DAN TABERSKI Vacationed in The Poconos (Live from OnAir Fest 2025)

Summary

Podcast Summary: "DAN TABERSKI Vacationed in The Poconos (Live from OnAir Fest 2025)"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers
• Hosts: Seth Meyers (Sufi) and Josh Meyers (Pashi)
• Episode: DAN TABERSKI Vacationed in The Poconos (Live from OnAir Fest 2025)
• Release Date: April 1, 2025

---

Introduction

In this lively episode of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers, hosts Seth Meyers (referred to as Sufi) and Josh Meyers (referred to as Pashi) welcome renowned podcaster Dan Taberski as their guest. Recorded live at the OnAir Fest in Brooklyn, the episode delves into nostalgic family vacations, childhood memories, and the dynamics of traveling with loved ones.

Hosts’ Personal Anecdotes and Banter

Before diving into the main interview, Sufi and Pashi engage in their characteristic banter, sharing personal stories and humorous exchanges.

• Day Drinking Tales:
  Sufi (00:14): "I have a popular segment on my show called Day Drinking."
  Pashi (01:24): "As a drunk gentleman of a certain age."

• Parenting and Family Life:
  The hosts discuss their interactions with their parents in New Hampshire, highlighting the humorous challenges of family dynamics.
  Pashi (14:44): "Every conversation with mom, the subtext is. He's driving me fucking crazy."
  Sufi (14:35): "She's just going out to get out of the house."

Interview with Dan Taberski

Dan Taberski joins the conversation to reminisce about his childhood vacations in The Poconos, sharing insightful and often hilarious stories.

Childhood Memories in The Poconos

Dan recounts his summers spent in a small cabin with his siblings at the Bobolink cottage colony.

• Shared Spaces and Sibling Dynamics:
  Dan (24:11): "I shared a bed with my brother, and my sister was in the other bed."
  Sufi (25:20): "He shared a room with his brother and sister, often leading to memorable, albeit chaotic, moments."

• Adventures and Mishaps:
  From dodging fly traps to memorable moments like losing his front teeth, Dan’s tales paint a vivid picture of his adventurous yet tumultuous childhood summers.
  Dan (27:34): "My teeth were in his pocket and came out clean."
  Sufi (27:43): "You're stuck walking down that hill with no one else to blame."

First International Trip and Experiences

Dan discusses his first international vacation to Paris during his honeymoon, contrasting it with his domestic trips.

• Cultural Experiences:
  Dan (35:15): "Paris took. Paris is great. I come back all the time. But the marriage didn’t."
  Sufi (33:30): "It's a great place if you like Chinese food."

Family Relationships and Dynamics

Exploring more personal territory, Dan opens up about his relationships with his grandparents and the family vendettas that colored his childhood.

• Grandparents and Family Tensions:
  Dan (36:19): "My grandfather had a vendetta against my aunt. It was complicated."
  Sufi (36:43): "You got to be really wired a certain way to have a lifelong vendetta."

Travel Preferences and Experiences

Dan shares his preferences for vacations, opting for educational and aesthetic experiences over thrill-seeking adventures.

• Ideal Vacation:
  Dan (57:15): "Educational."
  Sufi (48:18): "It's an aesthetic walk. You're just having a pleasant time."

• Transportation Preferences:
  Dan (57:29): "I like a train. I like an Acela."
  Sufi (57:38): "It's fun and romantic."

Challenges and Funny Incidents

The conversation takes a humorous turn as Dan describes a terrifying yet amusing experience of being stuck on a roller coaster.

• Roller Coaster Fiasco:
  Dan (49:24): "I got stuck on Rolling Thunder in New Jersey. They made us walk down."
  Sufi (50:42): "Do you ride roller coasters without being locked in?"
  Dan (51:45): "It's about having control. Without control, it's just not enjoyable."

Closing Remarks and Takeaways

As the episode wraps up, the hosts and Dan reflect on the importance of family vacations in shaping memories and relationships. They emphasize the blend of fun, chaos, and learning that comes with traveling together.

• Final Reflections:
  Sufi (62:03): "Did you ever travel with your parents as an adult?"
  Dan (63:39): "If you're within two hours of Buffalo, you have to go see Niagara Falls."

Notable Quotes

• On Day Drinking:
  Sufi (00:14): "I have a popular segment on my show called Day Drinking."

• On Family Dynamics:
  Pashi (14:44): "Every conversation with mom, the subtext is. He's driving me fucking crazy."

• On Childhood Mishaps:
  Dan (27:34): "My teeth were in his pocket and came out clean."

• On Ideal Vacations:
  Dan (57:15): "Educational."

• On Roller Coasters:
  Dan (49:24): "I got stuck on Rolling Thunder in New Jersey. They made us walk down."

Conclusion

"DAN TABERSKI Vacationed in The Poconos (Live from OnAir Fest 2025)" offers a heartfelt and humorous exploration of family trips through the lens of both the hosts and their esteemed guest, Dan Taberski. The episode underscores the enduring impact of shared experiences, the joys and challenges of family vacations, and the unforgettable moments that define our relationships with one another.

---

Note: This summary excludes advertisement segments and focuses solely on the content-rich portions of the episode.

Transcript

[Pashi]

This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by the all new 2025 Nissan Armada. Take your adventures to new heights. Learn [e-mail].

[Sufi]

Hi Pashi.

[Pashi]

Hi, Sufi.

[Sufi]

Let's just get something out of the way. You know, I have a popular segment on my show called Day Drinking.

[Pashi]

I do. Yeah.

[Sufi]

Did one yesterday.

[Pashi]

Yeah, I heard.

[Sufi]

And deeply hungover. I don't want to spoil who it was with.

[Pashi]

Yeah. I was gonna ask you, but maybe you'll tell me offline.

[Sufi]

I will say that it was the first time day drinking ended and the person I was doing it with said, should we have one more?

[Pashi]

Oh, okay.

[Sufi]

Yeah. So I didn't. In the end, I was not. Neither they or I were as drunk as I've been in the past.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Sufi]

Sort of kept it in control. Do you.

[Pashi]

I'm sure it's a conversation with Alexi, your wife before you go into a day drinking. You say, hey, I'm going to work today. And I'm. I will come home drunk.

[Sufi]

They're the good news. They're still on spring break. So I came home to an empty apartment.

[Pashi]

Gotcha. What a dream for you.

[Sufi]

Dream.

[Pashi]

Not in your normal day to day life, but as a. As a drunk gentleman walking.

[Sufi]

As a, as a drunk gentleman of a certain age. Yeah. The only other thing I'll say is I don't actually think my issue right now is being hungover. I just cannot sleep well anymore when I drink.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And so I went to bed at 9, thought I'd be good to go get a full 12 hours. 12 hours? Who are you? Well, I thought I could go nine to nine. I, you know, I had, I again, I'd had so much to drink. I had nobody waking me up.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And then I woke up at 1am for like three hours and then slept from four to seven. So. Wow. Not good.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But you know, it does still feel like, I don't know, legally sanctioned binge drinking, which.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Not a lot of people have in their life. It's a nice little carve out I've built for myself to a year where you decided to. A year is all that okay? Yeah, is, you know, because at some point it does become a little gnarly to watch.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

You know, you don't want to keep.

[Pashi]

Keep banging that gone.

[Sufi]

No. Drink responsibly, as a lot of our sponsors make us say in the ad reads. Also, when we went island. We went to an island.

[Pashi]

Yeah, I can tell you're more tan. You're back to being tan. Tan. Sufi and this is going to be you until next winter, I imagine.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Now I've got my base coat, I'll be good to go. Yeah, really, we had a really fun time.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And I decided just to lean into the fact that I am part of a beach family now. You know, whatever opinions I have about the beach are moot.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Sufi]

And.

[Pashi]

Well, yeah, just you have to reframe it in your own mind. If you don't like the beach and you are a beach family, wouldn't it be better if you could become pro beach beach guy? Yeah.

[Sufi]

The great development is as your kids get older, they just need you less at the beach.

[Pashi]

Oh.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

So they were really happy to just sort of go off, do their own thing. Managed to read a couple books, which was great. And, you know, but also I was out. There've been vacations in the past where I've said, you know what, I might just hang back. And I decided not to do that ever. I also made a choice, you know, we're packing. I said, do I really need my computer? And I don't. And so I didn't bring my computer. And that was very nice as well.

[Pashi]

Yeah. So you're just on your phone the whole time?

[Sufi]

No, we got. As soon as we got there, I bought a computer.

[Pashi]

An island computer?

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It works in the sand. It floats. You want a deal on a computer, buy it on an island. I think I was pretty good with phone, too. I left my phone behind a lot when we went to the beach.

[Pashi]

Yeah. That's good.

[Sufi]

I think that just having an E reader is the best possible thing you can have.

[Pashi]

Yeah. I mean, I see. You see those people, you know, with a big old book, but an E reader is just.

[Sufi]

It's.

[Pashi]

They're good.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

They're good in the sun.

[Sufi]

I did have one big old book. There was a. There's an author coming up and I read her book.

[Dan Taberski]

Oh, cool.

[Sufi]

And so I did have a physical copy of a book, but as soon as that was done, I. I switched over to the old E reader.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And notice I'm not going to shout out a brand.

[Pashi]

Yeah. Because someone might. Might pop in here and decide to get the Myers boys to start reader.

[Sufi]

Showing their E reader. We've mentioned as well, of course, the two surprise trips that Addy and then Axel took to visit dad. Obviously Ash is very excited about making a surprise trip as well. A fourth child has now requested a surprise trip.

[Pashi]

Cousin Agnes.

[Sufi]

Yeah, my niece. Agnes. My niece. And again, not a. Like, this is not a blood niece.

[Pashi]

Right.

[Sufi]

So she is not. She is not in the pan or hurry bloodline at all. But she's a huge. Agnes is a huge fan of Ponyeri.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Always has been.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And so she also talks like this. Sass. And she came up to me and said, sass, can I surprise Pagaari? And, you know, which is very sweet. So I said, maybe Ash. Maybe Ash would want you to go on his. And Ash said, no.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

So I might. I don't know if I'll ever actually make a fourth trip with a child that's not mine.

[Pashi]

Well, maybe you should just send Zach. Agnes. Dad. Send Zack and Agnes up to New.

[Sufi]

Hampshire for a weekend surprise. Ponchieri. Yeah. Also, it's like. That's like. That's a different surprise where you're, like, surprised and then not, like, necessarily happy right away. It's like, surprised into confusion. Huh.

[Pashi]

When I saw Agnes recently, we were in the car and I said, how old are you at now, Agnes? And she said, I'm five. And I was like, oh, wow. And she said, I haven't seen you for a long time, Pasci.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

And it was true. It'd been like, a year and a half.

[Sufi]

This is recorded when you made your visit because this episode we did live at the On Air Fest in Brooklyn. It was our first live podcast interview, and it was a joy to do.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Plus it got you to New York City, which was also lovely.

[Pashi]

Yeah. New York City. Onto Connecticut. Onto New Hampshire.

[Sufi]

Onto New Hampshire.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Ticked a lot of boxes.

[Pashi]

Yeah. And our guest for this, for those of you who don't know him, Dan Taburski, is sort of like. He's a podcasting legend. He really won Podcast of the year at the iHeartRadio Awards for his current podcast, Hysterical, which is great about this town where all these girls sort of are exhibiting signs of an illness. And is it a real illness or is it like a hysterical illness? It's kind of a fascinating thing. He did one on the show Cops. I did one on Richard simmons, one on Y2K. And. And, yeah, he's a good dude. He interviewed us the year before, and he was good enough to be interviewed by us this year.

[Sufi]

Lovely, Lovely conversation. I do have one more piece of housekeeping because I kind of gave mom and Dad a hard time about the fact that they threw my baseball cards away.

[Pashi]

Right.

[Sufi]

Mom found a page. Again, legend.

[Pashi]

A.

[Sufi]

So. But it was the cards in my head that I was missing.

[Pashi]

Right.

[Sufi]

There were sort of 10 cards in my head. Uhhuh. And I am. I I. It's almost better that you found him because I had a memory of 10 cards and then thought if there were 10, there were probably 300. And then she just found sort of one, you know, if you think nine boxes, nine plastic sleeves you can slide cards into. And so she said this was in your dresser.

[Pashi]

I thought you were going to say it was a good thing because you could picture those 10 and if they were gone, you were just going to get on ebay and buy them.

[Sufi]

No, I wasn't going to do that.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Sufi]

I did tell mom I was going to sell them and give her 3%.

[Pashi]

Of the proceeds, like a real estate agent.

[Sufi]

I said, look, I appreciate you did some work here, but also, these are my cards.

[Pashi]

Do you. If you had to ballpark it, what do you think those 10 cards are worth?

[Sufi]

$45. Well, the one thing I didn't remember, these are, you know, again, this was sort of the boom time of cards. So, you know, not to prior to.

[Pashi]

Now, which is the real time of cards.

[Sufi]

The real time. But sort of, you know, Roger clemens, rookie, Mark McGuire, rookie. A lot of guys who then their steroid issues have decreased my investment. But the. I. So I remember what the cards looked like. I did not remember exactly how frayed the edges were.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

So as I look at the cards now, I have a real. I have my doubts as to the value of the card. So. But 45 bucks, still, that's not nothing for Mom.

[Pashi]

You know, were these tops cards, or.

[Sufi]

I would assume kind of a mix kind of tops and a couple of Don Russ cards. But it was not. You know, what it does is it puts to bed the fear I had that mom had thrown away hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cards. Because now I know the truth. She has found a cool $45 worth.

[Pashi]

Now she's just gotta find that picture of me in Amsterdam on the Runway.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I mean, that's the good one, not the knockoff one. Yeah. Maybe when we go back to Amsterdam this summer, we can try to track down the Runway archives. I think.

[Pashi]

Yeah, it's probably in the Runway museum.

[Sufi]

Yeah, the Runway museum. Yeah. All right, well, here was our live podcast at the On Air Fest. Do enjoy our conversation with Dan.

[Pashi]

Here we go.

[Sufi]

That was an early cue. And guys, let me just say we came out a little late. Cause there were technical difficulties and it was so thrilling for it not to be our fault, like as newer, newish podcasters.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Like I would still say every fifth podcast, something's wrong with our equipment. Yeah, yeah.

[Pashi]

Like we don't plug the headphones into.

[Sufi]

Yeah. It's never, like, something that wasn't idiotic on our behalfs.

[Pashi]

And we do have producers that are on with us, and it's. It's embarrassing when something's not working and you run through the things that it can be. It's like, is the power on? And you're like, oh, no.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Really? I highly recommend if you ever do one of these, get very patient podcast producers who have to pretend like you're a smart person.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And they're like, oh, Can I suggest one more thing? Have you checked the power. It's very exciting for us to be doing one of these in front of people, because I would say maybe the biggest problem in our podcast is we have identical voices and mannerisms.

[Pashi]

Yeah. We sound a lot alike. We look a lot alike.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

We went to a play last night, and we were backstage afterwards, and one of the actresses from the play caught eyes with me and came over and gave me a huge hug and said, I love you. And I was like, I think you mean him. And she turned and she said, I do. I do.

[Sufi]

And then Josh is staying in my apartment, and he told me that he was in the elevator with three people who lived in my apartment building, and they were going up, and everybody was quiet. And Josh said, hey, I just wanna say, if you think I'm Seth. I'm not.

[Pashi]

I'm not. I don't want you to think that he's being terribly rude. I just don't know who you are.

[Sufi]

Yeah. But then I told Josh, the problem is I also don't say hi to them, even though I know who they are.

[Pashi]

Mm.

[Sufi]

So it's very exciting to be here. And also, since we're talking about family trips and we're gonna bring our guest out, you are kind of on a family trip right now. You used this opportunity to come out, stay with me.

[Pashi]

Yep.

[Sufi]

Hang out with my kids. And then you're gonna go see mom and dad.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Can I ask you a question?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Do you realize you have the biggest suitcase of anybody I know?

[Pashi]

Well, I'm skiing with you and your children on Sunday.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

So that requires that I bring ski.

[Sufi]

Gear, but it's, like, the size of you.

[Pashi]

It's a big suitcase.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

It's a suitcase that I bought to get married. I.

[Sufi]

What do you mean? I bought. Your treat to yourself when you got married was a big old suitcase.

[Pashi]

You should get something for yourself if you get married. I didn't have a piece of Czech luggage, so I bought A piece of checked luggage that I could travel to the east coast because I got married in October.

[Sufi]

They let you. Oh, yeah. You have to check that.

[Pashi]

Yeah, yeah. But I checked it. So I had to bring ski stuff. I had to bring. Also, when you have a podcast, you have to bring podcast gear. I don't know if we're gonna book talent for, like, Monday or Tuesday when I'm with Mom and dad.

[Sufi]

So you just always gotta have your gear with you.

[Pashi]

Yeah, you do.

[Sufi]

I do, yeah.

[Pashi]

You just have it, like, shipped all plugged in. When he unpacks his stuff, it's like, it's been labeled for a child. Yeah. He can't set it up on his own. It's like thrown in a suitcase, all connected, and you just have to take it all.

[Sufi]

That's a pretty nice. I got a pretty nice situation.

[Pashi]

I guess.

[Sufi]

You're also going home to see mom and dad, and I think that mom is very excited to see you because.

[Pashi]

Does dad know?

[Sufi]

Well, Dad's excited, but mom needs you as actual. Like, you're coming in as a relief pitcher. Dad had foot surgery, and he's been basically immobile for six weeks. Yeah. And I. She has not used these words, but I would say every conversation with mom, the subtext is. He's driving me fucking crazy. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pashi]

She will go out for a drink with friends and be out for, I think, four or five hours.

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pashi]

She's just going. There's not a lot to do in our hometown, but she's doing all of it.

[Sufi]

Yeah. To get out of the house. Yeah. Also, they live in New Hampshire and it's been very snowy. And dad sometimes sends funny pictures, like, ha, ha. Look, mom has to shovel the front steps.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And the expression on her face is not that she sees the humor in the situation.

[Pashi]

Yeah. It's not a good look.

[Sufi]

No.

[Pashi]

On Dad's part.

[Sufi]

No.

[Pashi]

To just be taking these pictures because she's, like, in a robe, That's, I.

[Sufi]

Will say, not a good look for dad to take the picture. Also, as a fashion way, it's not a good look for Mom.

[Pashi]

Well, I don't think she's expecting to be photographed.

[Sufi]

That's true. That might be it.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But I will say there's nothing more New England than your robe with a coat over it. Yeah. And a hat and a shovel. Yeah. Pretty.

[Pashi]

Pretty bad luck, but pretty common.

[Sufi]

Pretty common.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Hey, we're gonna take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support for family trips comes from laundry sauce. Hey, Paschi.

[Pashi]

Yes.

[Sufi]

Ufi Paschi, you're a loyal user of laundry sauce. Tell us about it.

[Pashi]

Well, it's an upgrade for your laundry. It is these laundry pods with these exceptional scents. And I don't mean scents in terms of that. It's like one of the. The four senses. Five senses. Yes, I do. Because it's.

[Sufi]

Wow. This is, you know, what you're not making right now? A lot of sense.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But these are some of their scents. Indonesian patchouli, Italian bergamot, Egyptian rose. That's pronounced probably not.

[Pashi]

Yeah, I think it's Italian a bergamot.

[Sufi]

Italian a bergamot. I will tell you that 90% of customers reportedly say they now enjoy laundry day because of laundry sauce. Pashi, are you in the 90 or are you in the 10?

[Pashi]

I'm in the 90. You are. MacKenzie's in the 90. My favorite, we've got the Australian sandalwood, the Italian bergamot, and the Siberian pine. They're all fantastic. But the first load of laundry I did with the Siberian pine. Mackenzie still will like, if I'm wearing a sweatshirt from that wash, she will, like, have her nose against the sweatshirt and be like, ah, smells so good.

[Sufi]

Here's the thing, you guys. Laundry sauce isn't just about premium laundry pods. It's a full upgrade for your laundry routine. With the fabric softener, dryer sheets, scent booster, and fabric fresher spray, you'll have everything you need to transform your laundry experience from basic to extraordinary. For a limited time only, our listeners get 20% off your entire order when you use code trips@laundry sauce.com, that's 20% off your [e-mail] with promo code trips. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. It's time to make laundry day the best day of the week. This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by our friends at Maker's Mark. Hey, Pashi.

[Pashi]

Yes, Sufi?

[Sufi]

I don't have to tell you that we're partnering with Maker's Mark to celebrate spirited women like Margie Samuels.

[Pashi]

You definitely do not. Because I made the trip to the Maker's Mark distillery in Loreto, Kentucky, the.

[Sufi]

Same Maker's Mark that Margie was the co founder of.

[Pashi]

Absolutely. That's the one.

[Sufi]

And you, I believe you brought a spirited woman with you on this trip.

[Pashi]

I did, yeah. My wife, Mackenzie, who, you know is one of the strongest, toughest gals I know and inspires me with her work ethic every day. She, you know, she moved out to California to work at a barn and do some training and then that barn eventually was gonna get sold and she struck out on her own and now has this thriving business where she trains people and rides horses and she works her tail off. It's really something else.

[Sufi]

Also, Margie, shout out original designer behind the iconic Red Wax dip. Yep, the label and even the Maker's Mark name. You did some dipping while you were there, right?

[Pashi]

Posh, I did do some dipping. We were there for a long tour and we dipped our own bottles, which was very exciting.

[Sufi]

You too can celebrate the spirited women in your life with a free personalized label to go with a bottle of Maker's mark. Head to makersmark personalized.com and fill in the details in order to create and mail your custom label. Don't forget to grab a bottle of Maker's Mark to go with it. Maker's Mark makes their bourbon carefully. Please enjoy it that way. Maker's Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 45% alcohol 2025 Maker's Mark Distillery Incorporated Loretto, Kentucky this episode of Family Trips is brought to you by Nissan. Hey, Paschi.

[Pashi]

Yes, Ufi.

[Sufi]

Let's talk about some things that never go out of style.

[Pashi]

Ooh, I love this game. Like pasta, bomber jackets, high top shoes.

[Sufi]

Jean jackets, baseball hats. You know what else never goes out of style?

[Pashi]

What's that?

[Sufi]

Going big. That's why we at Family Trips love partnering with Nissan, because they know that going big never goes out of style. Especially when it comes to the 2025 Nissan lineup in the Nissan vehicle we want to give a huge shout out to today, the all new Nissan Armada Pro 4X.

[Pashi]

No terrain is too tough for the all new Nissan Armada Pro 4X. It's the most capable Armada ever built with a new powerful engine, incredible towing capacity and adventure ready technology. This is the first Armada to earn the Pro 4X badge.

[Sufi]

It's built for the most rugged of terrain thanks to the fact that it's powered by a twin turbo V6 engine, which means it's ready to give you the freedom to explore further and to propel your adventures to new heights. So thanks again to Nissan for sponsoring this episode of Family Trips. Explore further with the Nissan Armada Pro 4X. Learn more at nissanusa.com Intelligent Four Wheel Drive cannot prevent collisions or provide enhanced traction in all conditions. Always monitor traffic and weather conditions.

[Dan Taberski]

Here we go.

[Sufi]

Should we bring out our guest?

[Pashi]

Yes, please.

[Sufi]

They're very exciting. He interviewed us on this stage last year and we are thrilled to be interviewing him now.

[Pashi]

Yeah. Podcast royalty in my book.

[Sufi]

Um, yeah, he always knows how to set up his equipment.

[Pashi]

I'm sure.

[Sufi]

Doesn't need it labeled.

[Pashi]

Although has several publicists who we met backstage.

[Sufi]

It was weird how many publicists he had. I have a talk show, and when Mariah Carey's on, she has fewer publicists than Dan. Like the third publicist we met. Didn't you feel like it was overkill?

[Pashi]

I mean, a little bit, but I don't know. I don't know what he deals with.

[Dan Taberski]

I don't know.

[Sufi]

But I will say his life is obviously going real good.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Should we bring him up?

[Pashi]

Please.

[Sufi]

Let's welcome Dan Tabersky, everybody.

[Pashi]

Hey.

[Sufi]

Hi, buddy. Thank you very much for joining us.

[Dan Taberski]

Thanks for having me and making fun of me already.

[Sufi]

We wanted to do it a little bit not to your face before we did it to you.

[Dan Taberski]

Appreciate it. Yeah.

[Sufi]

I want to ask you something that before we get into family trips, that is podcast related, which is. I read that when you were. Did you do college radio?

[Dan Taberski]

I did.

[Sufi]

And then you did not like the sound of your voice at first.

[Dan Taberski]

No, it's in college radio. No, no. I was the news director of the college radio station, wvbr. But I. No, I sounded. I didn't sound good. I sounded quite. Not good.

[Sufi]

So I did one at college. I did one, like, sports radio thing, and I remember they gave me a tape and I listened to it, and I had a moment of like, not for me.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, not for me.

[Sufi]

I would not want to hear it. And so I stopped doing it. But you obviously got over it.

[Dan Taberski]

But you just get over it because you just get used to your voice and nobody really cares. And it's college radio. You also, at some point, you realize nobody's really listening, and so it's just good practice. And then after a while, you don't care. And I think that's the key to sort of ultimately getting good, or at least passable. It's just not even hearing your own voice so that you just talk like a person.

[Sufi]

Do you think it's a good idea to co host a podcast with somebody who has an identical voice to yours?

[Dan Taberski]

I was trying to follow it last backstage. I was like, that's really funny. And I was like, oh, I'll say to Seth. And I was like, wait, was that Seth or Josh? It is super smart. I think it's super smart. Yeah.

[Sufi]

All right. So you grew up in Flesh and Queens.

[Pashi]

I did.

[Sufi]

There we go. Two siblings.

[Dan Taberski]

Two siblings, Yes. A brother and a sister.

[Sufi]

And how you were the Youngest. So how much older were they?

[Dan Taberski]

My brother is three years older, and my sister's five years older.

[Sufi]

Were you guys close?

[Dan Taberski]

I mean, we were siblings.

[Sufi]

That's. That is the best way to say. No, no, no, no. We were clear.

[Dan Taberski]

We were close in proximity. We were close in just dealing with each other.

[Pashi]

I don't think he was asking about.

[Sufi]

Like, if you reached out at breakfast, could you touch them?

[Dan Taberski]

Yes.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

But, you know, it was. It's. It's. It's.

[Sufi]

It's.

[Dan Taberski]

There's a lot of conflict when you're that age. Yeah. But I like them very much. I mean, when people say close, I mean close. What's close? Like, I don't talk to you as this.

[Sufi]

You know you have your own podcast, right?

[Dan Taberski]

Totally. My husband is Israeli, and he talks to his family like, three times a day. We're not that close. Yeah, I'm not interested in that.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

I mean, I would say that. I would think we're very close with our parents.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But my wife talks to her parents too much. It's just like, a roll. Too much would be a way to say it. Yeah, but it's like, she's just rolling phone calls where she's talking to her parents or her brother or her sister.

[Dan Taberski]

Totally. It's a nightmare.

[Sufi]

And yet every time I ask if she, like, I'm like, what time are they coming over? She's like, I didn't talk to them about that. I'm like, so none of it was, like, details or logistics? It was just like. It's just like puffery.

[Pashi]

Yeah. You don't have any rules at your place, then? You haven't established any. Like, hey, let me know if I come.

[Sufi]

Oh, I've tried to establish rules.

[Pashi]

You've done a real. You've lost.

[Sufi]

I've lost. Yeah. No. Yeah. On rule establishing. It's been a disaster. Yeah. So you. And. But, like, did you guys. You had one brother, one sister, you said? Yeah. Did you have to share a room with your brother?

[Dan Taberski]

I shared a room with my brother and my sister.

[Sufi]

All three of you in one room?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Were there some bunks in there?

[Dan Taberski]

Bunk beds? No. There was. Well, I didn't always do it. When we were in Flushing, we had, like, I had a bedroom that I shared my brother, and then my sister had her own room. But in the summers, we would. My mother was a teacher, and so we would rent, like, a cabin in the Poconos. But, like, truly cabin, like, it looks like an. Like, I look at pictures of it now I'm like, that's. It's literally an outhouse with, like, a nice porch. It's very small. And. And so there was only one room, and my brother and my sister and me would share that room. I would share a bed with my brother, and my sister would be in the bed. That's why. I guess asking if we're close is a little dicey.

[Pashi]

Now.

[Sufi]

Wait, so the Poconos. The whole summer, you would do the Poconos?

[Dan Taberski]

Pretty much, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[Pashi]

And. Same cabin.

[Dan Taberski]

Same cabin. The Bobolink. It was at a. It was called the Bobolink. It was at a. I don't know if it's still a thing. They had cottage colonies, and it was a cottage colony in the Poconos. And there was like a very, very, like, non winterized, like, mouse traps everywhere. I just remember. I remember this is. I'm sure it wasn't really like this, but I just remembered always dodging, like, those fly traps that hang from the. Like, it was just like webby and mousy and sleeping with your siblings, but also heaven because you're in.

[Sufi]

Well, that was. What did. Was it something you looked forward to? When school ended, were you excited about the drive to the Poconos?

[Dan Taberski]

Yes. Yes, I was. Sure. Yeah, I was.

[Pashi]

Were there other.

[Dan Taberski]

I didn't have one. Not in retrospect, now that you asked, that way. I actually didn't have a lot of friends there because I was the youngest.

[Sufi]

Right.

[Dan Taberski]

And so it's not like I was going to meet up with my buddies. Like, I was always just kind of hanging on.

[Sufi]

Gotcha.

[Dan Taberski]

Right.

[Pashi]

Were. Were there other families that would be in cabins nearby that would be the same families year after year?

[Sufi]

Yes.

[Pashi]

Yes.

[Dan Taberski]

Like the. There is the. The Barth Holds, and there was the Bobby Ryan. The Ryans. They were from Allentown.

[Sufi]

And yet you couldn't make a single friend.

[Dan Taberski]

No, I did. I don't know. I never felt like the kind of friends that. I don't know, I always felt like I wanted it more than they did. But that might be my. I don't know. I don't know.

[Sufi]

What was a day in the Poconos? What was a normal vacation day?

[Dan Taberski]

Just outside. Go outside and just dirty. And, you know, you'd be sitting in the woods and there's, like, creeks and stuff and like. Like. Like it's real. And there's, like, a lake, sailor's lake. You can, like, swim in the lake.

[Pashi]

And were there any, like, rowboats or any.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, there was.

[Pashi]

Ro.

[Dan Taberski]

I mean, we didn't. I mean, yeah, there were Row boats, for sure. But not, like, with parasols and stuff, like. But there were robots that you could take out. But it's fun once.

[Sufi]

And that's so great that you thought we meant with parasols.

[Dan Taberski]

Well, that's my knowledge of robots in Central Park.

[Sufi]

And would you have to row it or would there be an Italian man with a long oar?

[Dan Taberski]

You would have to row it. It's no fun. And you go fishing, but you just catch little, like, snakes or whatever.

[Sufi]

Were your parents actively with you during the day, or were they just so happy to say.

[Dan Taberski]

Oh, no, happy, happy.

[Sufi]

What would they do?

[Dan Taberski]

I have no idea. My mother would knit and she would watch television and probably just enjoyed not being around us.

[Sufi]

Right.

[Dan Taberski]

Just, like, they wouldn't do much. They weren't around. No, they would sort of. We sort of live separate lives. But that's the point. You just want.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

You just want space. This is actually why my teeth are so fucked up, is because of the Poconos.

[Sufi]

How so?

[Dan Taberski]

Because. Well, they're not like. It's not. It's not, like, terrible way.

[Sufi]

They're really not that bad. Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

There's like a big gap. And it's like. Yeah, it's just getting worse because my parents weren't around and my brother were. My brother and his friends were fucking around and, like, pushing, like, throwing me around, like, for fun.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Like, I was very young. It's like first memory type stuff almost. And throwing me around. Throwing me around. And one through to my brother. And somehow my two front teeth got stuck in his pocket as I was going down.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

And they. And they just both went boink. And I don't. I don't remember. It didn't hurt. I just remember, like, vibrating. And I remember them looking at me like. And then I looked in the mirror and I was like, blood. And then I went. And then I went to the front door like, you know, like Carrie or something, like. And my mother was walking. She was like. And then my teeth grew back. Really jacked.

[Sufi]

Wow. Yeah. They both came out pop.

[Pashi]

Is it like the front pocket like you?

[Dan Taberski]

I remember. Front or back? I will say this must be a false memory. This is how shit like this. This is how people get convicted of things. I think it's because I remember, like, in my head is like my teeth went in and the zipper zipped that. Meaning that they were to have been zipper on their jeans pants, which really would be of the time. But I think I might have just been thinking about the fashion of the time. Instead of reality.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

But it went in the right. Right in the pocket and just came out clean. Yeah, the teeth were in his pocket. Like, they were.

[Sufi]

Yeah, they. They stayed in his pocket.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, I remember. Yeah. And he was like. And I was like. I was really young, like, barely.

[Sufi]

It would have been great if he, like, said to your mom, like, I had nothing to do with it. I was like, let me check your pockets if I find two teeth in your pockets. Totally. He's like, these are different teeth. Yeah. I was once, like, on Lake Winnipesaukee visiting a friend, and we were.

[Dan Taberski]

It's a great name.

[Sufi]

Isn't it great? Yeah. New Hampshire's full of great lake names. And we were two. We were on two inner tubes behind a boat, and I slipped off and his heel came by and kicked me in the chin. I split my chin open. And I have a scar even now, but same thing. It, like, split, and it was just like blood pouring down. And that moment where you find out based on other people's faces is so. It's such a terrifying moment. What is?

[Dan Taberski]

I don't know. Something's wrong.

[Pashi]

Gross, guys. I never got hurt.

[Sufi]

No. I got hurt a lot.

[Pashi]

Yeah. So what? But you are a. If your mom was knitting, you are a quilter.

[Dan Taberski]

I am a quilter. Yeah.

[Sufi]

Did you pick up quilting?

[Dan Taberski]

Why are you saying it like that? I pick.

[Sufi]

Is it learned or are you born with it?

[Dan Taberski]

Just like 10. Ten years ago, I started doing it.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Pashi]

It wasn't something that, like, your mom.

[Dan Taberski]

My mom did it once, and I thought it looked interesting, but she only made one, and so, you know, she couldn't. She couldn't last.

[Sufi]

So she couldn't hack it.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, she couldn't hack it. She didn't have. Yeah, she didn't have a.

[Pashi]

If she's quilting and the kids are outside, what's your dad doing?

[Dan Taberski]

He's not there. He's back in the city. My dad was. Because my mother was a teacher, so she had the weekends off, so she had the weeks that she had the summers off so she could literally be there. My dad would take the Greyhound every other weekend to come see us. He was a civil servant in the city.

[Sufi]

Gotcha. Every other weekend, he would come, I think.

[Dan Taberski]

I don't know. I mean, I never thought about what he might have been doing.

[Sufi]

Look, that's not what this podcast is about.

[Dan Taberski]

No, no, no, no. But it couldn't have. It wasn't. It couldn't have been every week.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

I mean, that's a lot.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Yeah. How long was the Greyhound to the Poconos? How long would it take?

[Dan Taberski]

I think that it's a two hour drive.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

It's not terrible.

[Dan Taberski]

No. And then we would stop in the middle at a town called Hibernia for. And we were allowed to get velments, if you remember. Velamens.

[Pashi]

What are those velaments, like mints?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. That's what we were allowed to buy from the diner.

[Pashi]

Oh, wow.

[Dan Taberski]

That's. That's what I was looking forward to. Once I got the velments. I was.

[Sufi]

Nothing was that we're going to stop for mints. That was.

[Dan Taberski]

Well. And coffee. We stopped for coffee, but that's what I could buy was mints.

[Sufi]

Coffee and mints.

[Dan Taberski]

I don't. Yeah.

[Sufi]

What a childhood. Wee.

[Pashi]

Did you guys ever take an. Were you ever. When were you on an airplane for the first time?

[Dan Taberski]

12 or something? Once.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

But I didn't leave the country till I was 26.

[Pashi]

All right. Where would you go at 12?

[Dan Taberski]

Always Buffalo.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

Buffalo. That's the only.

[Sufi]

Just cause you loved it. No family was there.

[Dan Taberski]

That was the only trip we ever took, was just to see grandparents in Buffalo.

[Sufi]

Gotcha.

[Dan Taberski]

Okay.

[Sufi]

Were you close with your grandparents? I mean. Sorry, what I mean by that. Did you have an emotional connection with your.

[Dan Taberski]

I did. I love my grandparents. They're wonderful people. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

Who is Buffalo? Your mom's or your dad's?

[Dan Taberski]

Both. One lived in Niagara Falls. One lived in Buffalo. Both two parents lived in Niagara. Two parents, grandparents lived in Niagara Falls. Two grandparents lived in Buffalo. They met when they were there, so it's right next to each other.

[Sufi]

Gotcha. Oh. So you go and you see both sets of grandparents.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. And Niagara Falls. I've seen Niagara Falls many, many times.

[Sufi]

What? Is it always great or do you feel like you're over it?

[Dan Taberski]

I feel like, you know, you feel like you're over it. You're over it, you're over it, but then you get there and you're like, wow, this is pretty fucking amazing.

[Pashi]

Yeah, it is pretty cool.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. I mean, it's still violent and incredible. Even though it's. It doesn't feel cheesy when you're right up next to it.

[Pashi]

What's the best way to experience Niagara Falls?

[Dan Taberski]

I like. There's one where you go under the falls under the American Falls.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

I can't remember what they call it.

[Pashi]

It's just a walking path.

[Dan Taberski]

It's like. It's like sort of wooden stairs.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

And then there's also. You can do the Maid of the Mist, which.

[Pashi]

Yeah, we did the Maid of the Mist. And it's a boat.

[Dan Taberski]

It's a boat at the bottom of the falls. And it gets really close to the falls and then you look like you're going in and then it turns around.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

And everybody wears the like. Or, like, yellow slickers.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

I just remember it being so misty, you couldn't see anything. Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

I'm sure. I never did it.

[Sufi]

It was like being in a car wash.

[Dan Taberski]

Right. Like, just totally.

[Sufi]

We did the. We went to Scotland and did the Loch Ness boat tour, and that was maybe the biggest waste of time.

[Dan Taberski]

What happens?

[Sufi]

You're just on a. Like a boat.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But you're just. It's just a lake. Like, there's not.

[Dan Taberski]

Other than the fact that is everybody, like, looking like.

[Sufi]

Yes. And there's just like this. You can't help but look real, like the. And there's just like a voiceover play the whole time. That's just like this Scottish would be like. Many people say this is where the last time she put her head up. And if you look down now, and just like every. Everybody taking pictures of just water, like, there's no. Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

That's brilliant. Yeah, That's a good business.

[Pashi]

It's a business.

[Sufi]

Yeah. We. Did you. Have you ever gone whale watching? Because that might be the most disappointing trip we ever took.

[Dan Taberski]

I've never gone whale watching.

[Sufi]

No.

[Pashi]

Smart.

[Dan Taberski]

I mean, it's.

[Sufi]

I remember we just went out once with mom and dad, and it was.

[Dan Taberski]

Just like, off New Hampshire.

[Sufi]

It was off Massachusetts, but it was like two hours and we didn't see any whales.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And you just realize it's, you know, you're really rolling the dice because, like, the people that are in charge of the boats, like, they don't work with the whales.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, what are they. Do they give you an odds sort of thing when you go, or they're like, what are the odds that we're going to see something? Will they just sell it, like 50% or 75% or.

[Sufi]

I feel like they didn't give us the odds.

[Pashi]

No.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

I feel like that would help me make my decision.

[Pashi]

I feel like when people have seen whales, they get seasick, and then the other times they don't see whales.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Oh, interesting. Yeah, I've been seasick.

[Pashi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

I've been seasick, too. All right. So when you. You said you only left the country when you're 26, what was the first time you left the country?

[Dan Taberski]

I went to Paris for my. For my honeymoon, for my first marriage.

[Sufi]

Wow. Excellent. So it didn't take, though.

[Dan Taberski]

It was.

[Sufi]

It didn't take.

[Dan Taberski]

It. Paris took. Paris is great. I come back all the time. But no, the marriage didn't.

[Sufi]

There's only so much Paris can do.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

But that was the first time even just going over. I couldn't believe we were flying over an ocean.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

When you went to Buffalo to visit your grandparents, like, what were there activities other than Niagara Falls? Were there, like, things that you look forward to doing?

[Dan Taberski]

They are often Christmas stuff. You can go during either Christmas or. So it's a lot of driving back and forth. Yeah, that's cool. And then, like. And then just looking at Christmas, you know, just doing, like. And then visiting people. Like, my grandfather, who's dead now, had a vendetta against my aunt. And so for 20 years, my grandfather, James D'Ambrosio and my aunt Rose, he said, you are not welcome here. You may never see.

[Sufi]

This is his daughter.

[Dan Taberski]

This is his cousin or aunt. They're related.

[Sufi]

Okay, gotcha.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, but. And he said, you are like. He's like, cut her off. And so we would have to go spend Christmas morning with my grandfather and then say we were going to visit my other grandparents, but actually we would have to sneak over to Aunt Rose's and spend Christmas with her because she wasn't allowed over.

[Sufi]

Do you. Was it explained to you as a child what the vendetta was based on?

[Dan Taberski]

No.

[Sufi]

Really?

[Dan Taberski]

No. I had no idea. I just. We just knew that she. She just wasn't allowed to.

[Sufi]

As you got. Well, you don't have to tell us, but did you ever find out what the vendetta was?

[Dan Taberski]

Something very small. My. My grandfather was a small man.

[Sufi]

Gotcha.

[Dan Taberski]

In that sense, yes. He. A lot of wonderful qualities, I'm sure. But that sort of, like, lifelong vendetta thing was one of the downside.

[Sufi]

You got to be really wired a certain way to have a lifelong vendetta.

[Dan Taberski]

Just stick with it. Like, really. And it's not like. It's not like New York. There's like 8 million people. It's Niagara Falls. She lived down the block.

[Pashi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

Like, when you have a vendetta, you've eliminated, like, 2% of the people you can interact with.

[Dan Taberski]

It's hard to.

[Sufi]

Did your two sets of grandparents ever do. You got the sense they ever hung.

[Dan Taberski]

Out at the wedding?

[Sufi]

That was the last time. And they lived close and had no curiosity, no interest.

[Dan Taberski]

They're just Polish, Italian. You don't.

[Sufi]

Yeah. What's the point.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pashi]

How. How far apart are Buffalo and Niagara Falls?

[Dan Taberski]

They're right, like, literally right next to each other. They probably say we're sister cities. They're like, I don't know, 20 minutes.

[Pashi]

Okay. Did you. So did you get, like, double Christmas? Were there gifts everywhere you went? And would you do Christmas at both sets of grandparents and aunt roses?

[Dan Taberski]

There wasn't a huge premium on gifts. There wasn't a. They weren't super wealthy people. So we would get, you know, multiple Christmases, but it wasn't like, gifts.

[Pashi]

Right, right, right.

[Dan Taberski]

It was like another tree, another manger, and then like, another meal, you know?

[Sufi]

And your grandfather was like, my gift to you is to not hold a.

[Dan Taberski]

Grudge is that I will speak to you this year.

[Sufi]

Yeah, totally.

[Dan Taberski]

So you wouldn't get, like, craziest things. You would just, like, get little dumb things.

[Pashi]

Yeah. Were you guys a camp family at all, other than the Poconos?

[Dan Taberski]

I worked at a camp.

[Sufi]

Oh, really?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. A Jewish day camp, but I'm not Jewish, but.

[Pashi]

Well, could have definitely fooled them.

[Dan Taberski]

But I also had the worst job at the camp. Like, everybody was like, camp counselor. And I was like. I worked at, like, the sanitation thing, where I had to, like, pick up garbage and hand out balls and stuff.

[Sufi]

Wow. How old were you when you worked at a summer camp?

[Dan Taberski]

Like 16. But I've had jobs. I mean, I've had a million jobs when I was a teenager for sure.

[Sufi]

What was your favorite? If you had a favorite teenage job, what would it be?

[Dan Taberski]

I was a waiter at Bob's Big Boy for five years.

[Pashi]

Gotcha.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And what was.

[Dan Taberski]

If you had a guitar, you'd be like, yeah.

[Sufi]

What was great about working at Bob's Big Boy?

[Dan Taberski]

I was really young. I was, like, 14. And so it was just funny to even try, almost. It felt like I didn't, like, I had, like, acne. I don't know why they let me do it.

[Pashi]

You were a waiter right from the jump at 14?

[Dan Taberski]

No. I had to start as a host.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

And I would like. You know how many people? Three. And I'd pick up the menus and take them to the smoking section.

[Sufi]

Well, I mean, you're still very good at it.

[Dan Taberski]

Thank you. That was just like, I hadn't even thought about this in years.

[Sufi]

It is still very funny to think back to a smoking section based on what we know about smoke.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, I know. We didn't know back then. Yeah. Really incredible. And that smoking section was always packed.

[Sufi]

Was it really?

[Dan Taberski]

Oh, yeah. Smoking filled up first wow.

[Sufi]

That is amazing. Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

I will say we both worked in, like, food services, young kids. And it was. I will say the most. I worked at a sub shop called D'Angelo's. It's like a New England sub shop. And you worked at a Pete's place?

[Pashi]

I worked Pete's place in Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse.

[Sufi]

Josh got fired. Josh got fired from Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse.

[Dan Taberski]

Why? What happened?

[Pashi]

Well, our high school basketball team, the men's. Men's boys high school basketball team was playing in the state final. And I was not on the team, but I wanted to go to the game. And I asked for the day off. And they said, well, I was a junior, and there were a bunch of seniors that worked there. And they were like, well, the seniors have seniority, and they're gonna be graduating, so we're gonna give them the day off and you have to come work. And then I called in sick and I went to the game. And it was one of those rare things where a sporting event in New Hampshire was televised. And I was on TV with my face painted, and they.

[Dan Taberski]

No, you had your face painted. The indignity.

[Pashi]

And they called me in. I was supporting my team, and we won, and they called me in, and they were like, you weren't sick. And I was like, yeah, I was. And they were like, you on tv. And I was like, oh. And they were like, you're fired.

[Dan Taberski]

And I was like, okay, just slink out.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

I remember as a kid, the most exciting thing about working in a restaurant is they would let you bring home food after your shift. And, like, the. Like, even more than a salary, like, a free sub, to me was, like, so.

[Dan Taberski]

Oh, really thrilling. Yeah. For me, because Bob's big boy then had all you can eat bars. Every day was an open. A different all you can eat.

[Sufi]

Wow.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. And so every day, so you just be eating constantly.

[Pashi]

There was a different all you can eat every day.

[Dan Taberski]

Like, well, there was a breakfast bar where you could get breakfast stuff, which is amazing. Breakfast bars are amazing because there's, like, biscuits and gravy and just, like, all the bad stuff. But then every night, they would have, like, they for Friday. Cause there's a lot of Catholics. They would have fish Friday, and they would have, like, ribs some nights. They always had a night of Alaskan king crab legs, which is like, where are these coming from?

[Pashi]

That's terrifying.

[Sufi]

They say the best place to get Alaskan crab is at the all you can eat.

[Dan Taberski]

At the Big Boy.

[Sufi]

Big Boy in general. You want to get them all, you can eat. Yeah.

[Pashi]

Hey. We're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors.

[Sufi]

Support for family trips comes from Airbnb. Hey, Paschi.

[Pashi]

Hey, Sufi. Some of my favorite travel memories are of Airbnbs. I think back to, like, when I turned 40 and a bunch of my college friends. We were all turning 40. We wanted to get together and we wanted to do something. And I, in that time of my life, was going to Coachella pretty much every year. And when I go to Coachella, we would get an Airbnb with a group of friends with like 12 of us. We had a pool, we were on a golf course, we had a grill, we had kitchen, and everyone had a great place to sleep. And then in the morning, you wake up and you come out and the first one up makes coffee, and you just sit around with your college friends like you're sitting around in a dorm room, but it's not a dorm room. It's a beautiful house in the desert.

[Sufi]

It's much like you. It's like a dorm room that's all grown up.

[Pashi]

Yeah. If I can exude that, then that's what I want to put out there.

[Sufi]

That's fantastic. And thank you, by the way, for the invite.

[Pashi]

Well, you were already 42 at that point.

[Sufi]

Yeah. You don't want me.

[Pashi]

Old Man River.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I didn't get an Airbnb. I stayed at a retirement home.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

How's it going over the weekend? You know, it's fine. It's nice, and the bingo is fun, and I do enjoy it, and I don't want to just sit around and criticize it because I think it's pretty great. Book your next awesome trip [e-mail] this episode of Family Trips is brought to you by Nissan.

[Pashi]

Hey, Sufi.

[Sufi]

Yeah, Pashi?

[Pashi]

What's that thing I always say about going big and it never going out of style?

[Sufi]

Oh, I remember. Going big never goes out of style.

[Pashi]

Yeah, that's it. And that's why we at Family Trips love partnering with Nissan, because they know that going big never goes out of style, especially when it comes to the 2025 Nissan lineup and the Nissan vehicle.

[Sufi]

We want to give a huge shout out to today, the all new Nissan Armada Pro 4X.

[Pashi]

Sufi, what's that thing I always say about the all new Nissan Armada Pro 4X?

[Sufi]

Pasche, you always, always say that no terrain is too tough for the all new Nissan Armada Pro 4X. It's the most capable Armada ever built.

[Pashi]

Yeah, that's right.

[Sufi]

It's like your catchphrase.

[Pashi]

Yeah, I'm known for saying that. And how could I not? With a new powerful engine, incredible towing capacity, and adventure ready technology, this is the first Armada to earn the Pro 4X badge.

[Sufi]

It's built for the most rugged of terrain, thanks to the fact that it's powered by a twin turbo V6 engine, which means it's ready to give you the freedom to explore further and to propel your adventures to new heights.

[Pashi]

And my favorite part, the Armada's premium interior seats up to eight passengers. That means we can bring our six best friends with us on our next adventure. Let's name them right now.

[Sufi]

And we're out of time. So thanks again to Nissan for sponsoring this episode of Family Trips. Explore further with the Nissan Armada Pro 4X. Learn more at nissanusa.com Intelligent 4 wheel drive cannot prevent collisions or provide enhanced traction in all conditions. Always monitor traffic and weather conditions. Support comes from Helix. Hey, Paschi.

[Pashi]

Yes, Ufi?

[Sufi]

So I've had to sleep in your bed with one of my children twice in the last month. This is your childhood bed.

[Pashi]

New Hampshire bed.

[Sufi]

Yeah. And this is not a terrible mattress that you had. Mm. You know, it wasn't like, you know, burlap sack filled with hay or anything. Nice mattress. But I slept there first time with Addie. Had a terrible night's sleep. A little bit, I would say, is the mattress. The other is Addie, like, slept on my head like she was a hat. But then, you know, and look, I'll be honest, it was because of the podcast sponsorship. Got our hands on a Helix mattress.

[Pashi]

Oh, yeah.

[Sufi]

You mentioned it to mom and dad and they said, oh, we'll replace your mattress. So the next time I go back with Axel, I get to sleep on the Helix mattress. And total game changer. Huge leap.

[Pashi]

Huge leap. It's. I also, I mean, I don't even want to guess how long that mattress has been around that is in the childhood bedroom. But it was time.

[Sufi]

It was time. Yeah.

[Pashi]

And the Helix mattresses, there's such a wide selection. And there's a sleep quiz that you take on their website. You know, are you a back sleeper? Side sleeper, Stomach sleeper? I wouldn't even think that's a good idea. But some people are, I guess, and they've got mattresses of varying firmnesses, and you sort of, you go through this, this, you know, easy series of questions. Easy. Because, you know, you know, you.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Don't think you're gonna flunk the sleep quiz.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

No, I think some people hear quiz and they panic. But don't worry, you're right.

[Pashi]

Don't be intimidated by it because it's going to find you the perfect mattress for you to get you a better night's sleep. Because what is more important than that?

[Sufi]

And I have one of these sleep trackers. And the morning after my first helix, never happened before the sleep tracker. Actually, when I opened it, it just said something change dog.

[Pashi]

Wow.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

So familiar.

[Sufi]

Well, I've had it for a while. Yeah. Go to helixsleep.comtrips for 20% off sitewide. That's helix sleep.comtrips for 20 percent off sitewide. Helixsleep.comtrips.

[Dan Taberski]

Here we go.

[Sufi]

Did you ever travel with your parents as an adult?

[Dan Taberski]

I mean, have we ever, like, taken trips together?

[Sufi]

Yeah, that would be another way to say it.

[Dan Taberski]

I don't think so. We were never like, big, like, even growing up. We never went to, like, Florida.

[Sufi]

Right.

[Dan Taberski]

Like so. So it's not even in our day and a. To do that as adults when we see each other, it's more like family gatherings. It's more like the responsibility type stuff. Like we have to go because of grandparents or whatever. And so did they stay.

[Sufi]

Did your parents stay in this area?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, they're in Brooklyn.

[Sufi]

Great.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, I.

[Sufi]

Do you feel like you see that? Do you see them a lot now or. No?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, I do. They're getting older, so you got to help out. Great.

[Pashi]

Do you. And you're married now?

[Dan Taberski]

Yes.

[Pashi]

And have you. What are like your second honeymoon? Where'd you go?

[Dan Taberski]

We didn't take a honeymoon. All right.

[Sufi]

Because you knew they were bad luck.

[Dan Taberski]

Fool me once, shame on you. Yeah, but now we just do whatever type stuff, like. Well, just basic, like go to Paris or. We actually do go to Paris.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

It's better this time for some reason. I don't know, just basic, like big cities, London, Paris, like city stuff.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Not really. Like, resorts. You don't want to sit still. We went to Mexico City, went to Hanoi.

[Pashi]

What do you like to. Are you like museum people?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, I'm a museum.

[Pashi]

Restaurant people.

[Dan Taberski]

I'm a walking person. I'm a museum person.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

I like to walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. Go see some museums, get some. Get. Get a glass of wine, then take your afternoon nap, Wake up for a late dinner, get another glass of wine and.

[Sufi]

That sounds really nice. Do you feel like. Do you actually. I apologize. By the way, when you're in a museum, do you feel like you're actually like, wow, this is amazing. Or do you feel like, I know I'm supposed to be in a museum. Sometimes I go to a museum because I'm like, oh, I'm here. I should go to the museum.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And then sometimes I realize I'm just, like, not.

[Dan Taberski]

I just think about it. It's just sort of like an aesthetic walk.

[Sufi]

It's.

[Dan Taberski]

It's. I don't think about it. Like, everybody, you ready for your aesthetic walk. But, like, you walk in, the architecture is always great. There's beautiful things on the walls. There's interesting people. There's some sort of thing that you're supposed to be getting or not getting. I just think it's usually more interesting than just, like, walking, than going into any other building.

[Sufi]

So an aesthetic walk. I like it.

[Dan Taberski]

It's an aesthetic walk. You're just.

[Sufi]

I think you actually have a hit on something, and I'm gonna try to think of that.

[Dan Taberski]

It's nice. It's pleasant. I like pleasant. I don't need big eyes, big lows for vacations. I like pleasant.

[Pashi]

So you're not a big, like, thrill ride guy?

[Dan Taberski]

No.

[Pashi]

You're not going to allow.

[Dan Taberski]

I got stuck on a roller coaster once. I got stuck on Rolling Thunder.

[Sufi]

In.

[Dan Taberski]

New Jersey right off the six at Great Adventure. And, yeah, it went all the way to the top and then stopped. And then, like, 10 minutes later.

[Sufi]

You hear 10 minutes?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. You hear click.

[Pashi]

That was like waiting for this podcast.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. But then you just hear click and the harnesses are off.

[Sufi]

Oh.

[Dan Taberski]

And then you look down and you realize that they're coming up on the gangplank, and it's an old, old, old roller coaster. And they're coming up on the wooden gang flag, and they made us walk down. It was really.

[Sufi]

You had to walk down?

[Dan Taberski]

We had to walk down. Yeah.

[Sufi]

The steep, like.

[Dan Taberski]

Well, the coming. It's a. It's. It's a coming up part. It's the part where you're gaining. We never went over the first hill, so that. It's the. It's the lightest hill, but you can walk down that hill.

[Sufi]

Do they have, like, stairs on the side?

[Dan Taberski]

They have, like, stairs on this. Like, we. Like you would on the side of, like, a bridge or something.

[Sufi]

Yeah, gotcha.

[Dan Taberski]

It's not super rickety. And a friend of mine, she was. Barbara, she was terrified, and she wouldn't get out.

[Sufi]

It took her, like, classic Barbara. Classic Barbara. She wouldn't get out. What was the play when she wouldn't get out?

[Dan Taberski]

Well, I think eventually she realized that there's not a lot of ways.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

But I think, Yeah, I think that it's a scary thing to. Scary dismount a roller.

[Dan Taberski]

You have to come down and talk her down at the apex. Yeah. And she would. They came up and helped her out, so that was okay.

[Sufi]

A friend of mine was at Euro Disney once and there was Indiana Jones ride and it broke and he said there was like a teenage French kid who was dressed as Indiana Jones. You know, because all the kids were dressed and he was like basically the same thing. Walk up the gangplank and everybody in line who was not stuck just started going dun, dun, dun. This like 14 year old French kid was good enough to see like which cord got unplugged. Have you gone, have you gone to an amusement park as an adult or.

[Dan Taberski]

Those days like a water rides park? I don't need to get on a ride now.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

I don't need to. Yeah. I don't like the idea that it's not funny to me to be locked in.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

If I could unlock myself. But the fact that they'd like do it from some old over a computer over here and then you can't undo it. That just doesn't go with my whole vibe.

[Pashi]

So you would ride a roller coaster if you weren't locked in?

[Dan Taberski]

If I had control.

[Pashi]

You're like, I'd rather not wear this harness.

[Dan Taberski]

No, it's just, it's. It's knowing that I have control.

[Pashi]

Okay.

[Sufi]

That's the way. That's why I don't like horseback riding. Because like ultimately like you can. Whatever you. However good you are at it, the horse is in control.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sufi]

And I just don't like that part of it. And even if they're like, this horse is really well trained. I'm like, it's still a horse.

[Dan Taberski]

You won't get on a horse.

[Sufi]

I will get on a horse, but I will not have any enjoyment on the horse. Like in general, there are things that I've decided I don't really want to do unless like I ha. I would be the killjoy member of the family. Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

So we don't want to be that person.

[Sufi]

No. I would do it for my kids.

[Dan Taberski]

But if be the killjoy or do that you.

[Sufi]

No, I would ride a horse for my kids, but I won't ride a horse for my parents. Yeah. Like my parents wanted to go. My dad for his birthday wanted to go on his. He was like, my dream is to go on a hot air balloon ride. And I said 100% no. And the reason is if the four of us were on a balloon, first of all, I'd be miserable the whole time. But the worst thing would be if something went wrong. The whole time we were falling and about to die, you and mom would be bickering. Like, she would be blaming you for that.

[Dan Taberski]

But it's like, still a slow d.

[Sufi]

It would just be too much bickering.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

I'll do something with you guys if we die right away.

[Dan Taberski]

Right.

[Sufi]

But it can't be long and slow.

[Pashi]

Do you do have you done or do you do now any, like, friends getaways? Do you go with other couples?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, I have a. Yeah, I do travel now with other couples because I don't have kids. And so it's better to go with a couple or two just as adults. But I also. I have a place up in Wittstock in the Catskills. And so I have a lot of friends up there, so I can get away and, like, see people.

[Pashi]

Yeah, that's nice.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's nice.

[Sufi]

I'm glad you finally made some friends.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, I have friends. I know. I feel like this whole if only.

[Sufi]

If only, the Ryan's and the Poconos.

[Pashi]

Or whatever the other names are.

[Sufi]

I'm very impressed that you can remember all the names of the Poconos.

[Dan Taberski]

Joey Ryan. And I could swear his name was Joey Ryan. And it's so unfortunate that it's a hard name to Google because I could have swore. I saw his picture on a not to be gross on a porn box once, and I was like, oh, is that him? And it was Joey. I don't remember what the other name was. It was different. I was like, I wonder if that's him. But you can't. It's hard to Google Joey Ryan.

[Sufi]

Yeah, right. It's tough.

[Dan Taberski]

So I never solved it.

[Sufi]

I never solved it. I think it'd be fun to just imagine it was him.

[Dan Taberski]

Knowing him, it really could have been like he was headed that way.

[Sufi]

You could always tell the kids in the Poconos that are heading towards adult entertainment.

[Pashi]

That's why the name that's called the Poconos, I think it is too.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, I think it is.

[Pashi]

Their ties to the porn industry.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, that's really smart.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Some. Some people go there because they. They spelled it wrong in their heads, right?

[Pashi]

They're like, this is gonna be great.

[Dan Taberski]

I've made a mistake.

[Sufi]

What about how your siblings. Do you ever go and visit them or are they. Where do they live?

[Dan Taberski]

My sister lives in Connecticut. My but my brother lives in Philadelphia.

[Sufi]

Gotcha.

[Dan Taberski]

So I go down to. We go down to Philadelphia, a bunch of.

[Sufi]

Do either of your siblings have kids?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, they both have two kids.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

There's four altogether.

[Sufi]

How are you as an uncle, would you say? Yeah. Okay. Thank you for your honesty, Josh. Saw my kids yesterday. Hadn't seen him for a while. Yeah. Since your wedding.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Which was October. And based on the way they greeted you, I think it's fair to say. You think I have not done a good job teaching my kids how to hug?

[Pashi]

Well, yeah, the girl didn't want to hug me at all, and she just wanted to know where my wife was.

[Sufi]

Yeah. And then when she did hug you, she only would back into you.

[Pashi]

She backed into me, so I had to, like, hug her from behind.

[Sufi]

Yeah. She was not comfortable enough to, like, face to face.

[Pashi]

Although your eldest ran at me so fast, and his arm. He just sort of doesn't. He's eight and doesn't really have control of his limbs. Yeah. And his arm hit me right in the center of the throat at a dead run, and. Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

So nobody is landing the hug.

[Sufi]

No. It was a disaster. It was. It was. It was, like, total. It was like 10 out of 10 enthusiasm and 1 out of 10 execution.

[Dan Taberski]

Okay.

[Sufi]

Yeah. But it was pretty exciting.

[Pashi]

Yeah, that was exciting.

[Dan Taberski]

How old are they? Sorry?

[Sufi]

They're 8, 6 and 3.

[Dan Taberski]

So they're still friendly.

[Pashi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Because I was like, that's. That's the big betrayal as an uncle, like, once I had become teenagers, it's just not.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

They just don't care about you.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

Although I did walk out this morning, and it seemed like no one recognized that I was there, because I thought you were, but there were, like, Legos and breakfast out, and it was. Yeah. It was the whole thing there.

[Sufi]

I will say when my. When Addie, my daughter, was, like, six months, she had a hard time with you coming over.

[Pashi]

Well, she thought I was you.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

And she called me Dada.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

How?

[Sufi]

She was six months at the time. She's now three and a half. She's good now. She has facial recognition. Crushing it. Definitely knows who her dad is. Super psyched about that. But, yeah, it was at six months.

[Dan Taberski]

That's incredible. That's. That's really wild.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

We have questions that we ask all of our guests.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Pashi]

And I was worried that I was gonna forget them, so I wrote them down.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I saw you bring out a book, and I go, I bet it's.

[Dan Taberski]

You don't remember what the questions are.

[Pashi]

Not always.

[Dan Taberski]

You said you're almost 100 episodes.

[Sufi]

It is embarrassing for Josh that he had to bring the book out.

[Pashi]

Yeah. And that I have my glasses. But anyhow, here we go. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?

[Dan Taberski]

Educational.

[Pashi]

Yeah. That's aesthetic.

[Sufi]

You're on your museum walk.

[Pashi]

Yeah. What is your favorite means of transportation?

[Dan Taberski]

Oh, I'm not a big transportation person.

[Pashi]

Yeah. But, like, do you like a train, plane, automobile?

[Dan Taberski]

I like. I. I don't. I've taken the subway in 20 years. I grew up in New York. I had a panic attack when I was 16, and I developed a really bad phobia of the subway.

[Sufi]

Really?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. And so now I don't. I haven't. I haven't taken it in 20 years. Years.

[Pashi]

Wow.

[Dan Taberski]

Isn't that amazing? I walk a lot.

[Sufi]

Was. Did something happen on the subway to give you your panic attack?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

What happened?

[Dan Taberski]

We had stopped. I was on my way home from high school. I went to high school in the Bronx. It was an hour and a half to get back to Queens, and it just stopped in a tunnel forever. And I just. And it was really packed. And it was just one of those times where you're like, oh, I just realized I can't get out. And this is why I won't take amusement park rides. This is why I won't like.

[Sufi]

Well, you've had a terrible string of bad luck.

[Dan Taberski]

So it's not subways. I don't. So it wouldn't be subways. But I do like a train. I like an acela.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

I find that fun.

[Sufi]

It is the most common answer for our guests is train.

[Dan Taberski]

Really?

[Sufi]

And it is sort of heartbreaking that we live in a country that, like, other than, like, the Eastern corridor, there's not a lot of train travel available to anybody. But I do think it's the most romantic and it's the most likely means of transportation for there to be a murder, and then everybody's a suspect.

[Pashi]

But that's. It's fun, right?

[Sufi]

It's fun. Well, I think, like, again, murder on an airplane, no fun at all. A murder on a train, like, oh, here we go. Yeah. And it's amazing how often a detective is on board. Yeah.

[Pashi]

With a fabulous mustache.

[Sufi]

Yes. Oh.

[Pashi]

If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, other than your own family, what family would you like to take a family vacation with?

[Sufi]

And while you're thinking about it, I'm going to say this is the most on the spot question, and we do appreciate that we have put you in the corner of trying to come up with a family to go on vacation with.

[Dan Taberski]

This is. This is really aging. But I just came up with the Brady Bunch.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Because I like the types of vacations they would take. They would always get into trouble.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

But make it out okay.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Grand Canyon Camping.

[Sufi]

Yep. Cursed idol. Hawaii.

[Dan Taberski]

Hawaii. Yeah.

[Sufi]

All right.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So why not?

[Sufi]

All right, I have. Would I have a follow up about the Brady brunch, please? Who do you think you would get along best with of the six brave kids? Okay, Peter, Great. Shocking lack of time needed to answer that question.

[Pashi]

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be?

[Sufi]

Oh, now we're finding out.

[Dan Taberski]

No, no, no. Well, it's complicated. I mean, God, I don't want to say my mother because that's just a sad answer.

[Sufi]

You know what's really sad? If she's listening. It's a sweet answer if you mean it.

[Dan Taberski]

If I was on a desert island, it would be my brother because he's older and he's bigger than me and.

[Sufi]

He could actually do so you're not. So it's interesting. You're not looking for companionship. You're just looking for who will help you survive.

[Dan Taberski]

I like them all. I like them all. But I'm just trying to think of what their flaws are because you have to deal with those as well. I really not just love my family. I really like my, my family, but I. But I don't. But being on a desert island with them is something very different. Okay, got you.

[Pashi]

So, brother, you're from Flushing, Queens?

[Sufi]

I am.

[Pashi]

Would you recommend Flushing, Queens as a vacation destination?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah, if you like Chinese food. That's a great answer. Yeah.

[Pashi]

A lot of people take vacations for Chinese food.

[Dan Taberski]

It would be a terrible, terrible place for a vacation.

[Sufi]

Okay. But a good. For like a day trip to get great Chinese food.

[Dan Taberski]

Great Chinese food, Korean food, like, and things that you can't even imagine. Different types of. I think it's the second largest Chinatown outside of Chinatown. It might even be bigger than Chinatown in terms of community.

[Sufi]

Were you aware of that growing up?

[Dan Taberski]

Was that it was changing as I was growing up. So it was turning. It was literally like a white blue collar neighborhood that was turning into. That was. And so it was super interesting. But like now you go back, all the signs are different. All the restaurants and the stores and they're sort of the same, but they're just a little different. And the food is incredible.

[Sufi]

We went to. I would Say a low end, low to medium end Chinese restaurant every Friday.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

With our parents. And it was so exciting. Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

With a. With a sort of the chips and the duck sauce.

[Sufi]

100% that. And I just remember the thrill of, I mean, order the same thing every time.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And it just felt, you know, it felt different and exciting.

[Dan Taberski]

Going to a restaurant for Chinese food is great. That is, like, to actually get the tea and then like. Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah. My turn.

[Pashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

All right. My last question to ask everybody. Have you been to the Grand Canyon?

[Dan Taberski]

Yes.

[Sufi]

Was it worth it?

[Dan Taberski]

Yes.

[Sufi]

Really?

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Okay. When did you go?

[Dan Taberski]

25 years ago.

[Sufi]

Who'd you go with?

[Dan Taberski]

My. My first wife.

[Sufi]

And what did you do? Did you just stand?

[Dan Taberski]

We just went to the edge.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

And. And I just thought it was really big and moving.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

And beautiful. We didn't go down into it, though.

[Sufi]

But, like, it's a long drive to get to just.

[Dan Taberski]

Yeah. But for somebody who grew up on the East Coast, I didn't see California until my 20s or the. Or any of that sort of the stuff in the West. Like, for me, that was even just driving in the west is vacation.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

Because it's like. It's like Mars.

[Sufi]

Right.

[Dan Taberski]

And I just. I just think it's so interesting.

[Pashi]

Yeah. I agree. Seth disagrees.

[Sufi]

It's fine.

[Dan Taberski]

You don't like Grand Canyon?

[Sufi]

It was fine.

[Dan Taberski]

Did you go down?

[Sufi]

No, but I got it right away. Did you.

[Dan Taberski]

Did you stay for sunset?

[Sufi]

What?

[Dan Taberski]

Did you see a sunset?

[Sufi]

We did not.

[Dan Taberski]

No sunrise.

[Sufi]

It was a little rainy when we were there.

[Pashi]

Yeah, it was a little rainy. And then we were with a big group of friends, and they were like, we're gonna get struck by lightning. And I was like, we're not gonna get struck by lightning. And then around us were all these trees that had been, like, shaved in half by lightning bolts, so.

[Dan Taberski]

Well, this doesn't sound like a Grand Canyon problem. It sounds like a your friend problem.

[Sufi]

Or a me problem. What about. I. We don't ask this for everybody but Niagara Falls. Would you say it's worth it? Would you tell people you should see it?

[Dan Taberski]

If you're swinging by. If you're in the area, swing by. But I wouldn't. I wouldn't make a. There's other things to see.

[Sufi]

If you're. So. If you're within half an hour, you have to.

[Dan Taberski]

100%.

[Sufi]

If you're within two hours. Well, I guess two hours, okay.

[Dan Taberski]

I would do two hours, sure.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Dan Taberski]

What else do you do?

[Pashi]

If you're within two hours?

[Dan Taberski]

If you're within two hours of Buffalo, you're like, yeah, there's. You have to go to the bathroom somewhere. You might as well. There's nowhere else.

[Sufi]

So you would go to the Niagara Falls to go to the bathroom? Yeah.

[Dan Taberski]

No, no, no. That. That would be the thing to see. There. That would be the thing to see.

[Sufi]

Thank you so much for joining us.

[Dan Taberski]

Oh, my gosh. You kidding me? Thank you so much.

[Sufi]

Podcast royalty. Really happy. Thank you, everybody.

[Dan Taberski]

Thank you.

[Sufi]

Really enjoyed being back at this wonderful festival.

[Pashi]

He was a college teejay. Didn't like the sound of his own voice. Used to share a bed with his brother, but it wasn't really his choice.

[Sufi]

In the summer, mom would say, let's.

[Pashi]

Go and it'll pil into the car drive to the poker nose to the cottage colony. It was the coolest place to be hanging with the Bartholts, the Ryans and all the fellas.

[Sufi]

Go swimmin in the lake.

[Pashi]

A row a row boat without an umbrella. And there was the littlest one, so the bigger kids were throwing him around for fun. That's when he fell and popped his front teeth out. Popped both his front teeth out. Oh, no, it sounds so gross. He hooked his choppers on pocket don't teeth.