz. I think that's how you pronounce. It's like historical people. So, like, royalty noble people, but like stories you might not know about them and other popular ones.
Meliza Manalo 02:49
Oh, that's cool.
Shannon 02:50
I just got finished. They did a six-part series on Henry VIII's wives. So, those are super popular, but still really interesting. But I just love that kind of stuff. So, it's just royalty and stuff from all the ages all over that she does little episodes on. And then the other one I listened to; I don't listen to it as regularly. Because I'm just bad at listening to podcasts. I'm trying to get into it more. And that's where yours has helped me. Like, I listen to them on usually Tuesday, honestly.
Meliza Manalo 03:24
Okay, you're that one person that listens to them on Tuesday.
Shannon 03:26
Yeah, I'm the person. On the next day. That's me. The other one I listen to is, 'Let's talk about it with Taylor Nolan'.
Meliza Manalo 03:35
Oh, I think I've heard of that one.
Shannon 03:38
I really enjoy her content. I follow her on Instagram too. She is actually... you'll laugh. She was on 'The Bachelor' a couple years ago.
Meliza Manalo 03:50
Oh, okay.
Shannon 03:51
She's one of my favorite Bachelor people.
Meliza Manalo 03:56
Yeah, I think I've heard of that.
Shannon 03:58
And I just really enjoy her content. And I've listened to some of her episodes. I need to listen to more, but it's so hard for me to find the time. I don't know.
Meliza Manalo 04:11
I know. There's like this whole... So, when I started the podcast, I watched a bunch of starting a podcast YouTube videos. Like what to do, tips and tricks, things I wish I knew before I started, you know, that kind of stuff. And one of the videos I watched is like podcasts are kind of struggling right now. And I'm like, oh, great. Best time to do this, but it's fine. Because the whole quarantine, people aren't commuting anymore. And a lot of people are working from home now and that's becoming more of a permanent thing. So, there's not that 45-minute drive into work where people are listening to a podcast.
Shannon 04:51
Yes. Well, that's what. Because you have to pay attention.
Meliza Manalo 04:55
Yeah.
Shannon 04:56
And so, if you're not able to just focus on what's being said, it's like, why am I listening to this right now? And so, when I'm doing kind of tours around the house or things like that, I'll put on music, because it's more mindless. I don't know. It takes less energy.
Meliza Manalo 05:14
Like, you don't have to pay attention to what's happening.
Shannon 05:17
Yeah.
Meliza Manalo 05:18
Cuz sometimes I'll try to do that with a podcast, too. Where like, I'm cleaning the house. But then they'll say something interesting. I'm like, wait, what? What happened? And then I'll end up rewinding.
Shannon 05:29
What was the lead up to that?
Meliza Manalo 05:30
Yeah. It's kind of like a TV show. Just without the visuals, I guess.
Shannon 05:36
So, I really just have to lay in my bed or sit somewhere and just listen. And it's just kind of hard sometimes. Like, I have to be like, okay, this episode is like an hour or 30 minutes or whatever. I can sit here and just do that, right?
Meliza Manalo 05:51
Yeah.
Shannon 05:54
I can. So, it's been working fine.
Meliza Manalo 05:57
That's why I like those podcasters who do video also. Like uploaded to YouTube. I feel like they do pretty well, too. Because then you could just watch it like you would watch regular TV.
Shannon 06:07
Yeah.
Meliza Manalo 06:08
But I'm not quite there. I don't know if I ever will be.
Shannon 06:13
Well, I don't know if I'm there yet. (Laughter)
Meliza Manalo 06:17
It's just not my thing.
Shannon 06:17
One thing to like, be listening to me.
Meliza Manalo 06:20
Yeah. It would be like, subconscious.
Shannon 06:22
I don't know. Yeah. It'd be like, oh, I'd have to get dressed or put make up. Or things that I haven't done in months. I mean, I'm glad I don't.
Meliza Manalo 06:30
Exactly. Oh, I mean, right now I'm wearing pajamas.
Shannon 06:35
Yeah, I'm wearing my sweats. And I put on a shirt. I mean, it's just a T-shirt, though. It's not fancy.
Meliza Manalo 06:39
Yeah, exactly. But I mean like, I haven't washed my hair. And I don't have any makeup on. I mean, this is what I look like every day when I work. I have to be warned if I have to be camera ready. Because there's some meetings that are like, "Please be ready to be on webcam."
Shannon 06:59
And I think about it too. It's like they're far enough away from me. Like the screen. Hopefully, they're putting you in, what you say, gallery view and not speaker view. And so, you're just like, a little square. And it doesn't matter.
Meliza Manalo 07:12
Yeah. Exactly.
Shannon 07:13
And you can just live your life.
Meliza Manalo 07:17
Well, I like ours, cuz we use Microsoft Teams. And I don't know if you know what that is, but like all the other ones, you could do a background. Cuz I don't wanna... Because then I also have to clean my house.
Shannon 07:30
Yeah, that's true. Or sit in a place that is right up against the wall.
Meliza Manalo 07:34
Yeah, exactly. Like, ooh, we have backgrounds. So, I can just blur my background. The one I use a lot is, I'm like in outer space.
Shannon 07:46
Awww. That's cute. I need to try that. Because well, you know, I got my new laptop recent-ish.
Meliza Manalo 07:53
For work?
Shannon 07:54
I mean, yes. But also, no. I just needed a new laptop. Because my old one, it was 10 years old. And it was time. It was dying. But my old one wasn't...I mean it was too old that it couldn't support Zoom's virtual backgrounds. So, I didn't have the option to try to do that. And then, since getting my new one, I haven't played with it. But yeah, so I haven't messed around with the virtual background yet. Maybe next week because I'll have some work things.
Meliza Manalo 08:23
Yeah. Let me know how that goes. All right, so on to the topic.
Shannon 08:28
Oh, yeah.
Meliza Manalo 08:31
So, in today's episode, we're going to talk about Shannon traveling around the world. Or I don't know if it's around the world, but other parts of the world.
Shannon 08:42
Other parts of the world.
Meliza Manalo 08:43
Yeah. Other parts of America and the world. But before we get to that, you did take the introvert types quiz, right?
Shannon 08:52
Yes, I did. The BuzzFeed one. I haven't done the one where you have to do the math yourself.
Meliza Manalo 08:58
Yeah. They're both exactly the same. Except like, you know if you do the one yourself, you can see where you're ranked.
Shannon 09:04
Oh, okay.
Meliza Manalo 09:05
Yeah. And that's kinda... I wish BuzzFeed did that. Because it's like, well, you already have the questions. Why don't you do the ranking also? But whatever.
Shannon 09:11
Yeah, that's true. Because what I was reading is like, you're really a mix of all of them. So, it's like... Because BuzzFeed gives you the two I guess that are high or whatever.
Meliza Manalo 09:20
Yeah, they give you the top two.
Shannon 09:22
But it doesn't tell you what those numbers are. And how close is the third, how close is the fourth one.
Meliza Manalo 09:27
Mm hmm.
Shannon 09:28
So, I guess yeah, that would be interesting to know. But yeah, so I did take that, and I retook it.
Meliza Manalo 09:35
You did?
Shannon 09:35
Yeah. Just to kind of, you know, refresh my memory of what they meant. Like the descriptions of them. So, BuzzFeed told me that I am anxious and social introvert.
Meliza Manalo 09:52
Okay. So, do you agree with that, though?
Shannon 09:55
Yes. And like to part of it, right?
Meliza Manalo 09:58
Mm hmm.
Shannon 09:59
Let me pull up my web browser. Oops.
Meliza Manalo 10:01
Okay.
Shannon 10:02
Cuz I was totally...I have them up here. Because I need the definitions in front of me to like...
Meliza Manalo 10:09
Yeah, do you mind kind of briefly explaining it once you get your web browser up?
Shannon 10:14
Yes.
Meliza Manalo 10:15
It's for the people who don't know. If you don't know, I did an introvert types episode. And if you're an introvert, there's four different types you can rank in. In some you're in higher end or lower end. And it's like, it's the acronym star. So, it's social, thinking, anxious and strange. So, you said you're social and anxious, right?
Shannon 10:38
Yes.
Meliza Manalo 10:39
It is your top two?
Shannon 10:40
Yeah, those are my top two. Okay, I found. I think it was one of the articles you linked in yours, too. Okay, so social. "Typical definition of introversion and preference for socializing with small groups instead of large ones. Sometimes the preference for no group at all. solitude is often preferable for those who score high in social introversion. Okay, you prefer to stay home with a book or computer, close small group of friends, instead of large parties is kind of their example."
Meliza Manalo 11:11
Mm hmm.
Shannon 11:12
And then anxious. And this is funny. So, it's like, "Unlike social introvert, anxious introverts may seek out solitude because they feel awkward or self-conscious around other people, because they're not very confident in their own social skills. Often, anxiety doesn't fade when they're alone. This kind of introversion is defined by a tendency to ruminate turnover in their mind. Things that might or could already have gone terribly wrong."
Meliza Manalo 11:41
Oh, geez.
Shannon 11:42
So, I feel like it's funny that I'm both of these. Just their little blurbs of this definition. Yeah, it's like their opposite. Or not totally opposite. But it's just funny. I would start like, unlike social introverts, but that was my other one that I am.
Meliza Manalo 11:58
I think social introverts choose to not go to parties. They just like solitude. That's their choice.
Shannon 12:06
And the anxious is more just, well, it's anxious being around other people.
Meliza Manalo 12:10
Yeah. Like, they don't go because they get anxious. Not like, because they don't want to go.
Shannon 12:15
Yeah. So, I guess, I mean, yes. Because I think, you know, it depends.
Meliza Manalo 12:24
Yeah, it depends on the situation.
Shannon 12:26
Yeah, it depends on the situation. Because there's definitely like, I'm thinking, I'm trying to think of examples in my head. What are these? So, I guess one example is ummm... what party was it? it was your party.
Meliza Manalo 12:42
My party?
Shannon 12:43
Well, it wasn't. It was like your family's party. It was at your mom's house.
Meliza Manalo 12:47
Was that our wedding party?
Shannon 12:48
Yeah, cuz it was for you and Brandon, and then your brother and his wife.
Meliza Manalo 12:51
Yeah. Oh, so to backstory on that. My husband and I eloped. And then my brother and his wife also eloped. And my mom hated that. And she got mad at us. So, she hosted a wedding party and just combined our two weddings because we got married just a few months apart. Because we're not big party people. Like, you guys know, I'm an introvert. My brother and his wife, my brother, I think is an ambivert. To be honest, I think he's both. But his wife definitely is an introvert. So, we weren't into the big wedding. Because if we were going to have a wedding, no joke, our guest list will probably be like, I don't know, 200 people, maybe even more. Who knows? There might be family members that my mom wants to invite that I haven't seen since I was like five. I don't know. So that's why we had the wedding party.
Shannon 13:45
People you don't really know.
Meliza Manalo 13:47
Yeah. I'm not gonna spend money on someone I didn't see for 15 years or whatever it was.
Shannon 13:55
Well, anyway, so that party. Because obviously I was going to go because it was for you. But it was very nerve wracking for me or not very, but I was nervous cuz I was going by myself. And I only knew you and Brandon. Yeah, but you guys are like co-hosts. Yeah, that means I can't just follow you around. (Laughter)
Meliza Manalo 14:19
Follow me around. Exactly.
Shannon 14:26
So, it's just things like that. When I'm going into unknown settings and I don't have a wing person, a friend. They're meeting me there or carpooling with me is like my best-case scenario, right?
Meliza Manalo 14:44
You should've invited someone. I wouldn't care.
Shannon 14:47
Yeah, well. You know, Mia was supposed to go.
Meliza Manalo 14:50
Oh yeah, I forgot. She didn't. That b*tch.
Shannon 14:56
But anyways, so you know, cuz I'm not good at small talk. But it was fun. It took me a while. And I think, now I'm trying to remember like, but I know.
Meliza Manalo 15:13
Cuz you ended up talking to someone.
Shannon 15:14
Casey talked to me. And Casey was on the show recently. And she's totally easy to talk to.
Meliza Manalo 15:23
I mean, she's an extrovert. Pretty much everybody at that party.
Shannon 15:27
Yes. So now I'm gonna feel bad because I can't remember names.
Meliza Manalo 15:33
That's okay. There's a lot of them.
Shannon 15:35
Cuz there was someone's girlfriend, who wasn't part of your family. Like neither of them are part of your family. They're just friends.
Meliza Manalo 15:41
Maybe it's Nicole.?
Shannon 15:43
Maybe? Oh, yes. They have a cat?
Meliza Manalo 15:46
Yeah, Frenchie.
Shannon 15:47
Yes. So, she was really sweet. And she was really nice. And we talked. And then I think I want to say Marie.
Meliza Manalo 15:55
Marie, that's my niece. But she's the same age as me. Yeah.
Shannon 15:59
Yes. Okay. Because I've talked to her.
Meliza Manalo 16:01
Yeah. She's easy to talk to. Or she can talk to anyone, I mean.
Shannon 16:05
Yeah. So, I talked with them. And so, it was fine. It was okay.
Meliza Manalo 16:11
Yeah. See, that's kind of the pluses having all my extrovert family members is because, they'll notice if someone is quiet or whatever, and they'll just go and talk to them. Yeah, you know, and try to make them feel comfortable. Especially if you're there by yourself. And you don't know anybody.
Shannon 16:33
Yeah. So, I appreciate that. And they were all very lovely people.
Meliza Manalo 16:37
Oh, good.
Shannon 16:38
And I had a good time.
Meliza Manalo 16:40
Even if they're not, we won't say that in the podcast. Just kidding.
Shannon 16:45
Just kidding.
Meliza Manalo 16:46
They're all wonderful. (Laughter) All right, hopefully no one's listening.
Shannon 16:59
Oh, that's funny. But yeah, so I guess that's the, you know, anxious.
Meliza Manalo 17:02
That'd be your anxious part, yeah.
Shannon 17:03
Yeah. And I've done things on my own before. But it takes a lot of mental preparation. Because it's still like going into an unknown. When I was in Boston, I went to this, like a... God, what's the word? Like a conference. Like a smaller scale, but like a conference. So, they had a bunch of speakers throughout the day. Because one of my favorite sociologists was there. You know, was going to be speaking. So, I was like, I need to go to this. I need to go. No one else could go with me. I needed to go. And I made it there. Took the T, got off the T, walked my butt over there.
Meliza Manalo 17:59
What's the T?
Shannon 18:00
The T is their public transport.
Meliza Manalo 18:03
Okay.
Shannon 18:05
It's the commuter, not the commuter train, but the city train on it. Like, it's not a bus. But it's above ground and underground. It does both. It does it all. It gets you everywhere you need to be in Boston most of the time. It mostly works. Well, like compared to here where we don't have that it's really nice to have public transportation. But yeah, it has its issues. But yeah, got there, sat through the thing. I really enjoyed the conference. It was really great. And then you'll never guess what I did.
Meliza Manalo 18:48
Ooh, what did you do?
Shannon 18:50
I talked to the sociologist.
Meliza Manalo 18:54
Ah, you did!
Shannon 18:56
I did.
Meliza Manalo 19:00
Oh, man!
Shannon 19:01
I went up, I introduced myself. I had my little blurb mentally prepared in my head.
Meliza Manalo 19:09
Oh Geez.
Shannon 19:09
About what I'm gonna say.
Meliza Manalo 19:11
Oh, good for you Shannon.
Shannon 19:13
I know. I was so nervous. (Laughter) But I did it. You know, it's those things that's like, I gotta do this. I have to do this.
Meliza Manalo 19:28
That's what. It's kind of crazy that you did score in the anxious part. Because this whole episodes about you traveling. And it's like, being an anxious person, how did you even have the courage to go and travel? Because just the Boston thing. No. So before Boston, you went to school abroad to England?
Shannon 19:52
Yeah. So, I studied abroad for a semester, my junior year. And I went to Leeds, England. So, that trip in and of itself. That was tough. I mean, especially when you first get there, when you're first somewhere new, you're like, Where the hell am I? How do things work?
Meliza Manalo 20:19
Yeah, how did you prepare for that?
Shannon 20:22
So, at the time I was with my boyfriend. And so, we were going together, right? Spoiler, we broke up when we were in England. Anyways, so you know, in the preparation of it, I was going with someone, right?
Meliza Manalo 20:48
Yeah. So, it was less anxiety induced.
Shannon 20:51
Yeah, it was still like homesickness and all of that, but it's like, okay, I have one person I know, we're going to the same area and everything. But also, with that, we had like, not like a meeting group, but a preparation meeting for study abroad, before you go off. So, it's everyone who is studying abroad for the coming year, or whatever. Because you can go either for the year for fall semester, spring semester. So, it's everyone who is like going and just to every place. And so, we went to that little orientation. That's the word, orientation. And so, during that, they put everyone in groups of where they were going. So, I was in a group with like...
Meliza Manalo 21:46
Like, all the Leeds people?
Shannon 21:47
Yeah, everyone who was going to Leeds. And so, it was like, one two three four five, maybe five of us. And then they also had a student who had already been to Leeds, who was there to answer questions and things like that for us. I think there was only five. I know, there was at least five in our group. And it wasn't a huge group. So maybe not too much more than that. But that's where I met one of my best friends now. Because she just so happened to be going to Leeds to the same semester. And so, fast forward to when we're getting there and everything. She just so happens to be in the same apartment, I guess, as me. Like, she literally lived across the hall. Our doors were right across from each other. So, there's five people to an apartment, I guess, for their student housing. But it was just, you know, all these coincidences. We met up the orientation. It's funny. So, my friend's name is Sarah. And we've talked about this looking back too, but in our little orientation group, we both noticed each other because we were quiet. And so, in my head, I was like, this girl is quiet like me. I'm gonna like her. Because it was us and then the other guys were boys. Were all dudes.
Meliza Manalo 23:30
Oh, really?
Shannon 23:31
They're all extroverts. And they're all just talking up asking random a*s weird questions.
Meliza Manalo 23:38
Yeah. Because your ex was... I feel like, he was an extrovert.
Shannon 23:43
Yes.
Meliza Manalo 23:44
Very much so.
Shannon 23:45
Definitely. Yeah. (Laughter) And so when, you know, neither of us were talking that much, I was like, she's like me. Friends.
Meliza Manalo 23:57
You spot a fellow introvert.
Shannon 23:59
Yes. So, it was just like, it was nice, random coincidence to have her too actually living in my apartment. And we were placed together, not just in the same complex, but in the same apartment. And so, it was... And I got there before she did.
Meliza Manalo 24:21
So, you have that little buddy.
Shannon 24:23
Yeah.
Meliza Manalo 24:24
Like, helped you through you anxiety.
Shannon 24:25
Yes. I think I was just there the day before she did. I got in the day before she did. And I mean, yeah, we became quick friends.
Meliza Manalo 24:35
Oh, that's cute.
Shannon 24:37
Yeah.
Meliza Manalo 24:41
So, before I move on, what's that noise?
Shannon 24:47
Oh, can you hear that?
Meliza Manalo 24:49
Yeah.
Shannon 24:49
Oh, no! What are you eating? Okay, it's Lexi. I thought it was her bone because she does have this plastic dog bone thing. That's good for her to chew on. But she likes chewing on it, so I thought it was that, but it was not that. Oh, Lexi.
Meliza Manalo 25:04
Oh, Lexi.
Shannon 25:06
What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? Okay, anyways.
Meliza Manalo 25:15
So, back to Leeds. So, you got your little buddy that helped you through.
Shannon 25:22
And I think that's where probably more of my social introvert part comes in. That if I'm not alone, you know, enjoying my alone time, I like to be with my close friends. And being with other people, helps you to do more things. Or it wouldn't be as scary going to things when you have your wing person.
Meliza Manalo 25:51
Yeah, I get that. It's like every time we go downtown, you know, we always carpool together. We're not by ourselves waiting for us to like, one of our...
Shannon 26:03
Oh, God. Yeah. Because I hate showing up. I don't like being the person that's first to arrive.
Meliza Manalo 26:11
Yeah. (Laughter)
Shannon 26:14
I mean, the other side, or the other part of that is just like, you know, Sacramento's downtown is not as crazy as big cities, right?
Meliza Manalo 26:24
Oh, yeah.
Shannon 26:24
But I still don't like driving downtown. Just the fact of parking. I don't like not knowing where I'm going to park or not being able to find parking. Like that gives me...
Meliza Manalo 26:40
Oh, yeah.
Shannon 26:41
You know what I mean? I'm like, Oh God, where am I gonna park? Am I gonna be able to find parking? I mean, you always can, but it's still just like a...
Meliza Manalo 26:50
It's a struggle.
Shannon 26:51
Especially when you're going somewhere like new downtown. You're like, okay, I gotta find it. And then I had to find parking that's hopefully close by. Close enough.
Meliza Manalo 27:00
Yeah, exactly. That's why I love Uber and Lyft. I think that's such a great idea. Like whoever created that, props to you, man. Because taxis aren't a big thing in Sacramento. Because Sacramento is such a like, you have to have a car here. It's not like New York or San Francisco, Boston. People have cars here. That's just how it is. Because the light rail sucks. The bus system sucks. We don't have the subway system. Light Rail only takes you to like... it's just like, one line. Or like two.
Shannon 27:38
I was gonna say, maybe two lines?
Meliza Manalo 27:40
I think it's two lines.
Shannon 27:42
Like it's not big.
Meliza Manalo 27:44
Yeah, cuz you start from Folsom?
Shannon 27:46
Yeah, cuz there's one. Yeah.
Meliza Manalo 27:48
Yeah. Because when you go downtown, then you split. Either you go North Sacramento or South Sacramento. And that's it. That's all you got. Somewhere in the middle. It's like, well, you gotta drive to the light rail. Defeating the purpose. But yeah, luckily, my husband is so generous. He always drops us off downtown.
Shannon 28:13
He's such a good sport.
Meliza Manalo 28:14
Yeah, he's nice about it. Plus, he's very like... because we're women. Sadly, we have to say this. But it's not exactly safe at night for us. I mean, for anybody, but particularly women. So, he always wants to make sure that we get dropped off at the proper place and then picked up. All of us, you know, little headcount. Like, "Meliza here, Shannon here." (Laughter)
Shannon 28:47
And then he'll take us to Jack in the Box.
Meliza Manalo 28:49
Yeah. So, if we're too drunk, (Laughter) he'll get us a burger.
Shannon 28:59
Awwww. I miss going out.
Meliza Manalo 29:01
I know this quarantine.
Shannon 29:02
Yeah. Never thought I'd say that. Well, I did think I'd say that.
Meliza Manalo 29:08
Yeah. I mean...
Shannon 29:10
I mean, I like going out, but...
Meliza Manalo 29:12
It's also been a really long time since we've been out.
Shannon 29:16
Yes.
Meliza Manalo 29:17
I don't even, when was the last time we went downtown?
Shannon 29:22
I don't know. Actually, a really good question. Like I... I don't know.
Meliza Manalo 29:28
I remember it being cold.
Shannon 29:31
Okay, so it was either like the end of last year or maybe January?
Meliza Manalo 29:36
Maybe? Or maybe like, oh man. I don't know.
Shannon 29:42
I can't. I don't remember.
Meliza Manalo 29:44
Yeah. It's been a while.
Shannon 29:45
I have no recollection.
Meliza Manalo 29:47
Yeah, we were supposed to go out for Mia's birthday but then we were in lock down. Such a bummer.
Shannon 29:56
Yeah, cuz the plans for that came in before everything.
Meliza Manalo 29:59
Yeah. We had it planned, I had it penciled into my calendar, and we were ready and bam. Virus.
Shannon 30:09
Nope. (Laughter)
Meliza Manalo 30:12
It's like, not this year, Mia. Not this year.
Shannon 30:14
Not this year. And then it's for everyone else too, because now we're in August.
Meliza Manalo 30:19
Yeah.
Shannon 30:20
I just had my birthday.
Meliza Manalo 30:22
I know. Did you do anything?
Shannon 30:24
No (Laughter)
Meliza Manalo 30:25
I know. What can you do?
Shannon 30:28
That sounds so sad. I know, right? I mean, we like got takeout.
Meliza Manalo 30:34
Yeah, I was gonna say get takeout.
Shannon 30:36
Yeah. Have that and I'm with my mom and sister, and then all of our animals. So, you know, we had dinner and stuff.
Meliza Manalo 30:48
Did you have a cake?
Shannon 30:49
We got dessert from the restaurant. Because they have mud pies. And I hadn't had a mud pie in so long and it was so good.
Meliza Manalo 30:58
Where did you order from?
Shannon 31:00
We ordered from Buckhorn.
Meliza Manalo 31:03
Oooh. Did you get like a whole Tri-Tip?
Shannon 31:07
I mean, not a whole one. But the plate. So, we got the Tri-Tip plate. Well, my mom and I get that every time. I think my sister got something else at that point. I don't know. But it's just so good. Everything is so good. Their cornbread is so good.
Meliza Manalo 31:21
Oh, I love cornbread.
Shannon 31:22
I know. Same.
Meliza Manalo 31:25
Hmmm. Anyways.
Shannon 31:26
It was really good. And then I did also have two of my friends planned a semi not really like surprise dessert thing. So, we had a masked and distance thing just in our backyard. And so, my friend brought a cake. So, we sat outside for just like a couple hours.
Meliza Manalo 31:53
Oh, that sounds nice.
Shannon 31:54
Yeah, so low key. I mean, my birthdays are usually low key anyway. I mean, this is way more low key, but...
Meliza Manalo 32:02
Mm hmm. What did we do last year? Did we do a trivia night last year?
Shannon 32:09
Oh, maybe. Did we?
Meliza Manalo 32:10
I think so. Or maybe that was the year before. I don't know. All these years, after 21, it's like, what? How old am I?
Shannon 32:19
I always like to pause and think like, wait, how old am I?
Meliza Manalo 32:25
Yeah.
Shannon 32:26
What age? Link!
Meliza Manalo 32:28
Okay. Is he gonna stop? (Link barking) No.
Shannon 32:31
No. (Laughter)
Meliza Manalo 32:33
Hold on.
Shannon 32:34
Okay.
Meliza Manalo 32:35
What are you doing?
Shannon 32:38
This little pitter patter.
Meliza Manalo 32:39
What's on your mouth? What is that? What are you eating? What did you just eat? Jesus. Okay.
Shannon 32:49
"What did you just eat?" Oh, that's a question, huh? That's such a dog question too. "What are you eating? What is in your mouth?"
Meliza Manalo 32:59
He had just like a furball. It can be one of his toys actually.
Shannon 33:03
Like the fluff from a toy or something?
Meliza Manalo 33:04
Yeah. I think so. I'm like what the hell did you just kill an animal?
Shannon 33:09
Right? There's fluff all around my room right now. Like Lexi ate this poor monkey's face off. And now there's fluff. Carnage everywhere.
Meliza Manalo 33:19
Oh geez. Hold on, I'm gonna put Link on the computer chair next to me. Usually when that happens, he'll be quiet.
Shannon 33:27
Awww. Then he's like your podcasting buddy.
Meliza Manalo 33:30
Before we move on, I want to talk to you guys about Buzzsprout. Buzzsprout makes it easy for any aspiring podcaster like myself, get started and get listed on all the popular podcast platforms with their easy-to-follow instructions and numerous resources. If you're thinking about starting a podcast, I highly suggest getting hosted on Buzzsprout. New podcasters get $20 amazon gift card, when you sign up for a paid plan. Follow the link in the description to let them know I sent you and to support the show. Okay, back in business, are you gonna be quiet now?
Shannon 33:59
Back in business. We're reverting back to travel.
Meliza Manalo 34:04
Yes. Travel. So, you went abroad.
Shannon 34:07
So, I'm abroad. I'm in Leeds and I think the next... I mean I did...like, went to London with a group early on. Like of us who were living in Leeds. We did like a weekend London trip.
Meliza Manalo 34:24
To London?
Shannon 34:25
Yes, to London. And so that was just with everyone, you know, people I knew. Our spring break. That's probably the bigger travel. So, that was two weeks. So, it was very exciting.
Meliza Manalo 34:40
Oh wow, you guys got two weeks?
Shannon 34:42
Yeah.
Meliza Manalo 34:44
Oh, that's nice.
Shannon 34:44
So, my friend Sarah and I, we did Spring Break together. Okay. So, Sarah and I are studying abroad. It's spring semester for us and her sister Markie was studying abroad in London, but she had been there or was there for the year. So, she would have already been there in the fall. And so, we were all in England for spring semester. So, I met her when I got up there too. So, she joined us for spring break our second week. Just because all the scheduling was different and everything. So, we planned our spring break. And we spent a week in Barcelona, and then we spent a week in Rome.
Meliza Manalo 35:38
Wow.
Shannon 35:40
Yeah. So, Barcelona was just me and Sarah. So, two introverts in the big city.
Meliza Manalo 35:49
How's that? What did you guys do?
Shannon 35:53
We had things planned. Like activities to do. So, what did we do? So, we were in a hostel, and we were an alleyway off of a street called, La Rambla. If you look at this up on a map, it's kind of like a pedestrian street. I can't remember if there's actual driving on it, too. But it's like a tourist, like location, and lots of vendors on it and street performers. You can walk into the city or you walk the other way, and you're walking to the beach. But it's a main drag for all that stuff. Our hostel was like an alleyway off of that street. And I think the first day, we fly in, we get in a taxi, taxicab, you know, doesn't speak English. I know limited High School Spanish. But it's Barcelona, so they don't really speak Spanish.
Meliza Manalo 37:14
Like a different accent?
Shannon 37:15
Yeah. Cuz it was... umm... Catal...? I don't know. It's not like 'Spanish' Spanish. It's similar enough. I don't know. So, that was an adventure on its own. It's like, "Can you take us here?" Trying to communicate that. But we made it and it was, you know, all fine. Nothing. No bumps. But so, our first day, we just wandered. We literally just went out on the street and started walking. And it was nice. Like, literally, that's all we did. We just picked the direction...
Meliza Manalo 38:01
Walked around?
Shannon 38:02
... and started walking. And we're like, "Oh, God, I hope we can find our way back."
Meliza Manalo 38:09
(Laughter) Oh Geez.
Shannon 38:10
We did. We were safe. We made it back. But that's like... I think that's all we did day one.
Meliza Manalo 38:18
You just walked.
Shannon 38:20
Yeah. Because it's like, you know, you just get in. It was like long-ish flights. And just traveling is tiring. So, we didn't do much. And then we had a city tour, lik