Tray Tables and Time Zones

The Ramble: A Preview of 2025

• Josh Bogle

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0:00 | 17:13

Ever been caught daydreaming about next travel adventure? Join me, Josh Bogle, as I share a teaser of my plans for 2025, beginning with an epic solo escapade through the mesmerizing landscapes of Scandinavia. Picture yourself alongside me, hopping from a cozy flight to Helsinki to a scenic train journey into the heart of Finnish Lapland, where Santa Claus's official home awaits. From night trains to ferry rides, this adventure promises a captivating blend of travel modes and endless discoveries in the vibrant cities of Helsinki and Stockholm, with a charming stopover in the bustling streets of London. Experience these journeys in real-time as I capture and recount each moment, ensuring you're right there with me every step of the way.

But the wanderlust doesn't stop there! I'm incredibly excited to unveil my inaugural voyage to South Africa, a journey brimming with first-time experiences on the African continent. Imagine exploring the captivating allure of Cape Town, embarking on an unforgettable safari in Kruger National Park, and savoring the rich flavors of Stellenbosch's wine regions. And as the podcast grows, so does our storytelling, with plans to enrich our adventures with immersive video content. With nearly 400 downloads, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for your support and invite you to continue exploring the world with me. May your holiday season be as adventurous and joyous as the stories we share!

Speaker 1

Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of Tray Tables and Time Zones. Presents the Ramble. I'm your host, josh Bogle, and on this episode we talk about the future. Well, we're right in the middle of the holiday season and I hope everyone's enjoying their holiday so far, and I hope everyone's enjoying their holidays so far. We've got some big ones coming up here, so I know a lot of folks are going to be traveling and visiting family and friends for the holidays, and so I'm going to be doing the same thing and therefore I'm going to go on just a little bit of a hiatus here for a couple of weeks while we get through the holiday season and then pick back up as soon as we get through the new year. And so that's really what I wanted to talk about with everybody is, I wanted to kind of give you a preview of what to look forward to in at least the first part of 2025 on the Trade Tables and Time Zones podcast. As of right now, it's looking like it's going to be one heck of a year in 2025.

Speaker 1

I recently decided to do a solo trip, probably spurred on by doing the solo trip podcast and solo travel podcast that we did here not too long ago, I think, I got re-inspired to go out and do another solo trip. So in early January I'm going to go ahead and take a trip to Scandinavia. Early January I'm going to go ahead and take a trip to Scandinavia, and this trip is going to be Finland, sweden, and then a little stopover in London on the way home. But it's kind of a weird little trip for me in that it involves a lot of different kinds of travel. So obviously flying to and from Europe is pretty normal. Actually, all the modes of transportation I'm going to use on this trip are pretty normal. It's just that they're all smushed together in this one trip. So that makes it kind of unique. And I'll get to the other thing that's going to make this trip unique here shortly. So I'm going to fly into Helsinki in Finland thing that's going to make this trip unique here shortly. So I'm going to fly into Helsinki in Finland, and then is just a couple hours after I get there I'm going to jump on the train and head North to finish Lapland, to the capital of finish Lapland, and that is Rovin Emini. I probably just butchered the crap out of that, but anyway. So I'm going to go up there and I'm going to only spend one day.

Speaker 1

This is kind of a compressed hustle trip. So I'm going to go up there and I'm going to only spend one day. This is kind of a compressed hustle trip, but I'm going to go up there because it just happens to be the official home of Santa Claus. Now I realize that I'll be there after the big day, so maybe Santa Claus will be hanging out taking a break, maybe having a nice beverage and trying to recover from his busy night. Maybe I'll get to meet him.

Speaker 1

Who knows what's going to happen, but it's a cool thing to get to go up there, see the Santa Claus village. I actually will get to cross the Arctic Circle and I also get to take the night train up there and back. So I'll be traveling in a sleeper car, in a sleeper cabin, actually on the train up there and back. It's about 12 hours each way. So that's going to be a really cool experience having a meal on the train and sleeping on the train and just kind of taking in Finland and also, of course, getting to roam around the home of Santa Claus for a full day and then ride back to Helsinki, spend a couple of days in Helsinki exploring the city. It's one of those places that actually we were going to go a couple of years ago and then the pandemic hit and we didn't get to go. So spend a couple of days in Helsinki and then it's going to be time to go to Stockholm.

Speaker 1

Now the interesting thing is is I'm taking a ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm. 17 hours on this ferry, which frankly, looks like a small cruise ship, I'm going to have a small cabin on this boat and it's got buffets and restaurants and shops and all kinds of stuff, so I'm going to check all that out, which should be really pretty cool. Then spend several days in Stockholm again another city that we were supposed to go to a couple of years ago and then catch a flight to London that will swing through Zurich, but it's just a short layover, so that really doesn't count. But then I'll go into London and I'm going to spend that night, then a full day, and then that night in London and then fly out the next day. So I'll have a full day and a half in London, which will be awesome because, as you have heard me say before on this podcast, I love London. So get a couple of the Scandinavian capitals that I've never been to and then, of course, get to close it out with a nice little day in London. So get a couple of the Scandinavian capitals that I've never been to and then, of course, get to close it out with a nice little day in London, really excited about this trip.

Speaker 1

Now, not only will I obviously podcast about it, but what I'm going to try to do cross your fingers, hopefully this will work is I'm going to essentially live stream the trip. Now I'm not going to it's not going to be truly live because I'm not going to be, you know, broadcasting it as it's happened, but I'm going to record as it's happening. So get my real time thoughts, feelings, everything about the trip as it's kind of happening, you know, in certain spots on the train or on the airplane, or in the hotel or whatever, I'm going to have a recorder and a mic and I'm just going to talk the good things, the bad things, what I'm seeing, what I'm experiencing, and hopefully that will be cut down once I get back home and worked on a little bit so that it's easy to listen to and then I can provide you guys with kind of a as you go experience of what I'm seeing and feeling and experiencing in these places and it might give you a different perspective on traveling to those locations, right, because I have a feeling I'm going to really like Helsinki and Stockholm and I know I'm going to love London. So I think this is going to be a really fun trip and it's going to be interesting to see kind of my feelings as I'm going through it, including when I'm tired and tired of traveling and all those things. So you're kind of going to get the gamut of emotions on this trip, but it should be interesting and I'm really looking forward to kind of doing it and kind of capturing those thoughts real time. So what I'll do is I'll edit them down and probably get them into a couple of episodes. So that will be one of the early episode series for next year based off this trip. So I'm really looking forward to letting you guys experience that and have you guys listen to it and tell me what you think of it, because it might be something that I'd like to do more of when I travel is kind of to give that real-time perspective.

Speaker 1

So another thing that we're going to do in 2025 is I'm going to get into the mouse, and when I say the mouse, I mean Disney. So I haven't talked a ton about this on the podcast. But for some of you that know me, you probably have a pretty good idea for where I'm going with this. But if you don't, I am a huge Disney fan. Now, when I say that, I don't necessarily mean Disney movies. Look, I love Disney movies. They're great. I've seen most of them, but I'm not like a super fan. I'm not a huge fan of them. It's not one of those things I have to just sit down and watch all the time.

Speaker 1

But I am a huge Disney fan, and what I mean by that is I am a huge parks and experiences fan. I love Disney parks, I love the cruise line Disney parks, I love the cruise line. I love all of those things that you can actually go and do that Disney has created, and so I've done quite a bit of Disney in my lifetime, both here in the US on the ocean and then overseas as well, and so I kind of want to start a series for the podcast that discusses travel related strictly to Disney. I think there's a lot out there to discuss, to learn to understand related to Disney that might just inspire you to give it a shot, or would give you some tips on how to do things better or some things to try, or whatever it may be, and hopefully inspire you to do some of this Disney travel, because it is actually a ton of fun.

Speaker 1

And so we're going to do a full Disney series. I'm sure we're going to talk about the parks in the US, we'll talk about Disney Cruise Line, we'll talk about going to the foreign parks and just overall kind of the greatness of Disney right, and how to experience it to get the most out of it. So I think that's going to be a really fun series and we'll kind of piggyback that series with an actual cruise that we have coming up. In March we're going to be going to Disney's two private islands in the Caribbean. So we've been to Castaway Cay, which is the one that Disney has owned pretty much the entire time they've had Cruise Line. And then we're also going to be going to Lookout Point, which is the new one that they just recently opened. So we're going to give both of those a shot and I'm sure that will make its way into a podcast as well. And then two more items that I know will be podcast episodes in 2025.

Speaker 1

One is going to be how do you deal with it when your kids start to travel? That's an interesting one, and it's not for everybody, because obviously not everybody has kids. But what do you do? How do you handle that? And the reason this is coming up is because my daughter has reached a certain age in high school where not only is she traveling to see some of her friends that have moved in the US, but she's actually going on a trip this coming summer to Italy, which, look, I'm super excited for. It's a tour with a group through school, but it's her first experience of traveling overseas by herself, without me or my wife with her, and you know, obviously there's some anxiety around that. But also she's a really smart girl and she has taken to travel kind of like me and that she's got a bug for travel, and so you know, certainly I think this is gonna be an amazing opportunity for her to get out there and kind of do travel on her own, but with a really good safety net. But of course, you know I'm her dad, so I'm obviously concerned about her and want her to be safe. So I think that would be a really good topic or two to talk about on the podcast, because you know there's going to come that time when your kids are going to start traveling and if you're into traveling, like I am, then you're excited about that opportunity for them. But at the same time, like I said, you have some trepidation and some reservations, that uh that you have to work through, and so I think that would be something really pretty cool to explore for, uh, for folks out there that actually have kids and that are getting to that age or have already gotten to that age and have started traveling, and just how you deal with that.

Speaker 1

And then, lastly, I plan on doing a big series on South Africa, and the reason I say South Africa is because later in this year, my wife and I and several groups of our friends are going to go to South Africa on a tour, and it's going to include Cape Town and Kruger National Park, so there's going to be some safari elements to it. It's going to include Stellenbosch and the wine regions, so there's going to be some nice beverages and, I'm sure, some really good food. Anyway, it's going to be a I think it's about 10 days. We're going to be some nice beverages and, I'm sure, some really good food. Anyway, it's going to be a I think it's about 10 days. We're going to be in South Africa, so I'm really looking forward to not only experiencing that, but then coming back and getting to share with all of you that trip and that experience, because that's going to be a really exciting trip. There's a lot of firsts in there. Right, it'll be my first time in South Africa. It'll be my first time on the continent of Africa, so I'm really excited about getting to experience that.

Speaker 1

We looked at this trip and we were trying to decide on this trip and a couple of other ones. If this trip included an element of safari, then that would decide it, and sure enough, we found out that it would, and so, yeah, we were pretty much locked in at that point. And then a couple other things, too look for in 2025 with the podcast, as we continue to grow and expand and look at more ways to get content out to you guys is that we're going to probably do a lot more video elements. I'm hoping to do some recording on this trip in Finland and Sweden that I can incorporate into the podcast, maybe just on YouTube, because certainly that's a visual medium and we can use YouTube for that, so I may put some of that up on YouTube and then direct you guys to it to take a look if you're interested. And so we're going to do a lot more of that, maybe roll some more video in and things of that nature, and try to be, you know, not only try to continue to grow the podcast, but also be a bit more interactive with everyone and also to show more of the world of travel that we can, not just through talking about it, but also showing it visually. So there's a lot of opportunities out there and we're going to give some of those things a try and hopefully they work out. I'm sure some of them will, some of them won't, but I'm excited to try them and see how it goes with the podcast Because, as I've said, I'm pretty much every episode.

Speaker 1

I'm having such an absolute blast doing this podcast and getting to share all my experiences and the things that I've learned and the ridiculous experiences I've had, good and bad along the way. It's been an absolute joy and I'm hoping that you all are getting something out of it as well and are enjoying the episodes. Thanks to everyone who has listened this year and helped get this podcast off the ground. I think we're going to wrap up the year with close to 400 downloads, and that's pretty awesome considering how small we started out as and how small we are now even, but we've managed to reach some people and it seems like some folks have taken interest in listening to us, and so I really, really am excited about that.

Speaker 1

So, with all that said, I hope this gives you an idea of what to look for in 2025 and that you're going to be excited about it. I know I'm certainly excited about it and can't wait to share more crazy adventures with you all and see where all this goes. So, with that, I hope everyone has an absolutely fantastic holiday season and you get to spend as much time as possible recharging, relaxing, spending time with your friends and family and just enjoying this season, because it is a great time to get to be around our loved ones and the people we care about. Again, I'm wishing all the best on the holiday season to everyone who listens in on this podcast and thank you again so much for helping us continue to grow. I look forward to an amazing 2025. Thanks everyone, and we'll see you in 2025. Thanks, bye, thank you. We'll see you next time.

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Josh Bogle

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