GERALDINE VISWANATHAN Had a Premonition About a Tsunami

Summary

Episode Summary: GERALDINE VISWANATHAN Had a Premonition About a Tsunami

Release Date: April 29, 2025

In this captivating episode of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers, hosts Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers welcome actress Geraldine Viswanathan to share her unique childhood experiences, memorable family vacations, and humorous anecdotes. The conversation seamlessly weaves through Geraldine's early life in Australia, her adventures abroad, and the cherished moments that shaped her into the beloved performer she is today.

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Welcome and Setting the Tone

The episode kicks off with Seth and Josh engaging in light-hearted banter about their recent podcasting experiences. They emphasize the importance of family-oriented conversations, reminiscing about past guests and the organic flow of discussions that make their podcast relatable and enjoyable.

Josh: “That's what it’s about—a free flowing conversation about life, love and a bit about family trips.” [02:01]

Unique Family Traditions

Seth and Josh delve into funny family traditions, highlighting their mother’s unique take on chicken Kiev sandwiches. The brothers humorously critique the occasional mishaps caused by colorful toothpicks used to garnish the dish, adding a personal touch to their storytelling.

Seth: “She wasn’t using chicken colored toothpicks, basically, is what I’m saying.” [02:42]

Introducing Geraldine Viswanathan

Geraldine Viswanathan joins the conversation, bringing her vibrant personality to the table. The hosts welcome her warmly, setting the stage for an engaging dialogue filled with laughter and insightful exchanges.

Josh: “It’s lovely to see you again, Geraldine. How have you been?” [12:45]

Early Life in Australia

Geraldine shares her upbringing in Newcastle, Australia, just a couple of hours from Sydney. She paints a vivid picture of her beach town’s transformation over the years, comparing its rougher past to the now more vibrant and surf-friendly community.

Geraldine: “It was rougher. They used to call it Spew Castle. Big time.” [13:39-13:56]

Surfing Struggles and Sibling Dynamics

The conversation shifts to Geraldine’s attempts at surfing, revealing her humorous struggles with the sport. She contrasts her experience with her younger sister’s natural aptitude for athletic activities like gymnastics and vaulting, leading to playful sibling rivalry.

Geraldine: “I have tried desperately hard to surf, but cannot get up.” [14:38]

Cultural Exchanges and Family Vacations

Geraldine recounts her annual trips to Switzerland, discussing the cultural differences and the challenges of attending school in a predominantly French-speaking environment. She humorously describes her interactions with classmates during “Guess Who” games and her perseverance in learning the language.

Geraldine: “I just had to pretend to walk a dog, and nailed it, obviously.” [36:13]

Improv Adventures in Amsterdam

The brothers explore Geraldine’s time in Amsterdam, where she participated in improv shows. She shares amusing stories about performing with a tight-knit group, navigating the vibrant city, and memorable interactions with fellow performers.

Geraldine: “It was the best. There was like weirdly less distractions because we were all like, all right, this is why we’re here.” [58:06]

Schoolies and Wild Adventures

Geraldine opens up about the Australian tradition of “Schoolies,” a post-high school trip filled with partying and exploration. She humorously describes her experience in Fiji, highlighting the contrasting atmospheres of different islands and the unpredictable nature of such adventures.

Geraldine: “It was the trashiest experience of your life.” [60:48]

Lightning Round: Fun and Favorites

The episode concludes with a lightning round of fun questions, offering listeners a glimpse into Geraldine’s personal preferences and quirky personality. From ideal vacations to favorite means of transportation, the answers provide a delightful wrap-up to the engaging conversation.

Josh: “Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?” [64:31]

Geraldine: “Relaxing.” [64:38]

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Notable Quotes

• Josh: “That's what it’s about—a free flowing conversation about life, love and a bit about family trips.” [02:01]

• Seth: “She wasn’t using chicken colored toothpicks, basically, is what I’m saying.” [02:42]

• Geraldine: “It was rougher. They used to call it Spew Castle. Big time.” [13:39]

• Geraldine: “I have tried desperately hard to surf, but cannot get up.” [14:38]

• Geraldine: “I just had to pretend to walk a dog, and nailed it, obviously.” [36:13]

• Geraldine: “It was the trashiest experience of your life.” [60:48]

• Geraldine: “Relaxing.” [64:38]

---

Conclusion

This episode of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers offers a rich tapestry of stories and insights from Geraldine Viswanathan’s life. From her early days grappling with surfing to her adventurous trips across the globe, Geraldine’s tales are both inspirational and entertaining. Seth and Josh create a welcoming atmosphere, allowing Geraldine to share her experiences candidly, making listeners feel as though they are part of the family trip. Whether you’re a fan of Geraldine’s work or simply enjoy heartfelt conversations about family and travel, this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

[Sufi]

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].

[Bashi]

Hi, Bashi.

[Sufi]

Hi, Suvi.

[Bashi]

How are you doing?

[Sufi]

I'm good. How are you?

[Bashi]

Good. I'm coming from recording another podcast as a guest.

[Sufi]

Ugh.

[Bashi]

I know. Sorry, bro.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

But you know what I liked about it? It was with family members. It was Jessie Ware and her mom, Lenny. The pop singer Jesse Ware has a wonderful, wonderful podcast called Table Manners where it's essentially about food, but it's just sort of a free flowing conversation. But it was funny because their producer was kind of the poshy.

[Sufi]

Oh yeah.

[Bashi]

In that we were trying to get.

[Sufi]

It on, get him on track.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Just sort of waving a pencil around to get Jesse's attention off camera and then said maybe a bit more about sandwiches.

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah. Cause that's what that podcast. Not knowing about the podcast. That's what it's about.

[Bashi]

That's what it's about. With that said, I think it's a free flowing conversation with a focus on maybe that's how we should introduce this. A free flowing conversation about life, love and a bit about family trips. The thing I'll say is I really do like family vibes on a podcast, obviously.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bashi]

And also they had listened to this podcast. I appreciated the research they did because they had a lot of questions about mom's chicken Kiev sandwiches, which we just talked about in our podcast. So, you know, shout out, shout out to them for doing the work.

[Sufi]

I feel like also mom makes a chicken Kiev that is different than most chicken Kievs you'll encounter. I feel like sometimes it's like, because she would make like a filet and then like roll it up and other people like sort of like stuff things in. I don't know.

[Bashi]

Well, yeah, hers would suck.

[Sufi]

Arms are the best.

[Bashi]

Yeah. The stuffing would be rolled into it as opposed to like.

[Sufi]

Yeah, like not like inserted, which is just unnatural.

[Bashi]

Downside, 35% of the time you're gonna fully bite into a toothpick. Her little toothpicks are sometimes gonna like find their way into the folds and just wait for.

[Sufi]

But she also, I will say she would use toothpicks or she will use toothpicks that are colored.

[Bashi]

Yep.

[Sufi]

Pink and green. Yeah. Or like a blue. And so you would get a little bit of the dye from the toothpick. Would sort of signify like, hey, toothpick over here.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

She wasn't using a. She was. She didn't Use chicken colored toothpicks, basically, is what I'm saying.

[Bashi]

Based on how much Alexi currently talks about red dye and how bad it is for our kids to eat. How do you. She would feel if I told her that was fully dye just in the chicken?

[Sufi]

She's probably anti.

[Bashi]

Probably anti toothpick dye. It's the healthiest of the dyes. You know, I think early on I was reflecting while doing another podcast about arpacos. You know, I think sometimes maybe we use bad language, but I feel as though without ever talking about it, we've drifted away from that, wouldn't you say?

[Sufi]

Yeah, I think it sort of. I think it comes out. When it comes out, it comes out naturally. We're not like, broing out in a way that's like trying to show off for other dudes that we, like, can swear.

[Bashi]

I think authentically when I'm talking to people, like, I might curse a little bit more, you know, but almost like, I think I use certain words like a comma. So, yeah, it's not filthy, but it is, you know, not everybody wants to hear it on their podcast. So this is all a preface to the fact that I've decided not to say the name of this thing that my kids see every day, which is.

[Sufi]

Yeah, all right. You sent this picture this morning.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Okay, so there's some artist in New York, and, I mean, it's everywhere by the way they tag it. And it just goes to show you that sometimes people don't read the tags. They're perfectly drawn chalk circles.

[Sufi]

Like, exceptionally drawn.

[Bashi]

Exceptionally drawn. Like a perfect circle. Yeah. And inside, very simply written, we'll say, bad luck spot. Good luck spot. There's a lot of those.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

I'm not lying when I say we pass about 12 of them on our walk. Axel screams in mock fear every time he sees a bad luck spot.

[Sufi]

Will he walk through a bad luck spot?

[Bashi]

No, no, no. Walks around. Yeah, fully walks around. They get really excited when they see a good luck spot. Anyway, a recent addition in Union Square. Three circles in a row. Kissing spot, hugging spot. And then a spot that starts with a F and ing spot. F with and then in. Yeah, effing spot.

[Sufi]

Yeah, but with the full word.

[Bashi]

Yes, the full word. And I've just decided it's. I'm not going to scold them when they say that word out loud. You know what I mean? It's full reading. And every day they, with so much delight, yell, yay, it's the spot. Run over, stand inside it, do a little dance, and It's a real. It's a real party for passersby.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I bet.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I mean, if. If street art can sort of lead to those other things. Like, so that artist puts that down there. Your kids get a kick out of it.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

And then other people see your kids getting a kick out of it and get a kick out of it. That is like. That's one of those art begetting joy.

[Bashi]

The only problem is if someone is distracted watching my kids and then all of a sudden they look down and they're right in the middle of the bad luck spot. Oh, yeah. Took my eye off the prize.

[Sufi]

I saw you.

[Bashi]

We saw each other. It was really lovely. It was great.

[Sufi]

I saw you twice in two days.

[Bashi]

Yep.

[Sufi]

Which is great. Which was also. It was amazing because you didn't tell me you were coming to Los Angeles.

[Bashi]

I almost never do.

[Sufi]

But you text. You texted me.

[Bashi]

I thought I had this time. I thought I had.

[Sufi]

Yeah. You texted me from the plane and you said, hey, I'm landing at 1:30. Are you guys home? And I was like, landing where? And you were coming to la and it was perfect. You came over, you got to hang out, have dinner, watch a little basketball on night one. And then the second afternoon, me, Mackenzie and our friend Jill met you for lunch at your hotel.

[Bashi]

Jill was a real star.

[Sufi]

Oh, my gosh.

[Bashi]

We're going to try to have Jill on. We're going to do a special podcast coming up this summer because we're going back to Amsterdam and we're going to do a live podcast.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

And going to get Jill up so that everybody can hear Jill, because she is truly one of our funniest, most unique friends. Jill and I were doing a two person show when I got hired for snl. Jill also, for a very smart woman, says words wrong all the time and names, butchers names. And I keep telling people this was my favorite part of lunch. How did she say the model Naomi Campbell's name?

[Sufi]

Naomi.

[Bashi]

Yeah. She said it in a way she should have known from the face she was making to say it that that's not what it was. Yeah, but she. And we know, we've known her so long that we didn't even correct her when she said Naomi. And then she told the story. And then later I said, you know, I met Naomi Campbell once. And then you said, I think it's Naomi. And that was maybe my favorite moment of the weekend. And then Jill's like, wait, what is it really? It's insane. I also, on the way to the Airport stopped by to see friend of the pod, Ike Barinholtz.

[Sufi]

Oh yeah, it's a good stop by.

[Bashi]

Did he feed you? No, he had.

[Sufi]

Make you a drink.

[Bashi]

He did make me a very good old fashioned.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bashi]

And in that really great way when, when you have a friend like Ike, who, when he makes you food or makes you a drink while you're enjoying it, he also tells you why it's even better than you think it is. You know, you were talking about, we were having lunch, like, what does he do to his negroni?

[Sufi]

Oh, he like put it through an egg wash. Yeah. Or something just like that.

[Bashi]

So he's like, he put it in.

[Sufi]

And then he extracted the egg and it's like, to what end?

[Bashi]

I. He. He had just eaten some takeout and there were cold french fries in a box. Would you be surprised that I just ate those without asking?

[Sufi]

Yeah, that is, that is like probably your favorite meal, your favorite snack is.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Cold leftovers that are sitting on a.

[Bashi]

Coffee table for however many days. Immaterial to me. He also, all three of his wonderful kids were there, all three of his daughters and the two younger ones made a video for Ash. Cause they're gonna meet Ash this summer.

[Sufi]

Great.

[Bashi]

And it's a really funny video where Ike basically says, tell them you can't wait. Say you can't wait to meet him. And they say it like in terrible unison. And we all laugh. And I will say this seven second video is Ash's new favorite movie. Just big old, big old hearts in his eyes while he's watching it. You know, it's funny watching. Cause he just kind of can't wait to meet him. But also, you know, is like shy. Everything about it's great.

[Sufi]

But that's amazing.

[Bashi]

Jill also, her kids are gonna meet Ash and she suggested, let's do a zoom. Let's have all the kids meet. And so I said to Ash and Alexi I was FaceTiming them when I was in LA, and I go, ash, all the kids want to do is zoom. And Alexi goes, ugh, that sounds like it'll be an awkward zoom. And Ash is like, yeah, that sounds so awkward. And then the next day, I'm walking him to school, he goes, hey, so are we going to do that awkward zoom? And so I just like that he like, he was like happy to like bully me with Alexi, but then he's like, that awkward zoom. Sounds super rad. Can we get that in the books?

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah. Also Jill, who put that together, which is a Great idea for all these kids to meet virtually before they meet in Amsterdam, but also included several of us who, like, don't have kids or aren't bringing their kids in this sort of text chain that just forces us all to weigh in.

[Bashi]

I know. She was like, we wanna do a zoom so the kids can meet everybody. I'm like, no, the kids are gonna meet the other kids. They don't have to meet. It was such a weird decision by someone with kids. If somebody without kids had said, this is a good idea, I'd be like, oh, you don't have kids. You don't know. Like, the kids are gonna be super shy. The only way it'll be fun is if it's just kids.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Although I think Mackenzie and I were gonna be driving out to Mammoth, I think during that call. So maybe we'll dial in because we're gonna be in the middle of a four and a half hour drive.

[Bashi]

I don't even know. I mean, again, there were so many people on that text chain, I immediately stopped paying attention. One of Mike Barinholtz's co stars in the wonderful film Blockers is our guest today.

[Sufi]

Geraldine Viswanathan.

[Bashi]

That's right, Geraldine Fitzwithin. She's wonderful. Do enjoy her and do enjoy Jeff Tweedy family chips with the Mice Brothers.

[Geraldine Viswanathan]

Family chips with the mama. Here we go.

[Bashi]

Hello.

[Sufi]

Hello.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Hey, guys. What's going on?

[Sufi]

How are you?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I wonder if this is working.

[Bashi]

I don't know, the way you're holding it, it feels like it couldn't possibly be working.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Just to try it.

[Bashi]

Yeah, yeah. I think the fact that you're using a microphone and pointing it at us is a bad sign.

[Sufi]

Does that. It's a microphone with a windscreen. Does that. Windscreen. Was it designed, that microphone or is it just the.

[Jeff Tweedy]

The poof?

[Sufi]

Yeah, the poof. Seems oddly stretched.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, no, it doesn't fit at all. But they sent me like five of these, so.

[Sufi]

Oh, you're welcome.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Thank you so much. Yeah, I'm going to be recording whatever I can.

[Bashi]

It's lovely to see you again, Geraldine. How have you been?

[Jeff Tweedy]

You too. So good. Simply, simply chilling. How about.

[Bashi]

So you? We're great. You're from Australia?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Famously, yes.

[Bashi]

Famously from Australia. For those who are wondering, why is she using this strange voice? This is her natural voice.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

So, and what part of Australia are you from?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I'm from a beach town called Newcastle, which is like three hours, two and a half hours from Sydney. And it's very beautiful beaches, very surfy, skatey. But yeah, it's changed a lot. It used to be kind of a bit scary, and now it's like people from Sydney. I feel like after Covid, people have sort of moved there.

[Bashi]

So it was sort of a scary beach town. What were the.

[Sufi]

Was it just rougher?

[Jeff Tweedy]

It was rougher. They used to call it in Sydney. They'd call it Spew Castle.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah. I was gonna ask, was there conflict between the two? And it sounds like based on that, yes.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Big time. Big time. I would compare it to maybe like, New Jersey. New York.

[Bashi]

Gotcha. But like, the Jersey shore. Cause I guess when you think about it, that might back in the day have had a reputation for being referred to. So that.

[Sufi]

That makes perfect sense.

[Bashi]

Were your parents, like, beach people? Did they. Were they drawn to it for that?

[Jeff Tweedy]

No, I think that was sort of. It wasn't really their choice. I mean, my dad got a job there. He's a doctor. And then. But then he became. He became a beach guy. He got into surfing. But it's. Surfing's really hard.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Does your whole family surf? Do you surf?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I have tried desperately hard to surf, but cannot get up.

[Bashi]

There are two ways somebody could say surfing is really hard. One is somebody who's like a pro surfer and wants to let you know. And then the way you said it, which is you definitely aren't that good at it.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Not a chance. There are, like, formative memories of me, like, trying so hard, because that's obviously. It was like skate park, and, like, the beach is, like, where all the hot guys would hang out. So I'm like, come on. This is this. We have to enter this space. And naturally it was. Yeah. I mean, just the upper body strength that it takes. I was just getting absolutely pummeled out there.

[Sufi]

Are the waves also. Is there an easy, like, small place you can go for, like, just like, small little sets, like easy beginner waves? Or is it you had sort of are thrown into the deep end because the surf is so big?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I think it's just the surf is so big. I went, like. I went to, like, Costa Rica and the waves there. I was like, oh, my God. Like, this is. This is nice. I'm not, like, fighting for my life.

[Bashi]

Yeah. We took our. We went to Costa Rica and my wife took surf lessons. My boys took surf lessons. But even I just to say how much I'm lined up with you, I thought it was really hard. Even with the little Costa Rica waves, I was like, this is a nonstarter for me. I don't like it.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Could you Stand up? Yeah.

[Bashi]

But then once I was up. I feel the same way about water skiing, which is, once you get up, I don't feel like there's any reward. Really?

[Jeff Tweedy]

You feel nothing?

[Bashi]

I feel dead inside.

[Sufi]

I've probably stood up on two waves in my life. I've only been surfing twice. But it is an insanely incredible feeling. And that Seth feels nothing from it makes me feel like part of him is just dead inside.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. That's funny.

[Bashi]

I think we've established that.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Yeah. No, that's.

[Bashi]

I mean, I'm not hiding from the part of me that's dead inside, by the way. Like, I don't judge people who surf. Like, when I watched, I was thrilled when my boys got up. It made me so happy. But also, I realized that, you know, they obviously are lucky not to have the gene that I have, which makes me hate Joy. Did you have. What is your sibling situation?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I have one little sis.

[Bashi]

And does she. Is she, like, better at stuff, like surfing?

[Jeff Tweedy]

She is, yeah.

[Bashi]

How's that for you?

[Jeff Tweedy]

It's so annoying. She's really small and, like, could do. She grew up doing, like, gymnastics and vaulting and. Yeah, she can hop up on a surfboard because she's so tiny. And I was just sort of, you know, monster on the pitch.

[Bashi]

So it almost seems like what you're trying to do here is establish she does not deserve any credit for having skill. She's just this tiny person.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Right. 100% tiny.

[Sufi]

Small people have it so easy.

[Jeff Tweedy]

No, literally, they can flip around and do anything.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Vaulting. A little person vaulting, that's just. I mean, come on.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Come on.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

Standing ovation.

[Sufi]

You look at the. You know, if you watch Olympic gymnastics, you know, those women are incredible athletes. But they're not, you know, six footers.

[Jeff Tweedy]

No, they're all small.

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bashi]

They're basically so small, they're already a little bit in the air.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That's right. They actually. We actually need to weigh them down.

[Bashi]

They gotta put rocks in their pockets.

[Sufi]

How much younger is your sister?

[Jeff Tweedy]

She's six years younger.

[Bashi]

That's a pretty big gap.

[Jeff Tweedy]

It's a big gap.

[Bashi]

Do you guys. Did you guys get along when you were kids?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I think I traumatized her. Yeah.

[Bashi]

That's nice of you to own it.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I think all oldest, older siblings do. It's this, like, insane kind of power dynamic.

[Bashi]

Were you aware at the time that you were torturing her?

[Jeff Tweedy]

No, I don't think so.

[Bashi]

That's better.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's good.

[Bashi]

But you have perspective. Now, as opposed to. No. I always knew I was evil.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

I was trying to be evil consciously.

[Jeff Tweedy]

To be like, remember when you said that I had monkey arms? I think about that every day and I'm like, oh, my God. Yeah. That was me just being. And also, like, impacted your life.

[Bashi]

Monkey arms, I will say, would stick. If somebody told me I had monkey arms, I would maybe never stop thinking about it for one second of any day.

[Sufi]

But it's perspective because you could also think, like, those are, like, really, like, lithe, rangy, capable arms.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Well, I meant hairy. Yeah. Okay.

[Sufi]

Okay, fair enough. So never mind what I just said.

[Bashi]

Did your sister. Did your sister need clarification at the time or was she well aware that you meant.

[Jeff Tweedy]

She knew what I was doing.

[Bashi]

She wasn't like, oh, do you mean lies and wiry.

[Jeff Tweedy]

No, she was like, no. That's already an insecurity I have. Thank you so much.

[Bashi]

Where does your sister. Where does she live now?

[Jeff Tweedy]

She lives in Sydney.

[Bashi]

Okay. And what about. Are your parents still in Australia?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, yeah, they. They're. Yeah, they're in Newcastle still, but she grew up in. Yeah. House I grew up in.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

But then I just. I just got a little shop front in Sydney that my sister is now operating a shop from.

[Bashi]

Get out of town. What sort of shop?

[Jeff Tweedy]

She makes clothes.

[Bashi]

She Great.

[Jeff Tweedy]

She's truly. Has truly all the opposite, like, skills to me. She's very, like, visual and crofty with those arms. And.

[Bashi]

It'S called the Monkey Arms Boutique. Correct.

[Jeff Tweedy]

He's owning it.

[Sufi]

It's all long sleeve. Long sleeve shirts.

[Bashi]

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

[Sufi]

Hey, Sufi.

[Bashi]

You know, I love a food truck. Oh, yeah, Love a food truck. Sometimes I'll be at a farmer's market that'll have a food truck, and I'll see. Oh, my God, they got a breakfast burrito. And I get in line and I'm so psyched. And sometimes these small businesses, you know, they just have a very slow payment system. And it's not their fault. Right. They're just trying to figure it out.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

And you just feel so bad because there's so many people who want to get what they're selling, and they're just losing so many customers based on the fact that every checkout experience has taken forever. And that is one of the cool things about Square.

[Sufi]

Yeah, Square. I mean, you see it everywhere, and when you see it, it sort of gives you peace of mind because, you know, it's going to be quick and easy to check out and to pay for whatever it is you're buying. And running a business involves a lot of moving parts and Square helps simplify that. The hardware looks polished and fits right into your space without feeling intrusive. And the software is incredibly straightforward and intuitive. So you don't need any special training. You can just set it up and start taking payments quickly.

[Bashi]

With that said, our mom would probably need a little bit of special training.

[Sufi]

Yeah, a little bit. But I'm sure they sure that's a quick. That's a video that someone would have to open for her, but after that she'd be good to go.

[Bashi]

Good news. She doesn't have anything to sell, so we're never going to reach that point. Square supports all major credit cards and payment methods, including contactless options like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Checkout is fast it easy, easy for your customers. Square is designed for businesses at every stage, whether you're just getting started or looking to grow. Gives you the tools to do both without making things more complicated for you or your customer than they need to be.

[Sufi]

Square keeps up so you don't have to slow down. Get everything you need to run and grow your business without any long term commitments. And why wait? Right now you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at square.com go trips. That's S Q U-A-R-E.com geotrips run your business smarter with Square. Get started today.

[Bashi]

Support comes from Visit Baltimore. Hi Bashi.

[Sufi]

Hey Sufi.

[Bashi]

Baltimore is a rising star in the us Often overlooked. Definitely belongs on your vacation radar though. Forget the big cities where you end up lost in the crowd. Instead, experience the charm of Baltimore. It's known as Charm City and it seamlessly combines sports, history, art, food and culture into a one of a kind experience. Paschi, last week you remember we were talking about how good Baltimore seafood is.

[Sufi]

I mean, they're known for it and for a reason.

[Bashi]

Crab dip, crab cakes, steamed crabs. But this week we're going to tell you about some of the places. And the names of these restaurants make my mouth water.

[Sufi]

Absolutely.

[Bashi]

Crab dip. Go to the Rusty Scupper. That's in the inner Harbor. Stunning panoramic views. Creamy crab dip. Large patio overlooking the water at the Rusty Scupper. Paschi, where would you go for crab cakes?

[Sufi]

For crab cakes, I'd go to Faidley's and the Lexington Market. It's a Baltimore icon since 1886, known for its jumbo lump crab cakes and secret sauce. It's a must try if you're the Baltimore Museum of Art. Don't miss Gertrude's Chesapeake Kitchen, where you'll find Gertrude's. Gertrude's where you'll find crab cakes and even a delicious vegetarian option called I can't believe it's not crab cakes. That one's for me.

[Bashi]

For the ultimate steamed crabs, head to Nick's Fish House. Perfect name in Baltimore. Peninsula, wood deck, waterfront views that'll make you feel like you're in a Maryland beach town.

[Sufi]

And don't forget Baltimore's incredible oysters. Head to Mama's on the half Shell in Canton for classics like cotties, rockfish, and oysters on the half shell. Also, semolina fried oysters. Baltimore's oyster scene is one you don't want to miss.

[Bashi]

Start your culinary [e-mail] Baltimore is just a quick drive or train ride from New York, Philly, and D.C. plan your visit today at baltimore.org that's baltimore.org Go to baltimore.org Baltimore slogan is you won't get it till you get here. Go to baltimore.org to plan your vacation getaway today. Here we go. Because it counts tactically as a family trip when you go home. How. I mean, obviously, I've never been. Josh, you've never been, right?

[Sufi]

No, but we've got a. We've got a friend who says we need to go over for her birthday in, like, two years. She's got a significant birthday.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Yeah. How often do you go?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I go every Christmas.

[Bashi]

Great. And how long do you go for?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Like three months.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah. That's just.

[Bashi]

AIES has certainly. Certainly work. Must get in the way of it at this point. Or do you just tell your agents, like, Geraldine is a. A noo from December to fab.

[Jeff Tweedy]

She's on the beach. Sorry, guys. I. I mean, no. Last time I had to fly back to Atlanta for a shoot, which was really annoying. It's so far. Yeah. But, you know, if I'm not paying for it, it's.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

But I do kind of. I feel like generally things slowed down around that time.

[Bashi]

That's good, right?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Like, certainly.

[Sufi]

Certainly in December.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Because everyone talk to Thanksgiving, people are like, see ya.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bashi]

So what were you. So you. I. I'm always curious about when people grow up in a beach town. Like, where do you go on vacation? Since you are assumingly at a place where other people come for vacation.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I guess, like the city or like. I don't know. I feel like the mountains. People go to the blue Mountains, but.

[Bashi]

Did you go to the Blue Mountains?

[Sufi]

Yeah, people do. Did you? Yo. No, you didn't.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I. I didn't.

[Bashi]

We don't want you to talk about vacations. You didn't go on.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Redirect this to you specific.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I totally know people.

[Bashi]

I don't even think based on the way you said it. You know what the Blue Mountains are said with zero confidence.

[Jeff Tweedy]

No, I mean, we grew up going. Honestly, my mom's from Switzerland, so we went to Switzerland every year.

[Sufi]

All right, there we go.

[Bashi]

That's great. How long would you go for that?

[Jeff Tweedy]

We'd go. I mean, it depends. But, like, pretty much, yeah, every year. And I, like, went to school there. At one point, it would be like, I lived there from, like, six to eight.

[Bashi]

Okay. Where and where in Switzerland?

[Jeff Tweedy]

In Basel.

[Bashi]

Okay.

[Jeff Tweedy]

And also Geneva.

[Bashi]

Great.

[Jeff Tweedy]

It was really confusing because I. I don't speak French at all.

[Bashi]

Yeah. How was school? Do you remember? Like, I would say a Swiss school. Sounds like. I don't know. Sounds pretty awesome.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I guess it was. It was like, when I. I went to, like, an international school. That was cool. I remember I had a teacher called Mrs. Shirt. I love that.

[Bashi]

So it was a Roald Dahl book. Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

But then Geneva was weird because, yeah, I didn't speak French, but then there was, like. So I didn't know what was going on. And we did, like. And I. But I would go to French classes. But we would just play Guess who in English. I was really, like, this is, like.

[Sufi]

All day for, like, your whole school? Like.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, well, like, kind of. Yeah, for like, an hour each day. Yeah.

[Bashi]

But you have incredible facial recognition. So you don't speak French, but you're, Guess who? Daz, obviously.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That's right.

[Bashi]

The speed in which you're, like, glasses, mustache.

[Sufi]

Did you take advantage of the sort of, you know, the outdoor wonders of Switzerland when you were there? Were you skiers, hikers? Would you. Were the hills alive with the Sound of Music?

[Jeff Tweedy]

You'd think, well, I don't know.

[Sufi]

I mean, if the Blue Mountains couldn't get you.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. No, I mean, I. We went skiing. Yeah. Yeah. No, I totally did go skiing, but it's, again, hard. I was not a sporty kid.

[Sufi]

Have you become a sporty adult?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I know. I mean, I play tennis, and that's something that is sort of surprising for myself.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Because there's a bowl involved, but I. Wow. Actually, I'm taking that in. Yeah. I have gotten better. I've gotten better. That's great.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Give yourself. Pat yourself on the back.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Okay. And that's growth.

[Bashi]

Do you play tennis? With regularity?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, every Sunday.

[Bashi]

That's amazing.

[Jeff Tweedy]

What do y'all play?

[Bashi]

Nothing.

[Jeff Tweedy]

What?

[Sufi]

Yeah, I mean, I play a little golf. I play some lawn games, but I played tennis here and there, but not with any great regularity. But a buddy of mine and I, Devin, will sort of try to dial up a court in Los Angeles every now and again.

[Bashi]

But it's been a minute and I just run.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh, wow.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

You're running the city.

[Bashi]

I just run in the city. I run from my responsibilities.

[Sufi]

You also told me recently, Seth, that you kind of stopped running for a minute and you feel so much better.

[Bashi]

I do. I think I was running too much for my old bones. And then it is not good. Yeah. No doctors, like, have you thought. Have you thought about picking up running.

[Jeff Tweedy]

On the hardest cement that you can find?

[Bashi]

Yeah. Ideally with bad pollution so you get that in your lungs. Just like, pound those knees and those lungs to no. To no reward.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Do you wear the toe shoes now? Okay. Just normal shoes.

[Bashi]

Just normal shoes? Yeah. Dress shoes. I run straight from work. I don't change Ms. Myers in a loafer. Do you? I. We went. My wife and I went on vacation maybe about 10 years ago to Switzerland. But we went in November when everybody says is the worst time to go because it was, like, very rainy and gray. But I still really loved it because it was. I mean, I feel like we saw, like, five cities in two and a half days. Cause it's not that big and the trains are so good.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

That you can just like, zip everywhere and everything. It feels like sometimes you feel like you're in Italy, sometimes you feel like in Germany, sometimes you feel like you're in France. It's really kind of fascinating.

[Jeff Tweedy]

And you, like, take a left and you're in France.

[Bashi]

Yeah. I loved it.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Hey, welcome to France. It's so fun.

[Bashi]

Were you bummed? Were you bummed to move there and bummed to leave? Or were you too young to have those kind of opinions about.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Was. Whatever. I mean.

[Bashi]

That'S.

[Sufi]

That's Switzerland's slogan.

[Bashi]

I don't know if I have the authority to do this. We would love to get you as the spokesperson for visit switzerland.com.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That is the most, like, Australian in Switzerland. Ass shit. It was. No, it was cool. I mean, like, I have cousins there. And so that was. That was fun. And my.

[Bashi]

How does your. How did your Swiss mom find her way to Australia?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Good question. She asks herself that to this very day. She was doing musical theater. Studying musical theater in Paris and My dad, who is. He was born in India, but he moved to Australia when he was 6 and he had to be a doctor. No choice.

[Bashi]

No choice.

[Jeff Tweedy]

A classic style. And so he was like, did his medicine degree and then was like, I did it. Fuck you, dad. I'm going to Paris and I'm gonna study ballet and French.

[Bashi]

Get out.

[Sufi]

Whoa.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Just like 25 being like, I'm gonna give ballet ago. And so he did. And that's they boarding house. Like a international student kind of house doing French and ballet. So annoying and cute.

[Bashi]

I. I would imagine your grandfather, absolute full nightmare.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, true.

[Bashi]

I mean, medical. You have a son go to medical school, right?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I know. He was like, who's like, what are.

[Bashi]

You going to do with your medical degree?

[Sufi]

Is your father graceful?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Not at all.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Respectfully.

[Sufi]

Yeah, no, yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I think that was maybe a time, but that was before I knew him.

[Sufi]

Okay, gotcha.

[Bashi]

So your mother, musical theater in Paris meets a French speaking ballet student.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Not even French speaking, but French.

[Bashi]

French attempting French attempting find.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. Learning on the.

[Bashi]

Then wakes up one day and she's like, oh my God, I married a doctor who lives in Australia.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. Yeah. And now she's like, wait, what? What the hell? So fair.

[Bashi]

Was she excited when you showed an interest in the arts?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yes, big time. Both of them are. I. I think that. I think that's a big part of why they're so supportive is like, they're like, well, we couldn't like, you know.

[Bashi]

Yeah. They both had the itch.

[Jeff Tweedy]

They had understood it and they understood it big time. And like. Yeah. Are so excited about it and love to kind of like vicariously live through me.

[Sufi]

Cute.

[Bashi]

You. And you knew early.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bashi]

Okay.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Well, I just, I mean, I'm curious how you feel because I was just yapping. I just like, was. Because I feel like that's. That's so much of what we do. And I just, yeah. Was so like bubbly. Like, just wanted to tell everyone everything.

[Bashi]

Did they steer you towards it when they. When you were just like yapping? Were they like, what if we get her on stage and she could yap at other people?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, not fully. Well, it was like my mom was in. She was doing. She was in the chorus for Annie in Newcastle and then somebody and she was like, I have this child who yaps. And then they were like, oh, you should. Because there was like, in my hometown, there was like, there's public schools, there's private schools, and then there's like public selective schools, which was. There was like the smart school and the performing school.

[Bashi]

Right. They say performing because dumb seemed me.

[Jeff Tweedy]

So I went. I went there, shockingly. And, yeah, it was like, I auditioned when I was 6. I had to pretend to, like, walk a dog, and nailed it, obviously. And.

[Bashi]

People still talk about it was.

[Sufi]

Pretending to walk a dog. Is that like, they wanted to see you, like, mime it? Yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, yeah. I had to act that out.

[Bashi]

They were like, we're doing a production of Annie, but we can't afford a Sandy, so we need a kid who can believably make it look like there's a dog there. So what was your first. What was your first gig?

[Jeff Tweedy]

My first gig, I did a Kodak commercial when I was, like, little. I think I was, like, five, six. Like. Yeah. For an ad for. For, like, a camera company and lines or.

[Bashi]

Just being a kid.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Just being a kid.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Pigtails. Yeah.

[Bashi]

Real dog.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Whoa.

[Bashi]

Yeah. You're like, I can't do real. I can make. I can act like it's real.

[Jeff Tweedy]

We don't need this, guys.

[Bashi]

Let the dog in later. Edit the dog in later. But you'll.

[Jeff Tweedy]

You'll want to feel out this dog. But I remember we went to Sydney for it. It was very exciting. And do you remember those, like, in, like, the early 2000s, those things that would hang, like, in the door frame? Those, like, beaded. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got one of those as a present for. For being so good on set.

[Sufi]

Oh, wow.

[Bashi]

They gave you beaded curtains.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, I guess that's what I. That's what I wish.

[Bashi]

Well, that is the strangest cast gift.

[Sufi]

Would you, like, take weekend trips? Would you guys ever go into Sydney for a weekend or would you go elsewhere in Australia or.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, definitely go to Sydney a lot. I feel like, in, like, Asia, so close to. Yeah, like, we went to. I mean, a lot of people go to Bali.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

But we went to, like, Thailand and Singapore and, like, Fiji. That's all the stuff that's close.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I mean, those are pretty cool places, though.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Don't look down your nose at them just because they were close.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Hey.

[Bashi]

I'm just saying, what is. What were those trips like? What would you guys do?

[Jeff Tweedy]

It would always be, like, some kind of wildlife sanctuary. I remember going to, like, an elephant sanctuary, and I sat on his head. That was pretty sick.

[Bashi]

Was that. Was that something that was available or was that just you doing your own.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Thing, sitting on the head? Yeah, I think I just kind of went for it.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Was that Thailand? Was that like.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That was Thailand? Yeah.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

In the north probably we've got all those. That's where those sanctuaries are up in, like, near Chiang Mai, I want to say.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

Josh. With a weird flex on knowing where they keep the elephants.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Okay.

[Sufi]

Well, it's like I went to Thailand and I went south, and I had a terrible trip, and I always wish I had gone north.

[Bashi]

And the whole time they were like, you know, the elephants are up there.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

No elephants down there.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Not where I was, but yeah. It was not. It was not like the White Lotus where I was.

[Bashi]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

What did you see anything? Monkeys?

[Bashi]

I got.

[Sufi]

No, I saw nothing. I got. I got sick. I got ripped off. I got. Yeah. Cheated and mistreated.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But that was. That's me back to you.

[Bashi]

So sorry. We just went to a dark place there with John kicking himself all these years later, he's like, you know. Yeah. Is that up north where you saw this elephants? Yeah, I came close once, but went the wrong way, let's just say. So these SO trips were more outdoorsy than cultural when you would go to those places?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I guess so, yeah. Yeah. Did we do anything cultural? Laughing at culture.

[Bashi]

Culture. No, thank you. But would you go to, like, when you were young and went to Sydney, was that something. Where would you go to, like, plays and things when you were a kid? Was that something your parents like to take you guys to?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, I feel like we went to musicals. Yeah. I remember seeing. I was obsessed with Cats, the musical, and we saw that in Sydney in, like, a tent. That was cool.

[Bashi]

Did you do musical theater as well? Do you have a good singing voice?

[Jeff Tweedy]

It's okay. It's fine. It's good. I feel like what happened was I went to a performing arts school where there was, like, really good singers.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

And then, you know, right away, and.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I would always be like, hey, guys, like, we should all sing together. And then, like, sing. And then it was kind of very clear who. Who was the weakest link. But, like, fine. Like, was still was possible, but. But yeah, I was a little musical theater nerd for sure.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I. I'm sort of the same way. There were musical theater majors in college, and then I got the lead in a musical, and I could just feel the sort of anger coming from those musical theater majors. And then when, like the weekend a show is, you know, it premieres and closes in one weekend. There's like, two Friday, two Saturday, one Sunday, and that's it. That's all she wrote. And by the Sunday show, I couldn't sing at all, like. Cause I just blew My voice out because I didn't know what I was doing with my voice. And I feel like all those musical theater majors were like, ha, ha.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Whoa.

[Bashi]

Serves me right. I never told you this. Posh. It was supposed to run for two weekends, but they. Oh, they closed it early.

[Sufi]

As you were. Shame.

[Bashi]

No, I'm kidding. No, he wouldn't tell everybody. What. Who. What show you're in? Pashi.

[Sufi]

Tommy. I was Tommy and Tommy.

[Bashi]

He was Tommy and Tommy. Because my bro's got star power.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Wait, Tommy and Tommy?

[Bashi]

Yeah. Know what, Tom?

[Sufi]

The. Who's Tommy?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I don't know who's Tommy.

[Bashi]

Now it feels like we're doing who's on first.

[Sufi]

Who's Tommy? Do you know the band, the whole.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh, sure. Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah. They wrote a musical called Tommy.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Ooh. Oh, that's cool.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Literally, right off the bat, you kind of can't explain what it's about because it seems so crazy.

[Jeff Tweedy]

But.

[Sufi]

Yeah, it was a. It was a movie that Elton John was in the Pinball Wizard. That song is from that musical. I don't know if you know that. We could just be too much older than you.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I'm gonna look into this. This sounds.

[Sufi]

Yeah. See if we're. Just a couple minutes.

[Bashi]

Yeah, it does feel like this sounds like some weird, long prank. So do you have. Of those. Of those countries that were near you, the Asian countries, did you have a favorite when you were little?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. We took a trip to Phuket, and I established. I kind of had this beautiful relationship with this baby elephant named Pudgy.

[Bashi]

Okay.

[Jeff Tweedy]

And that was my. That was, like, my favorite trip ever. And I remember. I don't know if this is. I don't know if this is real, but I was, like, a bit of a psychic kid, and I had a premonition about the tsunami, and. And it happened, and I was, like, told you and then. But.

[Sufi]

Which is what everyone wanted to hear.

[Bashi]

Yes.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Making it about myself. Really comforting in these dark times, but. And then I remember hearing that Pudgy, like, saved a bunch of kids on his back.

[Bashi]

Wow. All right, now, your relationship with Pudgy, I'd love to dig into this. How long did you know. What was the arc of your relationship with Pudgy? Was this a matter of days that he made this kind of impact on you?

[Jeff Tweedy]

So we'd be at breakfast. Pudgy would come up to you at breakfast, and you could give him your leftover watermelon. And I'm listening.

[Bashi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Jeff Tweedy]

And I just feel like. Yeah. I think we were there for, like, a week, and just throughout this week, like, it was just all about getting to breakfast and giving him my watermelon and. Yeah. And by the end of it, we were, like, running around in a field. It was crazy.

[Sufi]

Do you know if Pudgy's still kicking? Those elephants live a good long time.

[Jeff Tweedy]

How long do elephants live?

[Sufi]

I don't know, but I feel like.

[Bashi]

They don't tell you in the south of Thailand.

[Sufi]

I feel like an elephant could easy. Easily be 40, I'm guessing, but we're.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Just going off of vibes.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

I think that in, you know, we want this podcast to both be about family trips and then just wild guesswork on the lifespans of animals. I think 40. Are you gonna look it up, Pudge?

[Sufi]

Yeah, I'm looking it up.

[Bashi]

All right.

[Sufi]

I'm gonna 70. Oh, sorry, were you gonna guess?

[Bashi]

Yeah, yeah, I was gonna take the over, so.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

So Pudgy is probably still with us and probably wondering where the fuck you are. Yeah.

[Sufi]

It'S like, saves all these kids and doesn't even get a. Yeah. Yeah. Did you send him a letter?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I need to go back.

[Bashi]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Wait, what the hell? That's crazy. Yeah, I mean, he's a hero. He. We need. We need him.

[Sufi]

Yeah, it's. We need more. More people like Pudgy.

[Bashi]

Do your parents come and visit you in the States ever?

[Jeff Tweedy]

They do. They have.

[Bashi]

How did they feel when you first moved? I mean, obviously they knew it was based on probably work and being professional.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, I think they. They were always like, that's. They were always supportive. They loved. They loved LA. Like, we came when I was, like, 15 on a family trip, and they. They had a great time. They were like. But it was. Yeah, things have changed here so fast, too. They were like, everything's so cheap. And then my dad visited me, like, two years ago, and he was like, what the hell happened? This is crazy.

[Sufi]

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

[Bashi]

This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by Nissan. Hey, Paschi.

[Sufi]

Yes, Sufi?

[Bashi]

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

[Sufi]

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

[Bashi]

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

[Sufi]

What's that?

[Bashi]

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

[Sufi]

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.

[Bashi]

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. Support comes from House of Atlas. Hi, Paschi.

[Sufi]

Hi, Sufi.

[Bashi]

I love a good shave.

[Sufi]

Yeah, you know, I don't often shave all the way down to, you know, the close, close skin shave.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

But we got these razors from House of Atlas and it makes your skin like a baby. Like a baby's bottom.

[Bashi]

Yeah. And you, you've got a baby face to begin with.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I do.

[Bashi]

So now, I mean, you look like four and a half years old.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

The other thing, not only does it give you a great shave, it looks incredibly sleek sitting in your bathroom. And it's very nice to have something that doesn't make you look like. You've put no thought into how your bathroom appears. Especially if you share your bathroom with someone who enjoys things that look sleek.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I mean, you feel pretty cool when you got one of these razors.

[Bashi]

Do you remember when you were younger? You probably don't remember this. I bet we were like seven or nine. But I remember you screamed at me once, there'll never be more than four blades on razor and you slam the door.

[Sufi]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Bashi]

Well, you're going to eat crow because the blade head of House of Atlas has five US made stainless steel blades that glide right through your facial hair. High performance serum strip that's infused with ingredients like aloe, vitamin E and shea butter which reduces irritation and helps prevent ingrowns.

[Sufi]

Yeah. The coolest part is the precision trim edge that's revealed by flipping back that serum strip for straight edges and detailing. If you want to get those clean, clean lines, House of Atlas has you covered.

[Bashi]

And now for a limited time, they're offering 15% off your first order when you purchase any razor kit. And the before and after set, which includes the precision shave cream and calming aftershave use code [e-mail], that's H O U S E O F A t l a s.com with promo code TRIPS for 15% off your new razor kit. And before and after set, stop wasting money and time on shaving products that don't look good, aren't effective, and cost way too much. Visit HouseOfAtlas.com today. Trust me, you will love it as much as I did.

[Sufi]

Do you want to do the spelling address where it doesn't sound like a demon? Sort of creeps up out of your throat in the middle of it?

[Bashi]

H O U S E O F A t l a s.com support comes from Helix. Hey, Paschi.

[Sufi]

Yeah, Sufi?

[Bashi]

Do you have a wearable device? I'm a wearable device guy these days.

[Sufi]

I don't. No, I don't.

[Bashi]

I got one of these rings that tells you how you sleep. And it's really nice because you like to know how your body is behaving when you're not awake to watch it. But also, you like stats, too. You've always like stats. I like stats, but I don't like bad stats. And one of the things about these wearable devices, sometimes their news is not great, right? And they're like, hey, you know, you are not sleeping well. And, you know, for me, I'm just now, like, I'm fully just waking up sometimes with, you know, bad neck, bad back. I'm getting a little bit older, but I got myself one of these Helix mattresses.

[Sufi]

Oh, yeah, me too. Man, oh, man.

[Bashi]

They're pretty fantastic.

[Sufi]

Yeah. There's. On their website, there's a quiz that you take, and you sort of describe you and your partner's sleeping, you know, habits. Do you sleep on your back, your side, your stomach? Do you like things firm, soft, medium? And you. They've got so many different mattresses, and you can dial it into what you specifically need. And then we got this mattress, and it's the best.

[Bashi]

I've had immediate improvements in my sleep tracking. And to echo what you just said, when my stats are better, I'm in a better mood because also, it means I slept better.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I used to sort of sleep in my. I'm a side sleeper most of the time, and I'd wake up with, like, sore shoulders because the mattress was just too firm. But I do like a firm mattress. But now I've got this Helix mattress that's firm but with a little bit of softness. Like, it's sort of. It's. It splits the difference between medium and firm, which is What I needed, and.

[Bashi]

It'S a dream, I would say, between medium and firm. Firm is kind of splitting the difference between mom and dad.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Go to helix.com trips for 20% off sitewide. That's helix.com trips for 20 percent off sitewide. Helix H E L I X sleep.com trips.

[Geraldine Viswanathan]

Here we go.

[Sufi]

What. When you went. When you were 15, were there things that you wanted to do? Did you want to sort of in terms of Los Angeles, did you want to do Hollywoody things? Did you want to do the, you know, Universal tour and.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh, yeah, yeah. All of that stuff.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Like, doing the celebrity house tours and, like, huh. I was, like, looking up where premieres were happening and would just, like, show up and get autographs and, like. Which sometimes ended up being, like. The highlight of that trip was we got into the Bridesmaids premiere.

[Sufi]

Oh, wow.

[Bashi]

How did that happen?

[Jeff Tweedy]

We were just waiting outside, and I was kind of screaming and crying, and they were handing out tickets, and so we all. We all went in. It was crazy.

[Bashi]

I feel like I haven't had anything that cool happen to me.

[Jeff Tweedy]

You just have to collect some barricades. You just have to go on, like, it was like, seethestars.com or something.

[Bashi]

Yeah. And you got in. The whole family got in.

[Jeff Tweedy]

All got in.

[Bashi]

I mean, for a young person who loves comedy, I have to imagine that was transformative.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That's not in my life.

[Bashi]

I mean, come on.

[Sufi]

When you're screaming and crying to get tickets, is your sister screaming with you, or is she sort of rolling her eyes at you? You. She, like, if you're 15, she's 9, so.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Exactly. Wow. Oh, my God. Okay, okay.

[Sufi]

Josh.

[Bashi]

Josh went to the gifted school, and.

[Sufi]

I was at the gifted school. Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. No, she was like, can I want to, like. Yeah, go home and, like, pretend to be a duck or something? You know? Like, she was like, I don't know. These. Who are these people?

[Sufi]

Right.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh, but we were obsessed with the it crowd, that show.

[Bashi]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

And Chris O'Dowd was there. Both really excited to see Chris O'Doud.

[Sufi]

It's really good.

[Jeff Tweedy]

But no bridesmaids. She. I think it was like, it was someone crazy. It was like Jack Black or someone was like, you watched the movie and looked, like, pointed at my little sister. And we were like, yeah. She had to close her ears sometimes. Ha ha. And then we were like, oh. Oh, my God. We just had a stunning interaction with Jack Black.

[Bashi]

I think I told this. I'm sure I did, but I was. Last time I was in la. I was gonna walk. I was like, oh, I'll walk. I was gonna meet somebody at the Beverly Hills Hotel. And I looked on the map and it was like an hour. Sorry. A mile from my hotel. And I thought, it's a beautiful day. I'm just gonna walk in la. And two different star tour buses went by, and somebody screamed, hey, it's Seth Meyers. And I was just, like, walking, looking at my phone. And in both cases, I was like.

[Sufi]

Oh, this is not in shorts and dress shoes.

[Bashi]

Shorts, dress shoes. Not. Not my favorite moment.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That would have really made their trip.

[Bashi]

Like, I hope so. But it didn't make mine.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Right. Well, it's like, now I'm on the other side, and I'm seeing how insane it is to, like. To do that, to, like, show up to a famous person's house and be like, we love you. But the time, it's just. It's. Yeah, it's. It's a thrill.

[Bashi]

Well, I mean, the premiere is the best possible outcome because you are seeing famous people at a time where they have elected to be seen.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That's true.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. And. Yeah, that's true. But then I. Yeah, I would see. I remember also seeing, like, Matt LeBlanc at Ralph's.

[Bashi]

Yeah, that's pretty good.

[Jeff Tweedy]

And that being really exciting. Yeah. You know, just raw every day. He was so nice, but.

[Bashi]

Oh, so that means you did approach him.

[Jeff Tweedy]

I. I actually couldn't do it, but my. My dad did on your behalf.

[Sufi]

Did you have. Did you have, like, an autograph book?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yes.

[Sufi]

Okay. Do you still have that book somewhere?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, it'll be in my. My childhood bedroom. Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bashi]

That's amazing.

[Sufi]

What do you think? What's the. What's the best autograph you ever got?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I remember getting one from Chris O'Dowd. I think Kristen Wiig maybe did one.

[Bashi]

All right.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Like, pretty much all the Bridesmaids cast.

[Bashi]

I mean, it's pretty good. That's a very good start to an autograph book. The Bridesmaids cast.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Pretty epic.

[Bashi]

Then you, you know, you worked with one of our oldest friends.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Who's that?

[Bashi]

Ike Barinholtz?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh, my God.

[Bashi]

We don't Ike that piece for a long time. And by the way, Ann K. Cannon is one of our oldest friends.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh, my God. True. Is this, like, Chicago days?

[Bashi]

Chicago. And then Amsterdam.

[Sufi]

Amsterdam.

[Bashi]

We all work together in Amsterdam.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Whoa.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

How long was Amsterdam?

[Bashi]

Two years for me, three years for Josh.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That's so freaking cool.

[Bashi]

It was amazing.

[Jeff Tweedy]

It was an improv show in Amsterdam.

[Sufi]

Yeah. There's an American improv comedy theater based in Amsterdam. And so it was me right out of college and Seth maybe a year after college.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Moved over there. Yeah.

[Bashi]

And we were just there with this incredible list of people. Ike and K being two of them. It was really awesome.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh my God, that's heaven. And you're just like cracking up and then getting a beer.

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah, Truly.

[Bashi]

Truly. That and then just living, I mean, again, to live in another country and do what you love with this like incredibly tight knit group of people. It was the best. There was like weirdly less distractions because we were all like, all right, this is why we're here.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, right. Oh my God, it was the best.

[Bashi]

And that's a great movie. Blockers, shout out to Blockers.

[Sufi]

Shout out to Blockers. Yeah.

[Bashi]

Super funkin funny.

[Sufi]

You know, Aussies classically travel for, you know, months at a time. Would you ever do trips with like school friends where you'd go, we're going to go, you know, for a month and just backpack around Europe or whatever. Did you ever do any of that stuff?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I. I didn't really do the like backpacking around Europe thing. We did. Have you heard about schoolies?

[Bashi]

Schoolies? No, please.

[Jeff Tweedy]

It's this thing. It's like when you finish high school in Australia, everybody goes on schoolies, which is like a trip with your group of friends and it's either like Gold coast or feed. We went to Fiji, people go to Bali, but it's like. And we went. Yeah, it's just the trashiest experience of your life. And we went with like a. It was called, it was called Unleashed School. Yeah, we went with this like group that was called Unleashed and went to Fiji. And it was. We went to the cheapest island, which was a mistake.

[Bashi]

Cheapest for a reason.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Cheapest for a reason. And we could kind of see the other slightly more expensive, bigger island. And one of my friends's boyfriend was on that island and she was just the whole time crying, being like, I wish I was on that island. But we. And we were just. It was like us so like theater nerds and one other group from like a really dodgy school. It was, it really was like kind of nightmare scenario. Just like.

[Bashi]

Yeah, but it was. The idea with Schoolies is just to like drink a ton and like. Yeah, okay.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Because it's like pretty. Yeah. Everybody's like 18 and school's over.

[Bashi]

It's one of those great Australian slang words where literally no thought went into it. What are we gonna call it after it Was Schoolies.

[Sufi]

Schoolies.

[Bashi]

Yeah. It's fine. Let's just go with that.

[Sufi]

Did you ever go on or have you heard of Kon Tiki tours?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yes. Yes.

[Sufi]

Yeah. When we were working in Amsterdam, every now and again, a Kon Tiki tour would be coming through, and they would come to a show, and there were like, maybe 300 audience members at our shows. And, like, there would be nights where 120 of them were Kon Tiki and it was a problem. Yeah, yeah. Because they had maybe one or two nights in Amsterdam and they were ready to get their Amsterdam on and. Not great audience members.

[Bashi]

Yeah. Not a great theater audience.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh, my God. Right? They're like. I mean, because Amsterdam can be debaucherous. It's like. Yeah, it's a potty place.

[Sufi]

And I think if you're on a tour where you're going to a bunch of countries, you sort of. You highlight that Amsterdam stop and you're like, well, we're gonna go for it in Amsterdam.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Lose our minds.

[Bashi]

Yeah. It was a real Schoolies vibe.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Was it? A lot of it was like, all Australia. Is it all Australians?

[Sufi]

New Zealanders as well.

[Bashi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh.

[Bashi]

Which I know is different to you, but, like, to us.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yes.

[Sufi]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bashi]

To us, it's like, all right.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Different place. Yeah.

[Bashi]

Wait, can you do me a favor? All right. Can you do a New Zealand accent for me? Because I feel like if I hear an Australian person do a New Zealand accent, it might actually help me.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. Fashion chops.

[Sufi]

Yeah, that's the one we used to do on stage.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. Penguins. Yeah.

[Sufi]

I feel like it's all a little bit clipped and shorter.

[Bashi]

Just a little bit up here.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Look at all the penguins.

[Sufi]

Look at all the penguins eating their fashion chops.

[Bashi]

All right, we just mentioned penguins. So now it's time on family trips where we guess how long does a penguin live? Quick round the horn. How long do we think a penguin lives? I'm gonna say four years.

[Jeff Tweedy]

16.

[Sufi]

Yeah, I'm gonna say. I'll say 22.

[Bashi]

Okay. Look it up. Pashi.

[Sufi]

All right, let's find out.

[Bashi]

By the way, mine was eaten by a walrus. That's why it's only four.

[Sufi]

Okay.

[Bashi]

You're allowed to also say you guys are doing natural causes. I'm doing Eaten.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

15 to 20.

[Bashi]

Wow. All right, well, shout out to you guys.

[Sufi]

Some individuals live considerably longer. I don't know what that means. Considerably.

[Bashi]

Can you do. Can you. One more time, in a New Zealand accent. Talk about penguins.

[Jeff Tweedy]

The penguins.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Penguins can. Did you know did you know? No.

[Bashi]

Fuck, yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Things can live from 15 to 20.

[Bashi]

That's really good. This is very helpful, Penguins. Also, I need to have a word to help me get into an accent. And now, forever, when I do New Zealand, it'll be penguins.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yes.

[Bashi]

Live. Just backstage, when I'm. You know, I don't know what I'll be doing. Doing some new. One of the famous New Zealand plays. Penguins. Penguins.

[Sufi]

That's the name of the most famous New Zealand play.

[Bashi]

Oh, that's true.

[Sufi]

The Penguins.

[Bashi]

Penguins, this has been so lovely talking to you. Before we let you go, Josh is gonna ask you a lightning round of questions that we ask all of our gu.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Okay.

[Sufi]

All right, here we go. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Relaxing.

[Sufi]

What is your favorite means of transportation?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Carriage.

[Sufi]

Carriage. 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?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Whoa. The Simpsons.

[Sufi]

Oh, the Simpsons.

[Bashi]

Sounds great.

[Sufi]

Also, when you say carriage, does carriage mean car? Or does it mean, like, horse and carriage?

[Jeff Tweedy]

It could. I just thought that was sort of like an umbrella term, like horse and carriage, or, like, you know, like a rickshaw. Like any kind of.

[Bashi]

By the way, they're all available because no one else has ever picked them. Right. Right.

[Sufi]

Yeah.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Bashi]

Whatever you want of those. Yeah.

[Sufi]

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

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh, my God. Oh, everyone would be so useless. Maybe. Maybe my dad.

[Sufi]

Okay. And you are from Newcastle, correct?

[Jeff Tweedy]

That's right.

[Sufi]

Would you recommend Newcastle as a vacation destination?

[Jeff Tweedy]

I would, actually. All right, you guys go. You should check it out today.

[Bashi]

When you were growing up. Maybe not.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Well, that's. Yeah, exactly. Right. I. It's crazy that I. Yeah. Even can say that now, because at the time, I was like, get me out of here. This is hell. But now I'm like, you can get a little coffee, sit on the beach, like, it's all right. Cocktail. You know, it's actually. It's cute.

[Sufi]

Yeah. I think everyone goes through that phase where you're like, your hometown just feels like not the place you want to be.

[Bashi]

Completely.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Completely.

[Sufi]

And then. Yeah. Then nostalgia kicks in later, and you're like, oh, God, that was great.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah.

[Sufi]

Not for everyone, but for a lot of us. Yeah. And Seth has our final questions.

[Bashi]

Geraldine, have you been to the Grand Canyon?

[Jeff Tweedy]

No.

[Bashi]

Do you want to go?

[Jeff Tweedy]

Are you inviting me? Yeah, I would go.

[Bashi]

All right. That's different than want to.

[Jeff Tweedy]

No, I. Yeah. Interesting.

[Bashi]

You don't totally. Don't try to sell us on totally after this answer.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Like, wait, I should go. Yeah, I guess I don't. It's not really on the top of my list, but.

[Sufi]

Yeah, doesn't sound like it.

[Jeff Tweedy]

You're going, right? Oh, you went.

[Sufi]

We went. We went last year, but just. Just for like a few hours.

[Bashi]

So the softest. The softest of yeses from Geraldine.

[Sufi]

From Geraldine, yeah.

[Bashi]

We'll take it now.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sufi]

Also if you could also do their sort of slogan. Yeah, yeah. Bit like.

[Bashi]

You should go.

[Sufi]

I would go with a question mark.

[Bashi]

I would go, yeah.

[Sufi]

I would go question mark.

[Bashi]

Thunderbolts. May 2nd. It's really first foyer into the Marvel world.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That's right.

[Bashi]

Exciting. It's a great cast.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yeah. It's crazy. I'm excited and scared, but excited.

[Bashi]

Well, we're very excited for you. I can't wait to see it. It's always lovely to see you. Please come back on the show soon.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Oh yes. With more. I'll come with more trips.

[Bashi]

Great. Well, no, you can come on my talk show too. And we can talk about anything else too.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Yes, please.

[Bashi]

I always. You, I mean, as your. Your name to read, I think is intimidating. And I always remember this for nothing.

[Jeff Tweedy]

That's right. You're the only man in town who can say it.

[Bashi]

But it's the best, it's the most helpful. I literally never once you told me it's like, just say it like this for nothing. I'm like, great. Never forget it.

[Jeff Tweedy]

But then the first name starts to become an issue.

[Bashi]

Great to see you.

[Sufi]

Thank you, Geraldine.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Thank you so much.

[Bashi]

Bye Bye.

[Jeff Tweedy]

Bye. Be well.

[Geraldine Viswanathan]

She'd go to Asia pretty much. Cause it was close. Went to Phuket, where she met an elephant. She feed him watermelon leftovers and breakfast. And now Pudgy probably wonders where she went. Maybe she's off acting like a penguin, living life unleashed out on Fiji. Hope she didn't book the cheapest island. Four schoolies got recognition when she walked a dog in an audition. A dog that wasn't real, living in Switzerland. Whatever. Yeah, it's okay. It was cool when she was taught by Mrs. Shirt. But at the French school, she just played a lot of guess who. Dark brown hair, blue eyes and glasses. That's Robert. And she kinda lives life like a.

[Sufi]

Penguin.

[Geraldine Viswanathan]

Hopping tantal continents just to and fro. You invited her to the Grand Canyon. I guess she'd go this for nothing. That's what rhymes with this one. Nothing.

[Sufi]

This one.

[Geraldine Viswanathan]

Nothing. Yeah.