International Mailing Mishaps and Parenting in the Sky

Ever had a package take a month-long detour before reaching its destination? Josh's saga with the Australian Post is one for the books! From fragile 3D-printed parts to customs-rejected metal meat shredders that looked like weapons, his adventure in international shipping is filled with mishaps and laughs. Adding to the chaos are lost luggage stories and the tricky business of carrying duty-free purchases through airport security. Join us for a rollercoaster ride through the unpredictable and often comical world of mailing and travel logistics.

Next up, we dive into the chaotic joy of family vacations, focusing on the challenges of flying with young children. Imagine the dilemma of upgrading to business class while leaving your family in coach! Hear our hilarious anecdotes about managing restless kids on long flights and introducing them to flying for the first time. We also take a nostalgic trip back to our childhood train journeys and contrast them with today’s technology-enhanced travel. Plus, don’t miss our exciting updates on the upcoming merch store and live stream plans. Tune in for a delightful mix of personal stories, practical advice, and community announcements!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Turning off normal human mail mode. Switching to dad mode. Welcome in to dad mode with your hosts Bearded Nova and Morph.

Speaker 2: 0:17

Let's talk about the post office, shall we Josh's Adventures with the Australian Post? Oh gosh, okay, let's go. So I've tried packing up this thing because it's made out of, you know, example 3D filament stuff. It's very lightweight, so I've kind of like packed it up and taken it down there and then they're like, look, that really might not make an international journey. Those want to know it's going from Australia over to New Zealand it's not that far but know it's going from australia over to new zealand it's not that far, but still it's international. Um, they're afraid of you know, damage, so like, send it back. So I sent it. You know I've gone taking it back, redone it all. Um, then I've decided to add more to it inside the package.

Speaker 2: 1:02

Uh, sent it away, got rejected by my customs, so it's come back to the house again. So I had to had to redo it and and I understand why um, I'm not going to lie I've been on edge this week because it's actually landed in New Zealand. Up until yesterday it cleared New Zealand customs and this process has taken about a month for me to finally get it into New Zealand because when they gave it back to me the first time and I was repackaging it, I was like you know, this thing weighs nothing in weight. Let's send average something. So, besides what I was giving him. So I was looking, I was maybe going to give him a cup, but then the cup I felt was maybe going to give him a cup, but then the cup I felt like was going to break more than the stand. So then I was still searching around the house looking for other things, and then I found meat shredders, you know, like pulled meat.

Speaker 2: 1:58

You know your bear claws, the ones that I decided to package, look like Wolverine claws because they're full metal, yeah. And realistically it looks like brass knuckles with spikes on the end. Is the best way? Like Freddy Krueger gloves, yeah, kind of like Freddy Krueger gloves. You hold on to a bar like a meat cleaver, like you would, but then there's three big metal prongs that sit out like this far from that, so you can yeah. And then it comes in a pair of two, right, um, yeah. So that's why I got rejected by my customs, because they thought it was a weapon and I didn't properly disclose what they were. So I had to, you know, trying to explain that when you, when you're declaring something, what you've got in there is like metal meat threaders, it's like what don't they understand?

Speaker 3: 2:49

okay, look, I'm just gonna haunt children in their dreams and kill them in their dreams. Exactly that's what I swear it's the damage.

Speaker 2: 2:57

I'm like it's gone, it's made it over to your end of the world. But let's just see what happens when it gets there. Because he doesn't know this is coming. Obviously, by the time this episode comes out he would have the parcel by now and he goes look, it's going to be all fine, unless they think there's a weapon in there, Like yeah, well, yeah, possibly. I said it's not. But I mean you know, if you're looking at an X-ray, you know. I mean you're x-raying this box and you've got two claw, yeah, two spike hands coming through. Um, don't be surprised if the pass is open before it gets to your average. I said I'm not going to be surprised if they don't x-ray this thing and go what the fuck's in here? I need to open up this box. Geez journey, such a journey.

Speaker 3: 3:39

It's really deterred me from mailing people it would have been easier to fly there and just holding it in your lap.

Speaker 2: 3:46

I almost got somewhere and I found a printing business in Christchurch, where he lives in New Zealand. He's around that Christchurch area. I found a business somewhat close to him that could print it and then for the cost I was like, nah, I'll just make it here and ship it. It's way more easy and cost effective if I do that. Looking at it all now, it probably would have been better for me to get them to do it. But you know, lessons learned, Lessons learned.

Speaker 3: 4:24

Yeah, it's making me think of some of the horror stories I've had flying in the past. I I didn't really had a problem mailing things. I don't really mail a lot, but yeah, I mean, like everyone else, I think I've lost luggage before, but the lost luggage I remember in my job. It was like four business trips in a row, my luggage didn't get there with me and it was a nightmare but the worst time I ever had. And I live in the US. So and I went to India for the second time. I went to India and they have duty-free shops, you know, after you've gone through like security and you're in the boarding area. So I went in there and I bought a real, a nice bottle of whiskey. I think it was johnny blue, johnny walker blue and I love johnny walker blue.

Speaker 3: 5:11

They put it in a in a package with a red seal to show that you haven't opened it. Yeah, right, and and uh, I'm carrying it on right, I throw it in my carry-on bag and uh, they're like, yeah, you need to, you need to empty this out. I'm like empty, what do you mean? Empty this out? I, I just paid like 200 for this or whatever. Like you can't bring this liquid on. I'm like I bought it from your duty-free shop on the other side of security. It's like, yeah, you can't have it. And apparently I was getting angry uh, surprise, surprise and I saw them reach to their shoulder and go we've got a problem down here in boarding.

Speaker 3: 5:49

I'm like fuck. So then more security guards came and they're like you need to get rid of my. I'm not getting rid of this, I just bought this. So they ended up making me put it in my luggage and I'm like it's going to break and I'm like, whatever, there's nothing I can do. What year are we talking? Is this post? Uh, let's see. So I started at my job, so this must have been 2017? Sorry.

Speaker 2: 6:14

Wait, I'm gun play. Devil's advocate for the airport here.

Speaker 3: 6:19

Weapon no glass bottle is it? How's it?

Speaker 2: 6:22

a weapon, I mean okay come on, you've got a stabbing utensil there but I would have had.

Speaker 3: 6:31

I would have had it empty at first and it's expensive whiskey so I would have drank in it. Maybe, if you.

Speaker 2: 6:36

I'm not going to. I'm not going to get too far into it, but look, if you're really desperate to get a weapon onto a plane, that's, you know, 200 bucks. That's a pretty quick and easy way to get a weapon on the plane.

Speaker 3: 6:50

I guess you know I may have now discredited you as a flight risk. It was an annoying incident.

Speaker 2: 6:56

I could understand.

Speaker 3: 6:57

But yeah, sorry if you ever have to fly again and now you're flagged for security as a flight risk, but you know yeah, the other thing that trip taught me and this happens on every international trip I do for my job yeah, they have this policy where you fly business class. If you fly domestic, you fly coach, if you fly internationally, you fly business class, which is like first class essentially, and oh my god, is it fucking amazing. Um, I remember the first time I went, my wife was home with our kids. Let's see, it was 2016, so they were, they were five and three, um, and you know, and you know they're not really in school and like it's just a lot of work for her and all this stuff. And I'm on the plane and like they're, they're giving me like champagne as soon as I sit down feeding me real somewhere, real meals.

Speaker 3: 7:50

I'm taking pictures and sending it to her and he's like thanks, I had fucking saltines while I took care of your fucking children. No, you know. And I'm like oh no, while I took care of your fucking children.

Speaker 2: 8:01

No, you know, no, no, no, you did it.

Speaker 3: 8:03

I did. I was excited and then I forgot how shitty she had it at that moment. No, but I didn't learn my lesson. So when we got to our layover it was 14 hours. The lounge that we got to be in had free food, free booze, free showers free little rooms to be in.

Speaker 1: 8:22

Had free food, free booze, free showers, free like little rooms to sleep in everything.

Speaker 3: 8:25

It didn't go well bearded, I didn't learn my lesson. I can tell I can.

Speaker 2: 8:29

I can tell by this that you have made some costly mistakes here. Um, the moment you started and saying that you were taking photos of you should have just said you were transporting with the rest of the animals in the plan. Their business was cutting costs. They put you in a cage, you're going in with the luggage and she would have felt like she was having a better time than you. I.

Speaker 3: 8:51

I don't always think I just react, I don't I just react. I do, I get excited sometimes and I just I just react. And it's funny. You know what's fun when I tell that story to? Every married man I tell that story to has the same reaction you do, where they're like what's wrong with you? I don't, I don't know. Man, I don't, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 9:12

I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was doing the right thing. Be excited for me, please, wife. Be excited for me. Look what I've got, what you don't yes so actually.

Speaker 3: 9:23

So after that trip, yeah, we had to fly somewhere else and I'm like I'm gonna, I I flew business class. Once I've got to do it every time now because, you know, I've upgraded myself look at the prices, I'm like, oh no, no, that's not happening. And then for a brief instant I thought what if I get myself a business class ticket and the family like the coach? And then, fortunately, the smarter part of our brain said are you out of your mind? You would have a family when you got there.

Speaker 3: 9:55

Yeah, I know, I know, yeah, they would have pushed me out on a plane.

Speaker 2: 10:00

You know, during the flight you know you're talking about flights and that and the customer of mine and a friend. We were talking the other day about a trip that he's recently come back from, from overseas and it's the same. You know. I was just asking how did it went, et cetera. And he's like you know, it's all going, it all went, great, besides the 18 month.

Speaker 2: 10:23

You're a boy, he's got, he goes. He just really wants to squeal and excitement for the seven hour flight and then not stay still he goes. So it was really really hard, he goes. I'm thinking of going over to. He goes. Well, we are planning on going to New Zealand later in the year, he goes. Well, we are planning on going to New Zealand later in the year, he goes. Man, it's really throwing down in my mind and I went oh yeah, but New Zealand's half the distance of that flight, like it can't be too bad. And he goes. Yeah, well, my wife is going over there for a conference for the week before and then me and the three kids are supposed to fly after. So I completely understand why he doesn't want to fly.

Speaker 2: 11:02

But at the same point next year where he went in the seven-hour flight, my mother goes holidays there all the time over in Bali and I was going to send two of our kids over with her because she's like I'll take two of the kids If you pay for their tickets, they can come with me. And I was like that'd be fun, I'll send both the kids over there. And then after that I thought, oh, no, stuff it, I'll just. We can all go, the wife, they, we'll all go. It'll be great. That's what I've had in my head for the last month or so Going. Yep, next year we'll get the dates, I'll buy the tickets, we'll lock this in, we're going.

Speaker 2: 11:40

I get off the phone to this mate about his trip to Bali with an 18-month-year-old and how hell it was on both ways and that there was nothing he could do. And it dawned on me that Dakota will be 18 months around that time if we go to fly. Yeah, she's almost a year, almost a year, almost a year, um, wow, but she'll be 18 months when we're planning on going there. So now I've got a large shadow of doubt over whether I want to go fly, because he's just showing me that, uh, it's not the perfect time to fly with children at that age right.

Speaker 3: 12:19

So I've never taken my, so what the story I gave earlier was just my wife that was going to go. It was going to be me and business and her and coach, so it wasn't my kids.

Speaker 3: 12:27

So they I've never. I know that was it's even worse. So, um, my kids have never flown unless last weekend. Um, a local, a local airline airport, was having this like young eagles club where, you know, kids could come down and learn about planes and then take a 15 minute flight. Yeah, so it was pretty cool. So my younger son's like, oh, I can't wait to do this. So he was super excited. We went. We saw the little two seater plane. He hopped on it, he took video the entire time he was on there, he fucking there, he fucking loved it and he's like I can't wait to fly a commercial jet now my older son seems to be afraid of heights.

Speaker 3: 13:06

He did not want to go in the plane. I can understand that commercial flight. He's like, yeah, I don't know if I want to. I'm like there are gonna be vacations to go on, bud, you're gonna have to. Yeah, so I don't know if I gotta like drug him and then just he wakes up and he's in a new place. But do you miss the tea in the a team I was? That's what I was thinking like put it in a hamburger or something and then he'd be like I feel sleepy.

Speaker 2: 13:28

Oh, go, lay down bud, so you wake up in hawaii it was the first time my wife flew was only a year or so ago. That was the first time, yeah, yeah, she's never flown before up until, yeah, two years ago. Two years ago it was, and none of the kids had oh, sorry, one of them had, and that was with school though. So my wife was taking that one, her and another one down to see her sister, and so she hadn't flown. So she had got Valium for herself, thinking I might need a little bit of Valium just to take it off. The youngest one went into a full panic mode get walking, because it wasn't the airport that they flew out of wasn't the airport. I've never flown out of that airport, but you have to walk the tarmac to get on to board the plane where nearly every time I've flown I've gone through terminals, to board the plane where nearly every time I've flown I've gone through terminals, and so that's kind of daunted on the little one getting in there. So she got into a full panic mode and I think my wife gave her like half a valium or something just to try and calm her down for that flight. That flight went down how long she would have been in 10. Oh, okay, she gave it a tiny little bit just to try and calm her down. I think she said that on the way there, I can't quite remember. Anyway, on the way back it was like 10 times worse the panic attack that the youngest one had and my wife was in a hurry trying to get them onto the plane and sorted. She accidentally gave her a whole tablet, so she kind of did the whole Mr T thing there.

Speaker 2: 15:03

And then when she got to the airport and I picked her out, so out of it, like so out of it, and then I had picked them up but they were a little bit late. There's a Burger King just down the road. I said I hadn't had dinner. They hadn't had dinner, I was going to go through. No, they had something, but I hadn't. So I said I'm going to go through Burger King, get something for the drive home. So you know, an hour and a bit drive and she goes. I'll just may as well get us all something. We're all a bit hungry. Trying to watch the 10 year old eat on Valium, this, this chicken sandwich and I've got my corrections sandwich, um was hilarious because it was just like I'm just just trying to make it to a mouth like you know, you make me want to try that, uh, hypothetically, with my kid.

Speaker 2: 15:46

Yeah, it's hilarious, that's funny so you know there was a solution to fly and just go see your doctor get the right dosage amount. But yeah, it was hilarious seeing them get off the airport like that.

Speaker 3: 16:00

I like that. I like that. Yeah, I don't know what it's going to be. What it's going to be like when I try to fly with my oldest boy. He gets very nervous about some things. Like we went to an amusement park last summer and you know, like I said, he doesn't like Heights, but we're going to. He agreed to go on a roller coaster. It was both my boys and me so we're waiting. And then at the last minute he's like I can't do this, so he just goes down the exit. So it's like I'm thinking what is it going to be like when we fly? You can't just get off the plane. No, you're strapped in. You're going for it, yeah, and he's just going to freak the hell out. So I really think I may to like go to his doctor and be like, can you give me something?

Speaker 2: 16:45

because I know he's going to be super anxious and like panicky yeah, and then you know I would do that, and then I would also probably obviously not a window seat, no, put them in the aisle. Yeah, ipads, you know. Ipads, tablets, the they've got that nowadays. You know there's a distraction, I guess, for kids on playing that. That's going back to my mate. He was saying at the age that his little one, 18-month-old, was going off and having a great time, wasn't angry or upset, just hyped up, excited, that's all, and at that age they're not distractible with technology, compared to his other two children who he said they're easy, you put them on a plane, you give them their iPads headphones. He said they're easy, you put them on a plane, you give them their ipads headphones on there, you know, for the trip, you know there's no, nothing more to it. Um, probably that I'll use technology just to yeah, I will tell the doctor.

Speaker 3: 17:35

Look, a friend of mine drugs his kids. Can I get some of those? Would it work? But it's one of these days. We got a flight. We're going to dc washington dc later this year, yeah, and we're taking a train down because we don't feel like driving. Um, and that's again. You just give them their tablets and stuff, but, um, that'll be interesting because you know, like I said, they're 10 and 12, you know which. They're very excitable, they want to do fun things. Washington dc is just a lot of historical stuff.

Speaker 2: 18:04

How long is the train?

Speaker 3: 18:05

I don't know how much you're gonna like it how long is the train? Oh gosh, I don't know I'm gonna say like six, seven hours, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 18:12

Okay, I don't know exactly I I've only ever done one long train trip and as a child I remember, but obviously as a child we didn't have iPads and fucking mobile phones and everything else, but as a child it was boring as shit, um as we established in our last episode.

Speaker 3: 18:34

We're old and these things didn't exist when we were young no, no, I just remember eating expensive food.

Speaker 2: 18:40

That wasn't that great um, and being on a train for a few hours, that really wasn't that great um, and being on a train for a few hours, that really wasn't that interesting either.

Speaker 3: 18:46

But yeah, nowadays technology just changes everything it does, indeed, um, yeah, yeah, kids complaining. It makes me think of like at one time we went to this festival and I got like this lobster sandwich and, my god, my boy was my older boy was eight, nine maybe, I think and he's like I want to try your lobster. I'm like you know expensive. So I'm like, all right, take a bite, takes a bite. I don't like it and I'm like you owe me $5. Like what are you thinking, boy?

Speaker 2: 19:19

It's lobster man, I'm just going to say it's not an episode unless we're complaining about something, right?

Speaker 3: 19:29

lobster man, I'm just gonna say it's not an episode unless we're complaining about something, right, I just right you know I just should just rename the topics to what we're complaining about this week, but it's usually the children and we, I, we could, we could probably complain a lot about our jobs, but we don't talk about work on here.

Speaker 2: 19:38

So no, no um, I will say, though, like something people can complain, and I'll have it turned on for this one, because I didn't mention it for the last, but there's now a way to contact us through the podcast. Now there is, yeah, so Buzzsprout now have like what they call fan mail where you can contact us directly through that.

Speaker 3: 20:01

I haven't been on there in like a couple of weeks, yeah, and I haven't been on there in like a couple weeks.

Speaker 2: 20:04

Yeah, I just noticed it the other day. But you know, I will turn that on for this episode in future episodes to see if that is um an easy way because we always like well, go on twitter, go on our tiktok or go on youtube.

Speaker 3: 20:16

If you can just do it right through bus sprout, that's pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 20:20

Yeah, exactly so. Um, that, the other thing I'll you know I'm thinking of bringing up here, well, while we're wrapping this up in a sense, is um, we do have a merch store coming online soon, so I haven't worked out the complete address for that, because I'm still very on the fence about an actual url, even though we keep going backwards and forwards, I come up with new ideas, and it's like a long-term relationship. I mean, it's a commitment when you're buying a URL. It is.

Speaker 3: 20:53

Before we put a ring on it, we got to make sure it's the right one, Right one that's exactly right, and we can't, we're not going to change. And after you make, when you're a business, you don't want to keep changing it.

Speaker 2: 21:06

No, you gotta make sure it's right, exactly that. That. I'm also hoping that the one I really want comes available and I can fucking quickly take it up before, yeah well.

Speaker 3: 21:14

Well, what I would like to know is if anyone listened to this, if you have ideas what kind of merch you would like to see we want to hear from you, because you know it could just be dad mode podcast on various things. Or do you want some of our kind of sarcasm in meme form on on shirts and and mugs and and stuff like that? You know, let us, let us know what you want, um yeah, I look forward to it.

Speaker 2: 21:37

I love doing merch.

Speaker 3: 21:38

I just love making merch oh I, I remember you know what. A year and a half ago I had one Twitch stream where I spent the entire two and a half hours just designing merch and asking people in chat to tell me I think you were in there. I was like what should I make? And I ended up with like 13, 14 designs. It was pretty awesome.

Speaker 2: 21:57

Um so, and then probably the other one I want to bring up is we'll probably do a live soon.

Speaker 3: 22:04

Yeah, we're working on, we're getting closer. I like you got it up here, so you, we sort of have to do it now yeah, I'm putting it out there into the universe because now it's forcing us to do it so would we do? Would it be a tiktok thing? Would it be a twitch thing? Because screw kick a youtube thing, we can do both. What do you think we have the most? I think tiktok gets the most, like drop in people, doesn't it? It does it does.

Speaker 2: 22:26

I'd do it on, I'd pump it through. I'd probably pump it through mine now that now that I'm a part of a tiktok creating thing, it actually gets boosted even more. Um, but we could probably do both. I'm gonna do both tiktok and twitch at the same time, one on both ends. You can do this twitch one, I'll do the tiktok one and let us join the chats there you go.

Speaker 3: 22:46

Um, I gotta finish setting up the dual streaming, uh, with a vertical in um stream labs.

Speaker 2: 22:52

Yeah, um, there is one issue with that what dream labs doesn't allow you to choose a category for tiktok? Really, yeah, that's annoying.

Speaker 3: 23:01

I think you can do it through the app while you're live, if that makes sense, I think there's a back end way to do it if you guys are listening, are interested in seeing a live version of this podcast, follow us on. Follow us everywhere, but follow us specifically on tiktok dad mode podcast and whenever we go live you will see the notification pop up. So you're welcome and then you can see what we do in real time and you know it is amazing what we do.

Speaker 2: 23:36

So surprisingly not as much into breakups like the first one.

Speaker 3: 23:41

Nowadays we can kind of just go start to finish, yeah yeah, um, and you'll realize that, like the episodes that you hear it's, it's just like the live thing that you will eventually we'll see. You know, yeah, um, we've changed our format on it. You know, actually that would be a good uh topic for a future episode is like how I know we've touched on it before like how we do what we do, but have another one that's the evolution of what we've done. You know, yeah, okay, very into, very just whatever, yeah, I'll do a lot.

Speaker 2: 24:13

That one we'll see everybody next time you've been listening to dad mode.

Speaker 1: 24:21

Our passion is navigating this wild journey of parenthood and modern life, From balancing family time to managing your career and still squeezing in some gaming and content creation. And no matter what the women say, they will never be able to pry the controller out of our cold dead hands. Anyway, we hope you enjoyed the show. If you did, find us on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube at DadModePodcast and we can be found on every podcast site at DadModePodcast. Y'all be cool. See you next time.