No Blackout Dates – Details, episodes & analysis

If you’re like us, you spend a lot of time wondering what's going through people’s minds when they’re at the airport. Why do they crowd around the gate before boarding when their group won’t be called for another 20 minutes? Why do those same people stand up the second the flight pulls into the gate, even when they’re seated in row 57? Michael Brein is the world’s foremost – and perhaps only – Travel Psychologist, and he joins No Blackout Dates to discuss the logic behind these and other conundrums of travel.

On the docket is the science behind culture shock, why some people sleep better on planes than others, and how visiting faraway places impacts our mental well-being. 

In Hot Takes, Tim and Eben discuss how they calm their nerves when anxiety strikes while traveling, and the pair agree to disagree about whether or not one should always board the plane early when seated in Business Class.

Relevant links:

• Michael Brein website and books
• How to use a squat toilet
• Eben’s Instagram
• Tim’s Instagram

In this week's Stories From The Road, Tim reads one of the most impactful pieces he's ever worked on as an editor. Writer Iuliana Marchian, a native Romanian, wrote a piece about the impact of the 1989 revolution against Communist rule in Romania. The piece covers the development of personal freedoms and how they've impacted trust in government, as well as how citizens have experienced progress in human rights and quality of life. Marchian describes a polarized society that is moving forward but still has many steps to take to fulfill all of revolution's goals. As a traveler, the piece offers many takeaways of how these impacts play out in daily Romanian life and how you can experience the country's true culture on a trip there.

Relevant links:

• 30 years after the revolution, Romania is still rebuilding
• Iuliana's LinkedIn
• Tim's Instagram
• Eben's Instagram

Foreign correspondents have a unique role to fill – reporting on situations happening across the world, for an audience back home. Tommy Walker has spent over a decade overseas, covering everything from current events to travel lifestyle. Tommy joins No Blackout Dates to share the inside scoop on what’s it like to be on the ground covering breaking news. The discussion gets deep into how a Chinese encroachment on Taiwan could impact travel to the island, how travelers are punished for poor behavior around the globe, and being on the ground in and around Ukraine during the invasion.

In Hot Takes, Tim and Eben discuss how to interpret state-issued travel advisories that pop up when planning a trip. The pair also discuss the idea of visiting Ukraine or Russia right now, and the ethics of visiting countries that currently are or recently have been embroiled in conflict.

Relevant links: 

• Tommy’s website
• Tommy’s Twitter
• US State Department travel advisories
• Tim’s Instagram
• Eben’s Instagram

Mike Dewey lives the dream. Based in Los Angeles, he is a travel filmmaker formerly of Matador Network and currently at Moment. His travel vlogs on YouTube garnered over 40,000 subscribers, and eventually led to a full-time career as a travel filmmaker. After spending years traveling the world on film shoots, Mike found himself asking the same question repeatedly: How do I get off the road? Mike’s joining us to discuss the drawbacks of traveling for a living, including the difficulty of forming a routine, maintaining relationships, and being “that guy who’s never around.” Tim vents about never making the Major Leagues, Eben reveals why he hates talking about his job, and the "Florida Man" game is played.

If you want to feel really, really bad about your chosen profession, try talking to an astronaut. Next year Matthias Maurer will become the 12th German to ever reach space when he takes a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS). In the meantime, he’s here to talk to a couple of idiots who can barely spell ‘constellation.’ We learn what it’s like to prep for the most epic trip of a lifetime, how astronauts live on the ISS, what could (but probably won’t) go wrong, and which local cuisine Maurer will be taking into space. On a much less inspiring note, Eben and Tim debate the merits of food trucks, and how they’d go about colonizing the moon if (God forbid) someone left them in charge.

Yeah, travel writers take a lot of free trips, but who actually hosts them and deals with all their bullsh*t? Amanda Harris, former director of PR at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, FL, joins us to discuss the highs and lows of hosting media. Now she’s pivoted to working with Miami’s top bars and restaurants, and has some inspiring words for anyone looking to reinvent themselves during the pandemic. Also, Eben has a confession to make about eating off other people’s plates, and Tim reveals the biggest lie he’s ever told.

We’ve all been wondering the same thing lately: is travel safe, and will I be judged for doing it? Konrad Waliszewski, founder of the popular TripScout travel app, is here to talk about all things COVID-era travel. Konrad’s been to over 100 countries and he’s helping us answer important questions, like: Which countries live up to the hype? Is travel shaming justified? Is TripAdvisor bullsh*t? How do you even pronounce Eben’s name? Also, we discuss the miseries of the plane’s dreaded middle seat, and Tim comes clean about his sketchy former profession.

Photographer Carell Augustus is reimagining Hollywood like no one’s ever done before. In his new photo book, The Black Hollywood Book Project, Carell recreates iconic movie scenes with Black celebrities, flipping the script on how we view Hollywood history. Although steeped in the glitzy world of La La Land, Carell is keeping it real with us. He describes what it’s like to work with Hollywood’s biggest egos (it takes A LOT of patience), reveals which stars are a pain in the ass (sign the damn release, Dule Hill), and lays out his hope for the future of Hollywood.

Basketball took Phil Calvert around the world. Playing professionally in Europe, he got a taste for living and traveling abroad and knew he’d found another passion. Now based in Denmark, Phil is the star of Phil Good Travel on Matador Network and has built an Instagram following of more than 50,000. Phil is here to discuss the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on the travel world, the new Green Book, racism in unexpected countries, the bizarre 2020 NBA season, and how he got residency in Denmark (and how you might be able to do it too). We also roast our friend and “Phil Good Travel” producer Rob Chursinoff, who definitely doesn’t deserve it. Eben gripes about how he got screwed over on a recently booked trip to Portugal that never happened. Tim admits that he got Mom-blocked the only time he met a potential romantic interest on a plane.

A former Pizza Maker of the Year Champion, founder of the Brooklyn Pizza Crew, and owner of several pizzerias across NYC, Nino Coniglio is here to talk about all things pizza. We’ll learn why New York City has better pizza than Italy, and what it was like growing up in pizzerias on the rough streets of Brooklyn. We’ll also find out the truth about Chicago style, discuss the most popular pizza style in Naples (it’s NOT what you think), and Nino will help us answer an age-old controversy: does pineapple belong on pizza? If you can listen to this episode without salivating and immediately ordering pizza -- you’re stronger than we are. Also, Eben reveals why he obsessively tries the pizza in every country he visits, and Tim spills the beans about his questionable Halloween costume.