Ever been stranded in the middle of the night in a foreign country because your hotel doesn't exist? That's what happened to Mark Javons, a 43-year-old travel blogger, and it's just the tip of the iceberg in this week's episode. We kick things off with Mark's bizarre tale from Egypt, using it as a springboard to discuss the reliability of online reviews and booking platforms. Plus, I dive into the puzzling and potentially hazardous trend of "raw dogging" flights—yes, that's traveling without in-flight entertainment or distractions.
Switching gears, we explore the whimsical idea of a personal desert island playlist that could include everything from Bible snippets to comedy sketches and music. It's a fun thought experiment that makes you reconsider what truly matters in a mix. Stick around as I ponder my own desert island essentials and wrap up with a promise of more intriguing content in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in, and I can't wait to share more wild stories and thoughtful musings next time!
Exit bumper Not A Democracy Podcast Network made by @FuryanEnergy
Ever been stranded in the middle of the night in a foreign country because your hotel doesn't exist? That's what happened to Mark Javons, a 43-year-old travel blogger, and it's just the tip of the iceberg in this week's episode. We kick things off with Mark's bizarre tale from Egypt, using it as a springboard to discuss the reliability of online reviews and booking platforms. Plus, I dive into the puzzling and potentially hazardous trend of "raw dogging" flights—yes, that's traveling without in-flight entertainment or distractions.
Switching gears, we explore the whimsical idea of a personal desert island playlist that could include everything from Bible snippets to comedy sketches and music. It's a fun thought experiment that makes you reconsider what truly matters in a mix. Stick around as I ponder my own desert island essentials and wrap up with a promise of more intriguing content in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in, and I can't wait to share more wild stories and thoughtful musings next time!
Exit bumper Not A Democracy Podcast Network made by @FuryanEnergy
Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. I don't know what time of the day you are listening, so I'm trying to cover all of the bases. I don't have a lot this morning. I have three stories and they have nothing to do with the Democratic National Convention, because I did not watch it last night. We are watching Cheers, uh. So, man, I had. Man, if you could go back and watch a 70s or 80s sitcom, please do so. It will make you joyful, and isn't that what Kamala wants? She wants you to be joyful. Anyway, moving on to the stories I have out on X, let's see what do we start with and what do I want to end with.
Speaker 1:
We are going to start with this travel blogger, totally stranded after learning Egyptian hotel he booked actually did not exist. Egyptian hotel he booked actually did not exist. Okay, let's go find out what happened. A travel blogger was gutted to find out that really, he was gutted. Why do you have to use that word? How about just disappointed or shocked or whatever? He was gutted to find out. These millennials or Gen Z's probably now writing these articles. It's okay, sorry, all right, I'm gonna get to it.
Speaker 1:
A travel blogger was gutted to find out that the hotel he booked in egypt turned out to be ancient history mark javons, 43 years old. Well, he so he should know better was excited for his four-night stay at the Pyramids and Sphinx View Hotel in Egypt, which was quoted as $52 a night. First red flag. But when he arrived at the listed address at midnight he was alarmed to discover there was no hotel, just an empty back alley. Now, I'm not sure how flights work, but I think I would uh want to land in a foreign country not at midnight, so I might plan my trip a little better than that. It uh. So he landed in Egypt at. He landed in Egypt at midnight and found out the hotel wasn't there. It was a mystery. It was nothing like the photos on the listing he had booked via bookingcom, which had dozens of positive reviews and featureda rooftop area from which you could see the pyramids. All right, I've not been to Egypt, so I don't know how close the city is to the pyramids. From the pictures that I've seen, I don't see a city surrounding the pyramids. Also, I never really take the reviews to heart, because if I were to listen to the reviews out there on anything, I would never purchase anything. I would never read a book. I would never go anywhere because people always want to trash something. I just don't take reviews that seriously, but this one had nothing but positive reviews. Therefore, let that be a red flag for you in the future when you travel.
Speaker 1:
Mark, he's an English teacher from Wolverhampton. There was nothing at the address. It was a back alley with no sign of a hotel. The taxi driver was asking people on the street but no one had ever heard of it. I was totally stranded. It was not ideal. No, I guess it wasn't.
Speaker 1:
He had reserved a room from January 4th to the 7th of 2024 for his bucket list solo adventure. I'm not traveling anywhere by myself, not like that, especially to a Fordham City. I know he's a man. He can probably do it better than I could. I'm not traveling anywhere by myself, mark, unless you know it's to the next town or whatever. You know what I mean. Uh, mark was quoted around $52 a night to be paid in person at the non-existent hotel with the address. Uh, okay, I'm not going to give the address because it's a weird address, I can't even pronounce it. So you can go read the article and find out that where it is, which it's not really there. He reserved the room. Do people, what if he had taken that address and went to look at Google Maps to see the hotel? That's what I would have done, just to see it with my own eyes. He reserved the room through thebookingcom which is, I think, supposed to be a pretty reputable place to book things, I would think but was not made to pay any deposit and had made plans to pay in person at the hotel. He was forced to roam the streets until he found emergency accommodations more than an hour later at the Sun and Sand Hotel. He ended up shelling out $104 a night on his last minute refuge.
Speaker 1:
Wow, okay, so you can go. Finish reading that. There's more. There's. This story is. You know? The article goes on, but that's pretty much the gist of the story.
Speaker 1:
All right, this next one is weird. I've talked about it before and I think it's silly, but now people are saying it's one of the most dangerous trends and it's called raw dogging. A flight could kill you. Experts warn one of the most dangerous trends. Uh, this, okay, I don't. I don't even know where to start with this.
Speaker 1:
So raw dogginggging, from what I understand, is when you're on a flight and you put away your electronics. You don't listen to music, you don't put your headphones in, you don't get on your phone. You just sit there in your seat and watch the monitor in front of you. You know the monitors they have in the back of the seats, like we're going to play movies or they have other things on there that you can do. You can watch the flight where it's at, that kind of thing, the tracking of the flight. And that's what these men are doing. They're just sitting there in their seats watching the screen in front of them. They don't have their headphones in, they're not on their phone, they're not doing anything else.
Speaker 1:
So social media clout chasers are raw dogging flights with no entertainment whatsoever, in droves making the bizarre stung, the busy, the stunt, maybe the bizarre something, the buzziest travel trend of the summer no music, no streaming, no sleep, just staring at the map on the seat back screen or nothing at all, in silence. What is wrong with that? I mean, that's how people normally are. If they don't have their face in their phones, what's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with that. Maybe they're not even reading a book either. I don't know. But experts warn experts. Who are these experts? I want to know these experts. Who are they? Uh, warn that it can be detrimental to one's physical health and can even be deadly to the idiots who take part. Why are they idiots? They're just sitting in their seats not doing anything.
Speaker 1:
The trend has been loosely credited to the Apple TV series Hijacked, where Idris Elba's character, sam Nelson, is forced to endure the more than seven-hour flight from Dubai to London without any amenities Once his Airbus becomes commandeered by crooks. Oh my gosh, you had to sit somewhere for seven hours and not do anything. The torture, just raw dogging. A seven hour flight, new personnel, best. Somebody said brag to his over 13 million TikTok viewers no headphones, no movie, no water, nothing. Now the water may be a little different. I think I'm going to take some sips of water. So this is where it comes in, where these experts say that it's dangerous if you're not drinking water, because let's get down to it.
Speaker 1:
But nutritionalist Toby King so I guess he's an expert explained to TravelSite Inspire Ambitions that raw dogging a flight could increase the risk of blood clots which can break off and cause a blockage of the arteries in the lung, which is very serious and can cause death. No-transcript perhaps. I think raw dogging. I don't understand. Raw dogging doesn't include water. I don't think. I don't know. I thought it was just no entertainment, no electronics, that type of thing. You can go finish reading that over there.
Speaker 1:
So the next one up, all right. Will monkeypox outbreak cause a COVID-like lockdown? Experts explain and this is from todaycom Look, they're going to try to gaslight you with this monkeypox. Do not believe it. I'm not a doctor, but this is what is happening. This is going to be the new thing now. They're going to scare the crap out of you. Monkeypox is now considered a global health emergency as cases surge in Central Africa and a new subtype of the virus which causes severe illness spreads to multiple countries, prompting concerns about a lockdown over the virus, formerly known as monkeypox in the US.
Speaker 1:
Monkeypox is a highly contagious viral disease which can cause flu-like symptoms and painful skin lesions. It's caused by the monkeypox virus, which spreads through close contact. So you know how they're just kind of glossing over the details in the beginning of this article because they're not banking on people doing their own research, and continuing on with the article because down here, at the very end of it, how does monkeypox spread? Monkeypox mainly spreads through close contact with an infected person or their lesions, scabs, body fluids and respiratory secretions. So what does? Does that mean they can cough on you and you can get it? I didn't think that was possible. Transmission can occur during sexual activity, but also kissing, hugging, touching and non-intimate face-to-face contact. Non-intimate face-to-face contact. Non-intimate face-to-face contact, so I could be standing next to somebody and get it. Is that what they're trying to tell us now? Bullshit, bullshit. Okay, no, uh, no, not that I get close to anybody anyway, but I do sit with people next to me at work. I know it's not going to happen here because they do. They did say that it's low is.
Speaker 1:
Is there a monkey pox in the us? Monkey pox uh, which caused the 2022 epidemic, is still circulating in the us at low levels. The experts note it's down to single digits or maybe a dozen cases a month, says this current skis? There are no known cases of monkey, monkeypox, clade one or something in the us at this time. I guess there's different variants. The risk to the general public in the united states from clade one monkeypox circulating in the DRC is very low.
Speaker 1:
The US Department of Health and Human Services said in the news on August 14th Just keep aware of this story when is monkeypox spreading At the time? Monkeypox outbreaks have been reported in 13 countries in africa. The epicenter is in the drc. Uh, clad, clade one. Monkeypox has been reported in the drc for over a decade. Last year cases surged the current monkeypox, so this has been around for a while.
Speaker 1:
Why did who? Okay, I'm call that. What is monkeypox? Sorry, I was looking for, I was looking for the lockdown part. Bear with me, bear with me, here we go. Will monkeypox cause another lockdown?
Speaker 1:
When asked about the potential for monkeypox lockdowns, uh, this person, current skis says there would be absolutely no reason to take that kind of measure. Well, there you go. All this for nothing. Answering the same question, ramoin says the answer is no, monkey pox is not new. Like covid, this is a known virus with tools already available to be able to control it. So they they're trying to scare people already. Oh, come on. Oh, you todaycom, whatever.
Speaker 1:
All right, we're moving on to the question of the day, and the question of the day is brought to you by Mr Sean. So I would like this is a great idea. I would like you to submit your questions of the day. You can place them in my direct messages and I will get them and read them for you. He has a great one. It's a tough one. I don't have an answer for it.
Speaker 1:
So he says if you were stuck on a deserted island and could only take one album with you, stuck on a deserted island and could only take one album with you, what would it be? Now, I'm assuming you're going to have something to play it on, you're going to have electricity, so I don't know. I went between something. My first thought was some kind of rock music thing, but then I thought, well, my first thought was some kind of rock music thing, but then I thought, well, maybe I would take a comedy record album. But then I thought, no, there's got to be something, maybe Bible related. I'm sure there's an album with the Bible on it. Right, there has to be.
Speaker 1:
So I don't know what I would take. I don't know. I would love an album like a variety of things on it. Wouldn't that be cool? A little bit of the Bible, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of music. I don't know if there's anything out there like that. I don't know, I'll have to look into it. What would your album be? What would you take with you on a desert island, assuming that you could listen to it and play it and all that stuff. All right. So that's it for me today. I appreciate y'all listening and I will be back again tomorrow. Thanks,
