Across New Skies
Across New Skies captures the raw, funny, and unforgettable stories of Native travelers leaving home soil for the first time. From airports to oceans, each journey is a reflection of identity, memory, and bold first steps.
Across New Skies
Juan Goes to London and Dublin
In this episode of Across New Skies, Juan shares the story of his first trip overseas. He and his wife traveled to London and Dublin. Their fun adventure turned into an experience that taught Juan a lot about himself.
He reflects on what it meant to be seen simply as “American” abroad, and how that contrasted with his deep identity as a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. From being a wide-eyed tourist to having an emotional moment at Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, Juan’s story is full of thoughtful insights, quiet humor, and cultural reflection.
Juan is also the front man for Secret Tween, the band behind our theme music.
🎶 Check them out on Spotify.
Got thoughts or want to share your own story? Reach out!
acrossnewskiespodcast@gmail.com
Instagram & Bluesky: @acrossnewskiespod
New episodes drop every Thursday.
Got thoughts or want to share your own story? Reach out!
acrossnewskiespodcast@gmail.com
Instagram & Bluesky: @acrossnewskiespod
Episodes drop on Thursdays.
Good day, and welcome to Across New Skies, the podcast where Native stories take flight. My name is Jessica, and I'll be your host. In our first episode, I shared how this podcast came to be, and you got to hear our very first story. So if you haven't listened to it yet, it's worth going back and checking it out. Today we are continuing the journey. And before we dive in, I want to take a moment to say this. Even though we've just begun, we've just only begun, these stories are very deeply personal. And our guests, you know, they express their vulnerability. And you know, that's kind of the whole point of this podcast. sharing the emotional side of travel. It doesn't make us weak or anything like that. In fact, it shows strength. Because stepping into unfamiliar places while holding on to who you are, that's courage. That's power. And I hope that maybe if you're on the fence about traveling, you'll find strength through these stories. Across New Skies isn't about perfection. It's about honesty, identity, and the many ways Native people move throughout the world. So with that, Let's get into this next conversation.
Speaker 01:Well, hey, hello. My name is Juan Ysaguirre, and I am from the Pascua Yaqui tribe.
Speaker 00:Pascua Yaqui. Welcome, Juan. Thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast. Hey, thanks for
Speaker 01:having me. This is super cool.
Speaker 00:Yeah, and you know, we are talking all things travel, and I would just love to know, as well as our listeners love to know, where you have traveled to and when. Your first trip. Let's see. Can you remember? Was it a while ago?
Speaker 01:Yeah, it was actually September 2018. It was the first time I had ever had to do the passport process and get my photo taken. Got it at Costco. It was a little bit of nerve wracking just because, you know, it's like government document. And, you know, but it was also it was also exciting just because it was the idea of getting like these passport stamps and, you know, kind of like that hard, core copy of like, yeah, I've been to this place. This is, you know, so it was, it was, it was kind of like a multitude of just like emotions. So then my wife and I got the passports way ahead of time. And our trip actually was in September of 2018. We went to London and Dublin, London first, Dublin second.
Speaker 00:Nice.
Speaker 01:And so that what kind of started was, um, I never really put any thought like as a kid of going anywhere international, um, maybe go to Mexico. Cool. You know, but it never really was something that I was more interested in like New York doing Saturday night live, you know, or, um, you know, Pittsburgh Steeler game, you know, things like that to actually go to like Italy or to go to that side of the world. It was like, yeah, that'd be cool. But it wasn't ever something I grew up was like, yeah, let's do it. So when I met my wife, that was kind of like her thing. We ended up kind of saving up over a couple of years just to be able to have fun and go. And then once we got close, it was around like her birthday, 2017. She was like, well, what if next year we go to London? And I was like, OK, just kind of like along with the going along with the fun, just like, sure, you know. Because her thing was she really wanted to have an English breakfast. That was her, like, she wanted the beans, she wanted the eggs, she wanted, like, all that. And so I was like, all right, let's go. Did
Speaker 00:you fly out of Phoenix?
Speaker 01:Yeah, so when we went, actually, we had a layover in either Florida or Atlanta. And it was for, like, a couple hours. And I remember thinking... Like, oh, man, we're going to get there and it's going to be like 2 a.m. But I completely forgot about the time difference. So like we landed like breakfast time in London, like right with everyone starting their day. And, you know, so it was it was kind of weird to get used to the time difference. But I mean, I mean, the air was different. Even the traffic, like the sidewalks, what do they call them? Like where there are like blocks and it's not smooth cement. Oh, it's like cobblestone. Yeah. And it's like things like that. So I'm just like. this is a completely different side of the world. And just looking up at the architecture, just looking at all the different things, I don't know, like it definitely made me feel like I'm not, you know, 10 hours away from home.
Speaker 00:Yeah, you're in a whole new
Speaker 01:world. Yeah, this was like, I remember when we got off the plane, we ended up like checking into our hotel. We were so excited that we ended up just basically like dropping our bags off and just going out sightseeing. I think we had two, three hours of sleep each. But we were just like, let's just go. Let's just go. We, you know, total tourists, you know, we're taking photos. Like I had my iPhone. I'm just like snapping photos and trying to find coffee, trying to find breakfast and, We were like in the downtown London area. And so, I mean, it was just booming with like traffic and people. And it was just it almost kind of reminded me of a little bit of like Seattle was just how overcast it was the whole time. So like all my photos, there's like it's gray, you know, and it's funny. It's funny hearing like that's kind of like the joke that, you know, it's like a gray London or whatever. Like it's always cloudy over there. And yeah, all my photos, I'm like in a hoodie. Coming in, the biggest thing I remember was just like. I did it because it wasn't ever something that like when I went to Pittsburgh to see a home Steelers game, it was like, yeah, I did it. And it was like my dad's bucket list to do that, too. So it was checked off a lot of boxes, but international London feet on the ground. We actually exited the plane from steps and just.
Speaker 00:Oh, wow.
Speaker 01:I don't know. Like it just. the excitement of being somewhere new that I didn't know where I was basically. And it was like every, every step I took was new territory that like, like kind of like now where I can give someone kind of like insight. It's like how to do it. Like, oh yeah, bring a jacket or, you know, things like that. I don't know. It was just, it was just this really kind of exciting feeling that like I was doing something new and fun. It's like, I'm looking at the photo of our English breakfast, you know, and it's, There's so we got beans, tomatoes, chicken nuggets, sausage, bacon, eggs, a glass of milk and some coffee. So, I mean, that's pretty good. Yeah, I remember the eggs. They weren't like yellow. They were like orange, like completely different. Eggs over there and beans, they're all right. But yeah, just so. It was kind of funny. So we ended up, we spent more time in London than we did in Dublin. So it ended up being about like a 11 day thing where it was six days in London, three days in Dublin, something like that. So I have the majority of my photos and everything. So like we saw the shard and city hall and the bridge, right? The tower bridge. The majority of my photos are, of London and, you know, we went we had to do the landmarks. And so when we were at the Tower of London, we saw kind of like the Queen's Army. Right. But they were the ones protecting all the ancient history that was over there, the the Royal Armory weapons from eighteen hundreds, basically. It was open. So it was like a museum. There's a bunch of people. And we spent the majority of our time just kind of looking at all the landmarks. There's a, it's called, it's a church. It's the All Hallows by the Tower Church. Really nice. And then it was kind of cool. So like my exposure or kind of like my experiences with London stuff kind of starts and ends with Austin Powers. So like seeing the cars and I'm like, yeah, like you're, the cars from Austin Powers are here too. So like little things like that where I'm just like, like I'm totally in a different spot. right now like at the time we were my wife was a big harry potter fan so we ended up going it's the king's cross railway station they have a little section for harry potter fans in between platforms nine and ten and in the book the kids go to the special wizard school at platform nine and three quarters so that's how the special students um that's their like pass to get into Hogwarts. So in the actual London station, London chopped in half a cart full of like suitcases and stuff, giving the illusion that it's going through the brick wall because they're like wizards, right? And then there was a staff there who took the photo and you got to pick which Hogwarts house you belong to. So then you had your wand and you had your scarf and then you took the photo as though he were like going into the class.
Speaker 00:That's awesome.
Speaker 01:Yeah, so she was all excited. I was just kind of happy to be there. I had read all the books, but I was just kind of like, Yeah, this is cool, right? You know, so I did my photo. But yeah, my wife that was like, super, super exciting for her. And then we actually went to the museum over there. And We saw the actual Rosetta Stone. Oh,
Speaker 00:wow.
Speaker 01:Yeah. We saw and did so much. Out in the Russell Square Gardens, there's like all these museums, all these like different buildings you can go in and just learn about the history of everything and, you know, the Queen's Army. And then just kind of, I remember we spent a lot of time just hanging outside. It was cloudy. It was nice. So there was a lot of park benches everywhere. I remember the whole trip, we were just kind of like, I can't believe we're here. I can't believe we're here.
Speaker 00:That's awesome. Now, all these places, it sounds like you guys made the most of your time there. And you guys went to a lot of different places. Was this kind of like, get up and let's see what we can do? Or did you have an itinerary? Did you have a list of all the places that you wanted to go? How did you manage all of that? Was it spur of the moment? Or did you know what you were doing every single day?
Speaker 01:We kind of built the plan in the morning because we knew at some point we were going to have to pack up and go to Dublin. So it was part of this package that we got where when we bought the airline ticket to London, we also had scheduled it to Dublin. So each day in London, we kind of, I don't know, we kind of just left it open ended and we knew the things that we wanted to do, wanted to see. But a lot of it was just like, well, let's just go out and see and see what's out there. Um, like there was one day, like my family's real big on like, um, like postcards. So like, there's a day where it was like, okay, so we need a day where we're just kind of hanging out and then like, we'll get coffee and do the postcard thing. And then we'll do lunch and then find something to do later after that. So it's like, we would kind of build each day like that. Um, so it was like, when are we going to do the, I was like, okay, so let's, you know, day two is going to be this. OK, so then maybe we do it tomorrow. All right. So then, you know, when we did the eye, it was like, OK, so we got to do this, this and then we'll finish the day doing the eye. But we didn't plan anything a week or two ahead. It was just really like when we woke up. All right. What do you want to
Speaker 00:do? Whatever you were feeling, whatever you basically. Yeah. Yeah. So did you get to do the London Eye?
Speaker 01:Yeah, we did. How
Speaker 00:exciting. How was it?
Speaker 01:It was really cool. It's kind of funny. So we were in there. And I mean, it looks like an egg, basically. And you're sharing it with several people. So we had about 25 people in there. And it's like glass. So you could see the whole London, everything at night. We went at night. So it was really nice.
Speaker 00:Oh, beautiful. I bet. Just out of curiosity, did it sway or move in any way? Was it pretty stable? Because I'm just... As a person who has a fear of heights, this sounds amazing to me. I definitely want to do it. But I'm also like, if I'm just going to be gripping the bars and hoping to get down, I don't want to do it. You know what I mean? I
Speaker 01:do have a little fear of heights too. And it wasn't that bad. I've had crazier moments like Universal Studios, right? The eye was cool.
Speaker 00:Nice.
Speaker 01:Oh, and we saw that big clock, Big Ben. city of Westminster. So it was under construction when we went. You could still see the clock face, but everything else had all these like barriers and construction grids and tents and stuff like that. Yeah. So that was actually on the same day we did the eye. So that was kind of like our landmark day a little bit. We did those. And yeah, I mean, honestly, it could packed each day with stuff so like we would start in the morning and then just that our photos would slowly turn into night photos and we were still doing stuff you know that's
Speaker 00:really cool and did you just use your legs or did you use any sort of public transportation to get around uh
Speaker 01:well we did the stacked bus you know public transportation um we did the trolley the the train and then yeah we just basically did our steps the whole way so like at the time Adrian Brody was doing a play and it was with a dog. And I just thought that that was like the funniest thing, like, because I mean, now he's an Oscar and stuff, but like 2018, he was still kind of like, look at what he's doing now, you know? And yeah, so I took a photo of one of the public transportation stacked buses and it's it's called Mango, which is funny because that's my friend's nickname. She loves Adrian Brody. So it was kind of like, yeah, like check the lot of boxes off. I'm just like, hey, he's a bum still. Look, he's making, you know, I don't know, stuff like that. Like, so like, I'm looking at all my photos. I'm like, why do I have a random photo of Adrian Brody on a button? Like, oh, that's right. Like, so just, yeah, stuff like that. Oh, yeah. And then I went into those red cell phone stations. Cell phone. I went into the red public payphone stations.
Speaker 00:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 01:There you go. There you go. I would say I did not enjoy the smell of that at all. I think it took a couple months off my life just because it... But I had to go in there and I had to have my photo taken. I had to do it. I had to be a tourist. Yeah, so we just basically would spend each day just looking at all sorts of stuff. I definitely think London should be a place where everyone should go to just to kind of experience Because it's like how I imagine people say how New York is. I felt safe. Everybody knew I was an American somehow. But I felt like it was just a downtown city where you can just walk and you get your coffee, you get your postcards, you go get something to eat, you go look at a show, you go to a museum, and then that's a night out. But yeah, that... That was a lot of fun, and this is making me want to go back to London.
Speaker 00:Oh, yeah. You're making me excited. I'm going to be going later in the year, and I cannot wait. So did your time... Did it go by fast? I know you said you were there for maybe nine or more days. Did it go by really quickly? I mean, before you knew it, you were on a plane to Dublin, or was it... Yeah,
Speaker 01:basically... By the time we realized it, we had did all the museums, did all the landmarks, took all the selfies, right? And then it was, oh, time to check into our Dublin flight and part two of the vacation. And that one was kind of wild because my wife is part Irish. So it was a little bit of like, she wanted to go see kind of what her dad's side of the family It's like all in two.
Speaker 00:Yeah.
Speaker 01:And
Speaker 00:that's, you know, so
Speaker 01:it's like, yeah, cool. You know, let's go. And I remember we land. And the first thing I saw was a circle K. Okay. So I was like, okay, yeah, this is, this is cool. This is.
Speaker 00:Yeah. It's familiar, you know?
Speaker 01:Yeah.
Speaker 00:But I mean, I'm assuming, and I don't want to, let me, let me ask you this because you had went to London. Was your approach to Dublin a little bit different? Like, were you like, Did you feel like a seasoned traveler just because you had just experienced a different, I mean, I know it's all in the same trip, but sometimes your confidence grows as you're going. You're like, I got this, I can handle this. And I'm sure seeing Circle K was like, oh, this is so familiar. We're going to be, we're going to do just fine.
Speaker 01:For sure. You know, getting into London, I was a little nervous. By the time I got to Dublin with going through customs and, you know, doing the, you know, packaging up my luggage and things, I was like, OK, yeah, I kind of know what I'm doing now.
Speaker 00:Yeah.
Speaker 01:And so by the time it was time for us to kind of like start sightseeing and everything, I had brought the best shoes. I had brought all my comfortable pants and, you know, I had plenty of sweaters and jackets. So it was like every day I was kind of like I was blocked and loaded, ready to go for whatever the day was. And it's kind of funny how that happened, because like I'm usually like a nervous traveler, you know, like I've been to Vegas for weddings and stuff and I drove and I'm like, oh man, you know, but I just kind of like bundles of nerves sometimes will come up. Been to like Gallup for like film shoots and I'm like, oh man, I get so nervous, you know, but over there in London, I was like, you know, Dublin, I was fine. Like it's probably because like my wife was there, but just, yeah, like sometimes when I go places in like in America, I'll just get like, I don't know, like, oh man, we got to check in. It's like, dude, we don't check in for three more days. But with Dublin, it was like, just kind of like go with the flow. And there was kind of like no real time to think about it. It was just go. We immediately went to our hotel, just kind of started game planning what we wanted to do. And kind of like the same with London, we wanted to hit all the landmarks. We wanted to hit all the, you know, as many museums as we could with us having just a limited amount of days. We kind of had to do it a little bit faster than in London. Yeah. And Dublin, there wasn't a whole lot of an agenda. There wasn't like, you know, there wasn't like the equivalent of the London breakfast or or anything like that. It was just kind of like just to kind of see what everything or Dublin had to offer. We did go to a pub. It was called the Bleeding Horse. And we did the kind of fish and chip meal. We ended up at another bar that night, and I remember I got my Diet Coke, and I was amazed that it was in a glass container, and it was, like, way small. It was, like, this is nothing. Like, I need, like, six more. You're
Speaker 00:like, you have Circle K's. Where's the Thirst Busters at, man? Like, serious.
Speaker 01:Yeah, I was like, this is nothing. Like, I took a photo of it. Like, this is, like, one swig, I'm done. But, you know, if I wanted a beer, I had to be, like, this pint, this, you know. but yeah like we ended up going so it was like this this Irish like prison museum and it was it was wild because they had the actual holding sales that these people were in it's Kilmainham Gowl Museum and the vibe in there was so wild because it was kind of like interactive. So like you put your hands on stuff, there was like video showing slideshows and it'd have like reenactments of like what the prisoners did and how they lived. It was wild. Like, I don't know, like I felt, I felt a little bit of a bunch of people's presence there. Really? There was this unspoken, I remember like, cause like looking at it, I remember taking a photo of stuff and I'm like, okay, yeah. And then I remember being like, okay, no more photos. I have to be respectful. Like, like as if there was someone like watching, like, Hey, what'd you do? Like, you know, I don't, it was just, it was so, cause like, they like killed people there. So they had like, you know, the orchard chambers, the hole and stuff like that. And it was just like, and this, but again, this is like their history. Right. So like, this is how, this is how Dublin has the people kind of acknowledge, like how we used to live and, and, how they used to treat their prisoners and I don't know it was just wild because like I had never really so the closest feeling I had gotten to that was like there was a boarding school exhibit at the Herd Museum like years ago and it was kind of that same feeling where it was like man it's so wild it's different when it's like sports memorabilia or like this movie was filmed here but it's like when people have died and like have gone through these like horrific things and like this is how we commemorate them Like, man, this is such a trip.
Speaker 00:Yeah. I think those like kind of full on interactive and by interactive, I mean like the walls are the same. The doors are the same. Like you, people have passed through there, have touched these walls, the sounds, the noises, the creaking. I've experienced that feeling before as well, where you're almost just like jolted into, instead of being an observer, you're jolted into this reality of like, humanism and people actually being there experiencing this and it it does make you for a second be like i don't want to be disrespectful like what am i doing like why am i even here like i shouldn't even be here so let me just stay quiet and observe and soak this in because that's essentially what they're there for right so that you can understand the dark side of history almost.
Speaker 01:Basically. Yeah. And so like London, I'm like panoramics. I'm like taking selfies. Right. And I mean, they had the harsh history over there, too. Right. But Dublin was a completely different vibe just because it was almost like this is us. This is Dublin. This is us. This is Ireland. And showing the bruises and showing, you know, the dark marks in history that they've kind of dealt with and have processed and I never forget, like going into therapy, one of my therapists told me that there's a difference between Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Nagasaki healed. And they did that by having museums and having the people tell the stories of the horrific histories. Hiroshima went the other way. And so now there's still kind of on the front lines of kind of their dirt trauma still being unhealed. So it was Dublin's kind of way of healing by saying, this is us, this is how we butchered our own, and this is how, you know. And, you know, the courthouses, right, where they, you know, would schedule the beheadings and hangings and firing squads and all, and it's just like, ooh. And so, like, definitely having that, like, code of respect there like all these photos of London and then Dublin is just like kind of trails off. I just have like a handful, like it's more the verbal personal stories that I can recite as opposed to just looking at like the video of Dublin.
Speaker 00:Right.
Speaker 01:And I remember my wife kind of a little, she was a little sideways about it too. Just kind of like, cause she would see like her, her last name, she didn't change her name. And so she'd see McCabe, on like coffee and you know coat of arms or like emerald like pendants and things and it's like well this is where you
Speaker 00:yeah it's her literal history
Speaker 01:right and so it was almost like that that like wave of respect that I had for like the prisoners and things and it was just like well because yeah this is also her so it was like it was just like so many different emotions and feelings it felt less of a vacation and more of like a journey like I don't know, like a pilgrimage, I guess, almost where you actually have to go and feel it in order to actually experience the actual country.
Speaker 00:Right. I don't know. It's deep and dark subject matter that requires you to be there fully.
Speaker 01:Yeah. I mean, that Herd Museum exhibit was about boarding school. And I remember I had a panic attack looking at the pile of hair next to the barber chair. And I remember getting that same feeling in Dublin in some of these like torture chambers that they would show and has a little, you know, video clips of the prisoners in the hole. And I was like, oh, dude, this is nuts. This is wild, you know?
Speaker 00:Yeah.
Speaker 01:And of course, like I had fun, put my hands on the bars and pretended I was screaming, you know, free water, you know, all that. I had fun. But it was it was a definite like I could just feel so many different things there. And I was just like, okay, yeah, like something's here. Something's here. I gotta be cool. I gotta be polite. I, you know, and, um, and again, kind of the same thing felt safe in Dublin. Uh, we did the Guinness museum. Uh, we didn't really go on a tour. We're not much of a drinkers or anything, but like a lot of our families, both sides, mine and hers, like, Oh, you gotta go. So like we went, uh, And just kind of saw like the giant tanks and stuff. And they're like, oh, the next tour is, you know, I think Monday or whatever. Oh, we're going to be already gone. So we ended up just kind of like going into the gift shop. They have like a bunch of stuff there. You can kind of see old photos and everything. And we got my dad a hat. We got her dad a little like, like little Kangol hats, the little like Irish hats. Yeah. And yeah, from the homeland, right? His whole thing. And it was cool. But when we came back, everybody that we knew, our family and stuff, how was the Guinness Museum tour? It was supposed to be real good. Oh, well, yeah, it was cool. Everybody seemed more excited. Because again, we're not really, that's like her dad's drink and stuff. And it's not in the house here. So it's like, let's just do a gift shop.
Speaker 00:I've been there. That place is really big. The tour is really awesome. And but that store. Yeah, man, they got everything there.
Speaker 01:It's a lot of fun. It was a different. Oh, and then flying back. We almost got delayed by a whole day traveling back because there was these like high winds in Dublin at the airport. And I guess. It blew over some truck. And so they were cautious of like the planes leaving because the winds could have affected. Totally. Could have affected the air travel. Yeah. So like I remember we we ended up getting lucky and our plane left. But then we ended up having to sleep overnight at the LaGuardia Airport. We were stuck there. And just kind of because our flight was it was something around like it was going to be the first flight to Phoenix from New York, from LaGuardia. And by the time we flew with all the wind delays into or from Dublin to New York, by the time we would have gotten into our hotel and everything, we would have needed to have traveled back to LaGuardia to get our flight. Wow. So we just said, well, let's just stay. And so we ended up, yeah, it was ended up being like four hours at LaGuardia and, and just like these chairs. And there was a bunch of other people with us kind of in the same boat from different places of the world. So, I mean, there was enough people that we kind of took over that whole area
Speaker 00:and
Speaker 01:we all slept, but I was just like, this is New York, man. Like, this is like, this is prime. Like, you know, someone's going to come and take our luggage or something. So I'm just like one, I opened the whole time and didn't sleep until we got on the flight home. And then that was when, that was when I was able to get some rest, but a little rough on the, on the way back home from Dublin, just with the winds. But I think, I mean, that just all made a part of the experience.
Speaker 00:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 01:There's things like that, that, it's made me a little bit less bothered when things don't go according to plan while traveling. You know, like it's it's like, I don't know, what's another day here then for strength, you know, like stuff like that, like versus like how it used to be. It was kind of like high, strong, like, oh, man, what's going to happen? I don't want to sleep in the airport.
Speaker 00:Yeah.
Speaker 01:Got to do it. You know? Yeah.
Speaker 00:You got to go with the flow.
Speaker 01:Yeah. That's the biggest That's the biggest thing I learned, I think. Having to, I mean, yeah, go through customs, having to check in flights. It's you. Like, I would always travel where there's family. You know, go to California. Oh, I got a cousin one hour from here. I go to Texas. Oh, I got my uncle. He's somewhere around here. Dublin? Like, I got nobody. Yeah. You know? But it was a lot of fun. I would say... there was more like culture and more like history in Dublin. It's probably because I have a little bit more of like personal like inside knowledge just with Ash.
Speaker 00:Yeah, for sure. I
Speaker 01:think just the way they even presented their histories and just their landmarks. It was very much like they were still as though it was a dark mark. They're still proud of who they are because like, look at where we've come from, how far we've, you know, progressed and irish pride right like that's their their their thing but yeah like it it was really cool to kind of see them take control of like how they used to be 150 years ago like oh now we're better now you know we have these you know it's like okay cool versus there wasn't a whole lot of that in london it was very much um you go to vacation have fun there's shows there's museums you know if you want to go and see the history of you know the queen and the wars and all that, like you kind of have to seek them out as opposed to Dublin. It's just like everywhere.
Speaker 00:Yeah.
Speaker 01:So that was, that was fun to kind of get a different vibe from, from both of those countries.
Speaker 00:Yeah. That's really cool. And all in one trip.
Speaker 01:Yeah. It made, and it's kind of funny, like I've, okay. So like here in America, I feel very much Yaki indigenous. Like I feel it, especially now I have a tattoo. So people who don't even like have tattoos, a conversation with me, they could just see me from afar. And if they know like, oh, hey, he's Native. Being at the Dublin airport waiting was the first time in my life that I've ever felt like an American. Because anywhere I go, Texas, it's like we're all American, right? Or, you know, we're all from here. And so it's but it's like going international. These Dublin people don't know Pascua Yaqui.
Speaker 00:Right.
Speaker 01:You know, like the chances of them knowing My culture, my language and tradition is very slim. So they're going to see me and just see an American. And that helped actually me go from being called Johnny to Juan. So when I was growing up, I was Johnny. I wanted to be Americanized. I wanted to be, you know, I'm from this city. And so it was, you know, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, you know, report cards said Johnny. But it wasn't until Started getting more adult jobs. I had to go off the name on the driver's license, birth certificate. I don't like Juan, man. It wasn't until I was at the Dublin airport, my music, we had our time to kind of lay over. These people were just looking at me. I felt them looking at me like, oh, look, there's an American right there. Cause like, I don't get that here. Like in Phoenix, like, Oh, look at that native over there. Right. Like, but now it's like, Oh, look at that American. And I was like, wow. Okay. Yeah. Like, yeah. Like it wasn't a feeling that I got a lot of here. Yeah. I still have, I still don't really get that here. Like going to son's games or D-backs games. Like, you know, people like, Oh, then, you know, that man, that Mexican's tall, but it's never that American's tall, you know? And yeah. So being over there, It really, it helped give me a little bit of closure in, you know, kind of my Americanness that like, yeah, you know, when I go anywhere, you know, it's Yaqui first, but then I also have to realize that it's like, you know, they may just see me as an American.
Speaker 00:Right.
Speaker 01:And so it's like, okay, yeah, like I am taking photos every two seconds like a tourist. I am, you know, I'm taking pictures of buses. Like, okay, yeah, I'm an American. I get it.
Speaker 00:You're literally wearing a heart Dublin shirt. There he is, yeah.
Speaker 01:Like that trip checked off a lot of boxes. It helped shape, I think, definitely kind of my adult side because I was still 20 teen, nearly 10 years ago. I mean, I was still a punk. You know, things didn't kick in. Things didn't kick in until about like right before the pandemic. So even during the pandemic, I was still trying to, you know, figure out who I am and, you know, kind of like process things. And I would actually tap into that London and Dublin trip a bunch and just be like, look at that smile. Like you're doing the things you want to do, man. Like it's, you know, like it was kind of learning to be satisfied because, you know, it's like, I'm doing things that I didn't think I would be doing. And so it's like just kind of being happy to go along with the flow and enjoy the ride. That trip kind of kicked that whole thing off for me.
Speaker 00:You mentioned that, you know, Yaki comes first and all of that. I'm curious because when I have traveled to other cultures, I have a new sense of pride for my own that I... That was always surprising to me that I could go into somebody else's space who they are proud of their culture somehow brings back more pride in who I am. Did you experience anything like that?
Speaker 01:Yeah. So so I grew up in the city and I didn't really have a lot of exposure to my culture and language and even kind of like my history. It was all still we don't talk about it. So like the Yaki histories with, you know, fleeing persecution from the Mexican armies back then, it's still going on now. It was just if you quote unquote, you know, crossed into America, into the sanctuary cities, that was good enough, you know, because you weren't being bombed. So like the language, the songs, all that, like I got some of it. I didn't get all of it. And so growing up, I'm Johnny. I'm going to elementary schools and middle schools. I'm usually the only native kid. It wasn't a priority for me because I was still trying to get a handle of everything. It wasn't until I graduated high school and was in college and stuff that I started researching on my own PYT stuff. The more knowledge I gained with that, the more proud I was. The London and Dublin trip I was right in the middle of still kind of re-identifying myself and like, cause like I'm Yaki first. And then there was a time where I wasn't. And so London and Dublin, I didn't have the Yaki tattoos. I didn't bring like my deer eye with me or anything that's supposed to protect from like the evil eye. Um, but every trip after that, I started taking it. I took the deer eye with me. I started, um, tapping into my Yaki side basically. And I think being around, you know, how they showcase their history and things like that, you know, as hard as it was, I was like, okay, yeah, that's, we're kind of similar, you
Speaker 00:know? Right.
Speaker 01:And so, yeah, it, it, it really helped gave me, you know, that little nudge of motivation of like, yeah, man, it's okay. You can keep, you know, learning your history. And it's so, you know, like...
Speaker 00:It's an evolution. You don't have to have all the answers right now. You could still be taking those steps.
Speaker 01:Yeah. And so by the time I got that tattoo, I mean, it was... Yeah, so it had been about five years since London and Dublin. We got back 2018 and 2019 happens, right? And then the pandemic the next year. So, like... my surge of, like, Yaqui pride was still kind of in its infancy. And throughout the pandemic, all I did was just kind of keep with it and research and learn. And I remember I was involved with the tribal elections, right? We did the Zoom, meet the candidates. I was there.
Speaker 00:Nice.
Speaker 01:You know, I remember even being confused, like, because all these folks were speaking the language. And I'm like, what did they say? And all they said was, please vote for me. Like, stuff like that, where I'm just like... you know? And so now presently, let's just, it's like looking at the photos, it's like, I could see myself like, oh yeah, that, that was the me that was still kind of learning, you know? And like, I'll always be learning, but it's kind of like, I've gone from like maybe freshmen to now I'm like maybe a sophomore, you know, where it's like, I still have a bunch to learn, but I got enough to where I'm like, yeah, I kind of, you know, I've, I've made some progress, but definitely going, outside of the country it did something to me for sure it made me feel like there's a giant bubble around like america
Speaker 00:giant bubble
Speaker 01:yeah like so it's just weird because like i had never felt i had never felt like an american
Speaker 00:yeah
Speaker 01:until dublin and so now that stayed with me and so it's almost like i don't know if bubble's the right word but like there's there's a definite like there's a layer to being here that follows us when we go elsewhere out to the world. And I never really noticed, like I've been to Rocky Point and like, hey, that's international travel, but London and Dublin, those two places, I mean, I'm far away from home, you know, I'm far away from Tucson. And it just kind of, it gave me the sense of like, I don't know, like it was like wearing a, wearing like a D-backs jersey. It was like wearing a D-backs jersey at Yankee Stadium. You
Speaker 00:know, like a
Speaker 01:bunch of Yankee jerseys, right? And then you walk up in the D-backs and you're like, yeah, let's go. It's time for a game. Oh, D-backs, man. So it's just, it's like that where it's just like, it felt safe. It felt fine. You know, I didn't get like looks or anything. Like I've gotten more looks at Cracker Barrel than London and Dublin. You know what I mean? Like that's just, but it definitely like, refined a lot of well it answered a lot of question marks i had about identity and culture and so like i'm mostly yaki and part mexican being mixed right and then um just leaving my like my skin complexion with like my tattoos and everything um and i'm like i'm a big dude it's just i give off this different visual right and it's been interesting to kind of think about the trip now um just kind of with how the world is right now. And it's like, it's almost like I needed to go on that trip because I feel like if I didn't, I don't know if I'd still be the same person right now.
Speaker 00:You might've been stuck or.
Speaker 01:Yeah. Like I, that was definitely, it was definitely something I needed to do because if you were to leave it up to me, I probably would have just stayed home and just, you know, blah, blah, blah, but going international, going and doing the uncomfortable things. And yeah, being exposed to everything, I came back like a completely different person. It definitely helped shaped who I am, how even like, like I remember when Nalani, our coworker went to France, just even when someone else goes, you know, oh, you're gonna have so much fun, wear good shoes, right? And do this, do that. But it's like, it's almost like this club now, of like folks who are indigenous going to Italy, going to Athens, right? Going to Spain even. It's kind of like, yeah, you know, like that's, there's, there's an added level of like coolness to it because of how connected like we are to our homes. And then it's like for us to be able to like explore, it's almost like, I don't know, like this travel pass that we get to like experience, you know, because we get to have home and we get to go. out i don't know like it's it's a cool feeling
Speaker 00:well you bring up an interesting kind of topic in regards to when nalani went on her trip you know wear good shoes do this and that and it honestly like now that you you kind of triggered this in my head like i have been to a couple places and when i talk to my younger cousins or um any member of my family who who has not ventured out of you know our lands our home even just the reservation so much the amount of i feel like i can't really offer much because maybe they're going to a different country that i've never been to but i have gone to the airport i do know what it's like to like put pack a suitcase i do know what it's like to be away from my family so i tried to give them words of encouragement of like, try the new food. Don't be afraid. Don't worry about us. We're going to be fine. We're going to be here. We're going to miss you, but you don't worry about any of the struggles that's going on here. You go, you observe, you feel the air, you, you look at the sky, like see if there's similarities to home. And you know, I never really thought like that was super valuable knowledge because it's so general, but at the same time, it's literally what our ancestors used to do, right? They would travel to different types of lands and they would come back and they would give a recap of what that was like and how to
Speaker 01:prepare. And yeah, I mean, that's, I mean, it's funny. I always, I still consider myself a runner. So like in Aachen, a runner was, someone who just ran from village to village relaying information. And I mean, I, what I do now, um, you know, I, I go to an event, what happened? Well, this, this, and this, someone said this, you know, and
Speaker 00:for those, for those who don't know, one is a journalist, the newspaper writer, he writes for
Speaker 01:a newspaper. Um, so, but that's just being,
Speaker 00:yeah.
Speaker 01:So, yeah. So being, being like a, travel correspondent or whatever. It's still kind of like a runner where it's just like customs is going to be a little bit longer. You know, wear good shoes, drink water, just be in the moment and enjoy, you know, like kind of like how you said, don't think about here, you know, here's taken care of. We're fine. We're good. Just, just, you know, just sponge it basically and absorb as much as you can and come back. And then, you know, yeah, you're able to, appreciate home more. You're able to kind of see and feel a deeper connection to everything back home. And having been so far away, you know, for me, Pascua Yaki happenings always happened in Tucson. That's, you know, our biggest homelands. We have what I call the satellite office in Guadalupe. They have events and things like that, but it's always on like a smaller condensed basis. But still, I get, those are my like two main villages that you know I kind of have connections to so it's like when I'm away from you know the Guad Tempe Tucson like I kind of almost feel that distance so like when I was in Gallup on a film set like oh yeah I'm you know 12 16 hours away from home you know when I was in Kansas visiting Ash's family like okay I'm you know 26 hours away from you know I'll always do a a travel time back to see how far away I am.
Speaker 00:Right.
Speaker 01:Being international. Yeah. So you got to cross the ocean, you know, do all these different things. And it's like, wow. Okay. I am way far. So then when I came back, it was like, oh yeah. Oh, my bed, my couch, my things. Oh, I'm back. Feels good. But it was like, it was this different added layer of like, I don't know, just like being proud, you know? Cause like, I remember coming back and we weren't like, bankrupt because of the trip. You know, we, we didn't hit the ground running here. We were able to kind of like ease back into our routine. And, you know, even that, you know, we don't have, my wife and I don't have kids. And so the biggest thing was just kind of, you know, picking up the dogs and then, okay, we got to do laundry and then, okay, we got to, you know, kind of get back into the groove of things.
Speaker 00:Sleep? Was sleep an issue? A jet lag?
Speaker 01:A little bit. I mean, the LaGuardia sleeve, that was rough. But I mean, that first sleep back home, it was just like, yeah, okay, this is good. And that kind of, it had an added layer of like, you know, the kind of life my wife and I had, like we'll have, you know, it's like, you know, no kids, dogs are able to kind of sleep in, right? We didn't have to worry about, you know, newborns or, you know, teenagers, right? And we just, came home and it's like the house was quiet. Right. And we had the dog, we picked up my dogs for my parents. So we all came home at the same time and it was kind of like, ah, we're home. Cool. And then it was like, yeah, this is our house, man. This is our, this is our spot. Like this is our, you know, it was there before the trip, but I think just being far away from it for an extended period of time and it was come back and just like, yeah, that's how everything, that's how I left it. Yeah. Okay. Like we cleaned the house before we left. So it was like we came back to a clean house, too. So it was like really like welcome home. It was like, oh, yeah, dude.
Speaker 00:Yeah. But but also it's like you you're world travelers now. Like you you left your home. You left your dogs. You went and traveled the world and you come back to your home where you feel safe. Your dogs are there with you. But but you got a new stamp. A couple of new stamps on your passport. You're a world traveler now. And I'm sure that was a sense of, hey, we're doing this life thing. You know, we're doing all right. You know?
Speaker 01:Yeah. I mean, my wife and I have been together since we were in high school, basically, since we were teenagers. And, you know, it's always been she and I. So, like... doing the graduations, the engagements, things like that. But then when we went to London and Dublin, it was like, oh, wow, okay, so the kids are doing something. The kids, we were in our 20s. But yeah, it was like, oh, wow, they're really doing it. Because we have a lot of, like my cousins, she's got a bunch of kids. Her cousin's got a bunch of kids. you know, her uncle's got a bunch of you. So like, we're the only ones that don't really have kids. And so it's like, you know, when we went to Austin city limits for like four or five years in a row, it was like, Oh yeah, they're always doing something. But then when we went to London and Dublin, it was like, Oh wow. Okay. So they're really doing it, you know? And a couple of years later we got a house. And so it was just kind of like, you know, It was always funny because like, you know, the high school sweethearts, right? And then they grow up and we're all old now and we got a house and we went international and stuff like that. And it's just kind of like, it's kind of wild. But, you know, these are all things we talked about when we were kids, you know, and actually having done all these things now, it's just, it's pretty surreal.
Speaker 00:Huge thanks to Juan for being so open about his experience. I met Juan about a year and a half ago, and he's just the coolest, most chill guy. He's also into music. In fact, he's the frontman for Secret Tween, and he provided me with the theme music for this podcast. So shout out to Juan. I'll leave the link to his Spotify in the show notes. The music is just as chill as he is. Now, before we say goodbye, I thought I might give you guys a couple of things you might want to Google. We talked about a couple of places in this episode. So here's a couple that you might want to look up. The London Eye. This is the Ferris wheel-like observation thing that we were mentioning. Kilmainham Goal. That is the prison museum that Juan talked about where he went in Dublin. And this is where many of Ireland's political prisoners were incarcerated and tortured and executed. He also mentioned the Guinness Storehouse. That is an experience of telling the tale of Ireland's most famous beer, Guinness. And at the very top of it, on the rooftop, you can actually get a tasting of Guinness. It's really cool. I really liked it. I liked the whole experience because it kind of walked you through their ad campaigns over the years. And I really find that stuff fascinating. Alright guys, well thank you so much for listening. If you want to send me an email, you can send it to acrossnewskiespodcast at gmail.com. You can also find the show on Instagram and Blue Sky at acrossnewskiespod. And that's it. That's all I got. So we'll see you next week for another story. Catch you later. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. While the stories are based on true events, details may be misremembered or creatively retold. I don't fact check. I'm not a travel expert. So please don't take anything here as legal or travel advice. Some portions of this show may use AI-assisted tools to enhance production. And remember, these stories belong to the people who tell them. I'm just here to listen. Theme music by Permission. Ecstasy on Park Ave by Secret Tween. Across New Skies is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Jessica Joaquin.