Love Is Blind with Malala Yousafzai

Welcome to season NINE of Normal Gossip! We're kicking off the season with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and a story about four college students on a star-crossed Eurotrip. Order Malala’s new memoir Finding My Way here https://bookshop.org/p/books/finding-my-way-a-memoir-malala-yousafzai/28f842f87a1c28c9?aid=79623 and follow her on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/malala/. You can join us in donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund here https://www.pcrf.net/ or Transanta here https://www.transanta.com/. Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets! https://defector.com/normal-gossip-podcast You can support Normal Gossip directly by buyingmerch https://defectorstore.com/collections/normal-gossip or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend atsupportnormalgossip.com https://defector.com/products/normalgossip. Our merch shop is run by Dan McQuade. You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page:https://normalgossip.komi.io/ Episode transcript here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wdSxMXaMWuaFiIM1iNy6s1CsRvupXQ-GH9RNaJZHykI/edit?usp=sharing. Follow the show on Instagram@normalgossip https://www.instagram.com/normalgossip/, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP. Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae https://www.instagram.com/heyydnae/?hl=en) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae https://www.instagram.com/seera_sharae/?hl=en) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira https://instagram.com/jaetowlevieira?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby. Normal Gossip is a proud member ofRadiotopia https://www.radiotopia.fm/. Support Radiotopia's fall fundraiser here http://radiotopia.fm/donate. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

• 0:05Speaker 00

  Hello and welcome to Normal Gossip. I'm your host, Rachel Hampton, and in each episode of this podcast, we're gonna bring you an anonymous morsel of gossip from the real world. And welcome to season nine, y'all. We made it. We're here and I am so, so excited. Before we get into the gossip, I wanted to take the chance to thank everyone who came out to see me and Ciara on tour back in September. We actually jumped right into production for season nine about a week or so after getting back from tour. So this is the first real chance I've had to sit down and kind of reflect on everything. And I just wanted to express how profoundly grateful I am to host a show with such an incredible

• 0:49Speaker 00

  audience. Literally, everyone who worked with on tour went out of their way to tell us how warm and engaged and sweet our fans are. I said this a few times out on the road, but the reality of making a podcast in 2025 is me sitting in my living room on Zoom with Ciara and the rest of the Normal Gossip team. So it is really easy for me to forget that they are real, actual people on the other side of this, which made meeting so many of y'all so deeply humbling. There was a moment during the tour where I got pretty sick and we had to make the really difficult decision to cancel the Austin stop. And I want to first apologize to our Austin fans. I really wish we could have put the show

• 1:30Speaker 00

  on for y'all. But I also wanted to thank y'all specifically because when we announced the stop was canceled, so many of y'all DM'd us, like, Rachel's health is the most important thing. Feel better soon. And I really can't say how much that meant to me. I have definitely alluded to being a recovering perfectionist. So the thought of disappointing people is a hard one for me to sit with. My therapist hears about it all the time. And y'all made it so much easier. So really, truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to Austin and to every other person who bought a ticket to Ciara and I's first tour. If you saw the show, you will remember that there is a section of the show where we ask for bribes. If you haven't seen the show,

• 2:14Speaker 00

  Who could say whether or not a little live version might be dropped in the feed sometime soon? We posted this on Instagram, but for those of y'all with a healthy relationship to social media, we wanted to reveal that over the course of seven shows, y'all sent us a little over $1,000 in bribes, which is absolutely ridiculously incredible. After the tour, we split that bribe money into two $500 donations. One went to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and the other went to Trans Santa, a mutual aid project that connects anonymous gift givers with trans youth who are unhoused in foster care or otherwise without the crucial support they need to thrive. So, thank you to everyone who bribed us.

• 2:57Speaker 00

  Your money went to some great causes, and if you want to donate to those organizations on your own, we will leave some links in the show notes. That is enough housekeeping today. Now, for the real reason you're here, y'all, I cannot express how excited I am about today's guest. It has been so hard keeping this a secret. For the first time in normal gossip history, we are being joined by a Nobel Peace Prize winner. You might have heard of her before. Today's guest is none other than Malala Yousafzai. Malala is an education activist, a bestselling author, and the youngest ever Nobel laureate. Malala, hello. Thank you so much for joining me.

• 3:39Speaker 01

  Thank you. I'm so excited for normal gossip.

• 3:42Speaker 00

  This is maybe the most iconic crossover of the century. I, I think that's true.

• 3:47Speaker 01

  I think it was meant to be. Who said I don't like gossip? Who said that?

• 3:53Speaker 00

  Exactly. I mean, usually I ask every guest the same question, which is what your relationship to gossip is. But your team really kindly sent me and Sierra a copy of your new memoir, Finding My Way, and I feel like it gave me some insight into your relationship with gossip. So, I'm going to read a passage that I found particularly illuminating. You wrote, "As my story traveled around the world, people began to describe something I didn't recognize: a serious and shy girl, a wallflower forced to speak out when the Taliban took away her books." Sometimes the absurdity of it made me laugh. Growing up, I was a troublemaker. At school, I ferried bits of gossip back and forth between groups of girls and cracked jokes that made my friends laugh and scolded me in the same breath.

• 4:35Speaker 00

  So I actually wanted to ask, how do you feel like being a public figure for so much of your life has affected your relationship with gossip? Because it sounds like you, like me, were a gossip from birth.

• 4:46Speaker 01

  Yes, growing up, I loved to just be a normal friend. And it's part of your friendship that, you know, we want to talk about who said what and what happened and did you know? And I loved all of that. I wanted to know all secrets. I wanted to know what each friend was up to. But I think, yes, my life took a very sharp turn when the Taliban attack happened. And in my new school in the UK, I struggled to make friends. And I missed that old part of my life. I just wanted to be with lots of friends and I wanted us to chat about any topic and to laugh and giggle together and to gossip sometimes. But that part of my life had gone missing.

• 5:30Speaker 01

  And it was something I wish I could get back.

• 5:34Speaker 00

  Do you feel like as you've gotten more, I guess, accustomed to how public your life is, that you found ways to reintroduce gossip back into your life?

• 5:44Speaker 01

  Yes, the change happened when I joined university. So my college time was when I realized that I actually have found this close circle of friends who are trying to protect me at the same time. They understand my public image, but they want to make sure that I can be myself. So with my new friends, I was trying new things from roof climbing to staying up till 3 a.m., getting into trouble at times or skipping our assignments so that we could go to every party and every event. And more importantly, it was this safety where I could express myself

• 6:27Speaker 01

  without having to think twice about what would people say? Or what if this word is spread in the friend circle? So I didn't have to feel worried and scared all the time. Gossip was back into my life and I love that.

• 6:43Speaker 00

  And I love that for you. It is so important. Speaking of how important it is, a little birdie told me that you have some gossip for me.

• 6:52Speaker 01

  Yes, I do. And you know, this is a bit embarrassing as well. I was not sure if I should share this or not, but.

• 7:01Speaker 00

  Perfect.

• 7:02Speaker 01

  Oh, don't judge me. Don't judge me.

• 7:05Speaker 00

  I would never.

• 7:08Speaker 01

  So basically, in the early days of college, I wanted to make as many friends as possible. And because at my school in this new country, I had only made one friend. So I was like, you know what, at college, don't miss on this opportunity. Like, go to every event. So I was sitting with this friend. And she shared with me this gossip about a guy that she was dating. So she told me that they had slept together. And then she commented about what that was like. And then she commented about certain parts. So that story, I was like, wow, like, that's a crazy gossip anyway.

• 7:49Speaker 01

  Then I was at another gathering, completely different friends. And I just never like thought, I was like, these are two different places. They would not connect. So I'm sitting with this other friend and we're chatting and it's like late at night. And the music in the background and he's like, so you know, how are things going? And do you have any gossip? And I was like, you know what, I'm gonna show off. And I'm gonna tell him, yes, I do have gossip and like, I know more than him. You know what? I know things you don't know.

• 8:22Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:22Speaker 01

  So I told him and I said, oh, yeah, you know, this friend of mine, she was, you know, with this guy. And she commented how bad experience was, or you know, how he was.

• 8:34Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:34Speaker 01

  Terrible anyway. And just gave away some detail. All good, you know, I was like, okay, you know, I'm just a cool girl and I'm just sort of showing off. The next morning, I wake up and I see my phone. And there's a very long text message from that female friend of mine. And he says, I cannot believe that that guy I slept with found out that I had felt that the night was not good. And that I had opinions about, you know, his body parts and all of that. I was like, I went pale.

• 9:12Speaker 00

  Oh, no.

• 9:13Speaker 01

  I, I, I froze. I was speechless, just did not know how to respond to that. I mean, I was like, whoa. Okay, so I closed my phone. I processed this. I reread the message and then I'm like, okay, I was like, okay, where do I, where do I even start?

• 9:32Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 9:32Speaker 01

  So I like immediately like apologized to her. I'm like, I'm so sorry. I said, like, I don't even know how we like reach back to you with like less than twenty four hours. Like, the circle, you realize, is so small. It's like teeny tiny and I never thought it would. And then I went back to that other friend. I said, like, I told you and you, like, we promised you wouldn't tell anybody and all of that. He said, no, I just, like, I just like gossip. I, I didn't know, like, it was supposed to be a secret and all of that. And anyway, he said, I just, I just said it. I didn't know it would go back to her because it was one of those things when friends tell each other, like, promise me you won't tell anybody. And then that friend goes to the other friend, promise me you won't tell anybody. And that whole, you know, the, the pinky connection and then it goes back to the.

• 10:17Speaker 00

  Yes. It's like eventually you get back to the person that the gossip is about.

• 10:21Speaker 01

  Yes, yes.

• 10:22Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 10:23Speaker 01

  So really, really embarrassing experience, you know, the poor guy. Uh, yeah, I don't think, uh, things went back to normal after that because I'm sure he'll always remember those comments. But, uh, yeah, but it was, it was good. I'm still friends with them and, uh, we, we talked through it.

• 10:39Speaker 00

  Good.

• 10:40Speaker 01

  I made a commitment. I said, you know what, if, even if there's a light point zero zero one percent chance that they are somehow connected and

• 10:48Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 10:49Speaker 01

  the secret can get back to them, like, just figure out the root, just like, is there any chance there's like a track where they? Yes. Do not share a secret, especially if you just don't want the secret to go back there.

• 11:01Speaker 00

  Yes, yes. I mean, I always talk about operational security when, when we're talking about gossip where you really have to be careful about the lines that people can draw. I mean, we think about that on this show all the time, like about anonymizing gossip so it doesn't get back to the person. But I'm so glad you guys are still friends. Maybe he, you know. Found some pointers for his performance, his next performance.

• 11:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, you know what, I think to this day, I don't even know like what that story was actually about and like, nobody knows, nobody knows.

• 11:33Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:34Speaker 01

  But it's just rumors and gossip, you know, they spread around really, really quickly.

• 11:39Speaker 00

  Yeah, and I'mma be honest, I love helping them spread really, really quickly.

• 11:46Speaker 00

  I'm part of the problem, but that's why we're here and I have some gossip for you.

• 11:51Speaker 01

  Okay, okay.

• 11:52Speaker 00

  Are you ready?

• 11:54Speaker 01

  Um, yeah, sure.

• 11:56Speaker 00

  That's a perfect answer.

• 12:03Speaker 00

  We've been cooking up a fun, special holiday project for y'all over here at Normal Gossip. And usually when work gets crazy, I kind of just try to continue my life like nothing's happening. But recently, thanks to therapy, this time around, I was like, what if I did not try to pour from an empty cup? And that is what growing feels like. If you've been thinking about starting therapy, then I think you should check out today's sponsor, Growth Therapy. Growth Therapy is built for therapy that actually feels like care. You can find therapy based on what matters most to you, like insurance taken, mental health specialties, identity, or night and weekend availability if you're working a lot.

• 12:48Speaker 00

  Book your first session in minutes and you can start in as little as two days. Sessions average $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0, depending on your insurance plan. Prepare for holiday glimmers instead of holiday stress. Visit growtherapy.com/gossip to get started today. That is growtherapy.com/gossip. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

• 13:15Speaker 00

  I'm gonna admit something embarrassing. I know, shocker. I have not had a bedside lamp for an undisclosed amount of months, long enough that I basically haven't read before bed for a really long time. And I only realized this because I'm hosting a friend and I was like, wow, they deserve to have a light by their bed at night. I don't. But this finally inspired me to find the perfect bedside lamp. And I had a vision in mind, Wayfair. They had exactly what I need, which is one of those library-style lights with like the green lampshade and little pull cord. I have been having this image in my mind of having one. And now I have one because of course Wayfair had it.

• 13:58Speaker 00

  For all things hosting, Wayfair delivers high-quality, customer-trusted products for your home so you can host and celebrate without distress. When refreshing your home this holiday season, Wayfair delivers exactly what you need. Head to wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's W A Y F A I R dot com.

• 14:19Speaker 02

  This show is supported by Odoo. When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out Odoo at O D O O dot com. That's O D O O dot com.

• 14:56Speaker 00

  Today, our friend of a friend is named Kayla. And the most important thing to know about Kayla is that she is in her year of yes. Kayla was a good kid in high school. She was in the National Honor Society. She was first chair flute in her concert band. On the weekends, she volunteered for the local soup kitchen. We all know that kind of kid. Some of us were that kind of kid. The kid with a perfectly formatted resume at 15. Not me. I don't know anything about that. But that is Kayla.

• 15:28Speaker 01

  Kayla is doing well. I'm proud of Kayla so far.

• 15:31Speaker 00

  Yes, but what this means is that once Kayla gets to college, she goes like a little bit crazy. Tastefully crazy, to be clear. Like she makes the dean's list every semester, but if it won't interfere with her grades, Kayla is saying yes to it. She's doing intramural sports. She's doing feminist student theater. She's doing culinary arts club. She's rushing a sorority. It sounds like this is also how you approached college, where you were like, I'm gonna try a little bit of everything.

• 15:59Speaker 01

  I was thinking, are you talking about me or Kayla? Like, who are you, who are you talking about? Like, doing so well at school and being this, you know, good student, teacher's favorite and all of that. And then all of a sudden, you go to college and the teachers are like, is she even gonna show up at this class? Or did she do this assignment like last minute, last night? And there were like times when I could tell, that the tutors could tell that I hadn't done the reading. So in Oxford, we have a tutorial system. So it's like a professor and then like two or three students max, like not more than that. So it's very intense. You can't like hide. There's no way to hide. The professor would ask a question like, so what about this case study? And what did you think about that political science concept?

• 16:41Speaker 01

  And I would just immediately look at my friend and she knew it was her turn to save me. So she'll be like, yeah, you know, the reading was, was fascinating. Um, we, we learn, you know, blah, blah, blah. And then I'll be like, exactly, exactly. Yes, I also thought it was fascinating.

• 16:59Speaker 00

  Listen, you were learning about improvising, about thinking on the fly, about saying yes and.

• 17:05Speaker 01

  Yes, exactly, exactly.

• 17:07Speaker 00

  Yeah. Well, so yes, Kayla does absolutely everything, but Kayla's freshman roommate Barbara, she locks into one thing and that thing is getting into business school, which Barbara tells Kayla is the best place to find a husband.

• 17:27Speaker 00

  Kayla is very impressed by Barbara's forward thinking. Um, and Kayla is even more impressed by this blanket that Barbara shows her on move-in day. It is hand embroidered with all of the places Barbara's visited. There are patches for like Monaco and Tokyo and Sydney, Australia. Barbara's only seventeen at this point and this blanket is already more than halfway covered.

• 17:50Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 17:51Speaker 00

  And if it's not clear already, Barbara comes from family money.

• 17:54Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 17:55Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 17:56Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 17:57Speaker 00

  But Kayla feels like Barbara's pretty chill for coming from family money. Like Barbara's really clean, she spends most of her time studying. Barbara's mom stuck in Keurig on moving day, which is technically not allowed, but Kayla's not gonna say anything. The room is always stocked with snacks. Barbara does get like a little bit huffy whenever Kayla gets in late from a party, but there are worse things than a type A roommate, right?

• 18:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:27Speaker 00

  Did you have any roommates in college? Did you get close to them?

• 18:30Speaker 01

  Um, yes, so I remember our college's last Galentine's Day. So we would do Galentine's Day every year.

• 18:38Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 18:39Speaker 01

  It was just like so perfect. All of my friends were there and we made these like pancakes or like waffles, the heart shaped ones. Yeah, it was, it was a whole chaotic scenario, but you know, we decorated the whole room and all of that. And yeah, we had like a wonderful time together, just talking about, you know, how far we had come and then what everybody's dream was to do next. And that's when you like realize, wow, you know, friends are precious, they're everything.

• 19:08Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's so real. That kind of like instant bonding is exactly what happens between Kayla and Barbara. Like

• 19:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 19:17Speaker 00

  Things go so well that by Thanksgiving, they're convinced they're gonna be in each other's weddings.

• 19:23Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 19:23Speaker 00

  It's over Thanksgiving that Barbara first proposes the trip. The trip starts with a text from Barbara, who's like, I was clicking around on Google Flights this morning and I found some dirt cheap tickets to Croatia for next summer. And according to Barbara, once they get to Croatia, it'll be so easy to get anywhere else they want to go in Europe. You're already shaking your head.

• 19:49Speaker 01

  I mean, it's, come on, we have to be more practical. I am not a logistics person. I love if somebody else takes over that and arranges a trip for me and makes it so convenient for me, but that seems tough. But good luck to Barbara.

• 20:07Speaker 00

  Well, Barbara has a plan.

• 20:09Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 20:10Speaker 00

  And the plan, the plan is the trip. The trip would be a month long. It would take them from Croatia up through Slovenia and Austria before ultimately ending in Italy. And according to Barbara, this is the last chance they will ever have to do anything like this because Barbara knows that if she wants to get into Wharton, she's gonna have to have a consulting internship every summer after this one. So Barbara promises to plan everything and she's such an experienced traveler and she knows Kayla doesn't come from family money, so she promises to keep the costs as low as possible. And Barbara almost seems excited about that part. She's like, I've always wanted to actually experience

• 20:53Speaker 00

  travel, you know? And Kayla's like, sure, I guess economy is an experience. Barbara even tells Kayla she can invite anyone she wants. It'll help keep costs down even further. How is all of this sounding to you so far?

• 21:08Speaker 01

  Wait, invite more people to keep costs down?

• 21:12Speaker 00

  So you can split things among more people.

• 21:14Speaker 01

  I mean, it's chaotic. Even a trip with like two friends is so hard.

• 21:19Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 21:21Speaker 01

  And you never stick to the schedule. In the end, it's a chaos, like arranging a cab or like, are we gonna walk? Are we not? Who's gonna have dinner where? Chaotic, but and then it's fun, but it's

• 21:32Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 21:32Speaker 01

  Just be prepared for that. Be prepared for that.

• 21:35Speaker 00

  Kayla's eighteen at this point, so she's not really thinking about the chaos. She is really considering going on this trip, though. She's like, okay, if I were to do this, if I were to do this, who would I want to come with me? And the first person that comes to Kayla's mind is Seth. Seth and Kayla went to high school together. They were both in band. Seth played the trumpet. The band nerds are gonna make something of that. I just know they will, having been a band nerd myself. Seth is one of Kayla's most reliable friends. Like, they had gone to different colleges, but he was one of the first people to wish Kayla happy birthday. He has what we now describe as golden retriever energy.

• 22:17Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 22:18Speaker 00

  Yeah, and the most important thing to know about Seth at this point in his life is that he has just seen the movie Before Sunrise for the first time. Have you seen Before Sunrise before?

• 22:29Speaker 01

  Hmm, no.

• 22:30Speaker 00

  Totally fair. I would recommend. I love it. It's a Richard Linklater film. It is incredibly romantic. It stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delby as two twenty-somethings, and they meet on a train, and they decide to get off the train to spend the night together. And they spend the whole night, like, walking around, none other than Vienna, Austria, which is included in this month-long trip, and that is enough for Seth to say yes to joining the trip.

• 22:57Speaker 01

  I mean, I I can already guess where this is gonna go, but

• 23:03Speaker 01

  yes, the movie, yes, makes sense. Okay, everybody has their own plans for the trip.

• 23:09Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 23:10Speaker 01

  Yes, and I'm also curious about, like, Seth and Barbara, and how they would sort of connect, because if you bring your school friend, you have known them for so long, or you have a lot of shared stories, but then you also have college friends.

• 23:25Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 23:26Speaker 01

  And you have, like, new new shared stories with them, and there's a bit of, like, a disconnect.

• 23:30Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 23:31Speaker 01

  It's really hard to bring the two together. And I guess, you know, many people would be able to relate to this, but I like, I have felt it as well, where Everybody's like, but you know, I know you more than them.

• 23:42Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 23:43Speaker 01

  Or some people are like, but I know her more now than you do.

• 23:46Speaker 00

  Yes, exactly. It's like you knew her in the past. I know her now.

• 23:49Speaker 01

  Now.

• 23:50Speaker 00

  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, along with the dynamic between Barbara and Seth, Seth also offers to invite his college roommate, Joe. Kayla confers with Barbara about this because she knows Barbara has a boyfriend that she's been dating since junior year of high school, who might barely have reservations about his girlfriend spending a month in Europe with two random guys. And normally Kayla would also be hesitant about spending a month with a perfect stranger, but she trusts Seth. She trusts Seth not to bring some loser along. And it's her year of yes.

• 24:25Speaker 01

  Yes, yes.

• 24:27Speaker 00

  Yes, exactly. Barbara's boyfriend takes a little bit of convincing, but by the end of Thanksgiving break, our foursome have already bought their tickets. And they're already dreaming of the Adriatic coastline and Viennese pastry. Do you feel like anything could go wrong between November, when our friends book their tickets, and June, when the trip is actually taking place?

• 24:50Speaker 01

  Yes, a billion things. Yes.

• 24:52Speaker 00

  Tell me a few of the things that could go wrong.

• 24:54Speaker 01

  Oh, I mean, so many things. The boyfriend could have problems. I mean, Barbara and Kayla, like, it's the expenses, costs, is Barbara, you know, does she actually know what she's signing up for?

• 25:08Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 25:08Speaker 01

  What if she wants to have a more VIP exclusive experience of certain things? There could be a bit of attention. Seth and Joe, I mean, I don't know what's gonna happen. I'm just curious. I just, I wanna know. I wanna know.

• 25:22Speaker 00

  So Kayla feels like nothing can go wrong until finals week. Now, I was the kind of person who planned their class schedule around being able to finish my finals from home. Like, you could not pay me to be on campus for a second longer than I had to be. I wanted to go home where my mom is gonna cook for me. Kayla and Barbara, they are not like this. Kayla stays because her parents actually live kind of close by, so she goes home pretty often. Kayla learns Barbara stays because this is her chance to go crazy. Do you remember how I said Barbara could be like a little bit huffy whenever Kayla got back from parties throughout the semester?

• 26:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:01Speaker 00

  Um, turns out that's because Barbara stores up all of her debauchery like a camel and then unleashes it as soon as her winter final paper is turned in. Kayla has never seen Barbara like this. Barbara's trying jungle juice for the first time. She's starting her day with a vodka Red Bull. She's being tempted by a joint before ultimately saying no. It is at this moment that Kayla starts to wonder how well she actually knows Barbara, which is crazy because they've been living together for four months.

• 26:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:32Speaker 00

  How well do you think this bodes for the trip?

• 26:35Speaker 01

  I'm worried. I'm worried. I think what you don't want is a holiday for a month where you hate each other.

• 26:43Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 26:44Speaker 01

  Where you are irritated to see the other person. And if there are certain things you don't like and you don't talk through it, it's not a good trip. It's not a holiday anymore. So I am a bit concerned. If there's anything, I think they should talk about it beforehand.

• 26:58Speaker 00

  Well, they're 18, so they don't.

• 27:02Speaker 00

  And the tickets are non-refundable. And after finals, Barbara goes back to being her normal type A self. So for the whole spring semester, Kayla convinces herself that that was just a fluke and that the studious, meticulous Barbara is the one that is planning the trip. This plan backfires as soon as spring finals week approaches because first Barbara breaks up with her boyfriend. Then she takes all of her exams. And then she goes on a three-day bender, which ends the night before their flight to Croatia. It's at the airport that Kayla first starts to understand what Barbara thinks experiencing travel looks like.

• 27:44Speaker 00

  Have you ever flown on a budget airline like Ryanair or Spirit?

• 27:48Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 27:48Speaker 00

  I have not. I'm a little too bougie for that. Tell me about your experience.

• 27:53Speaker 01

  You know, I was on the flight, so I also took it as like, wow, I'm going on a Ryanair flight. Anyway, my husband was like, you know, calm down. I think I was acting like Barbara a bit. He was like, calm down. Like, so, you know, they were offering things like, do you want any snacks? Water or something? I was like, I'll just have water. So I get the bottle of water and then they're just like looking at me. I'm like, what? And then they pass on the card machine and then like pay for this. So I was like, okay. It's like, here you go, here's some money. But.

• 28:25Speaker 00

  Yeah, they make you pay for everything. Like, the air that you breathe is not free on Ryanair.

• 28:31Speaker 01

  Yes, everything. I mean, it was a crazy, crazy flight. And we were on like, we were in the front row. And it was like raining, so as people were like getting on the plane, the rainwater was like literally getting inside. And I thought like my trousers were getting wet. It was like horrible. And you know what? The, the UK weather, so it's like crazy. But yeah.

• 28:55Speaker 00

  Will you ever fly Ryanair again?

• 28:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, of course, hundred percent.

• 28:59Speaker 00

  I love that. I'm over here like, I'm too bougie for that. And you're like, I'd do it again.

• 29:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, those are like short flights. Yeah.

• 29:07Speaker 00

  It's true. It's true. Um, Kayla has never flown on a budget airline. So when she gets on the plane with Barbara, she's like, I'm sorry. What the fuck is this? Why are seats just metal folding chairs stapled to the floor?

• 29:23Speaker 01

  Oh, you should be grateful you have seats.

• 29:26Speaker 00

  No, it's true. You could be standing up. Um, Barbara also had not paid extra to get a meal during the flight. So for 11 hours, all she eats are some pretzels that she bought in the airport.

• 29:39Speaker 01

  No way.

• 29:42Speaker 00

  Meanwhile, Kayla springs for the shitty in-flight meal. And it's as she's eating something that looks vaguely like chicken that Kayla first starts panicking a little bit. It is like just starting to register to her that Barbara has booked everything for the next month. And yeah, Barbara had forwarded all her confirmation emails. But like Kayla was busy, you know? She didn't read all of them and she trusted Barbara. And now Kayla is wondering if that was a mistake.

• 30:29Speaker 00

  Kayla decides to hold off on fully freaking out until she sees the hotel for the evening, which Barbara is very excited about. She had apparently found this website called WePostYouStay. The U is just the letter U. So it has a really unfortunate acronym of WePost.

• 30:48Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 30:49Speaker 00

  Barbara says it is the number one peer hosting site in Eastern Europe, and she has booked all of their lodgings through WePostYouStay.

• 30:57Speaker 01

  OK. I mean, you stay at your home.

• 31:02Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 31:03Speaker 01

  You don't go on this holiday.

• 31:05Speaker 00

  Everyone lands safely in Croatia. Kayla is very relieved to see Seth made it in one piece, mostly because she's like, OK, thank God, I'm not alone in this with Barbara. And Seth's roommate, Joe, even looks pretty normal, like he helps Barbara and Kayla with their bags without being asked. He does also start ripping on a mango flavored vape as soon as they step outside the airport.

• 31:27Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 31:28Speaker 00

  I have to admit, I do love a little weed vape, so I can't throw too many stones in this glass house of mine. So Joe, he's ripping away at his mango vape as all of our friends wait in an alley to be let into their lodging for the night, which, as I said, has been booked by Barbara on WePost. There are people engaging in what are clearly drug deals in this alley. And Kayla sees that the door they're waiting to be let into has like eight padlocks on it.

• 31:58Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 31:59Speaker 00

  But they only have to wait a few minutes in the sketchy alley for their host to roll up. His name is Vlad. Vlad is like, welcome to your WePost for the night.

• 32:09Speaker 01

  No way.

• 32:10Speaker 00

  And he unlocks all eight padlocks and lets them into a gorgeous apartment full of skylights and beautiful furniture. There's even two bathrooms. One of them has a clawfoot tub. Kayla immediately feels bad for doubting Barbara. She's like, of course, the plane was janky. That's why the ticket was so cheap. Barbara would never let me down. I've seen her study. She has a 4.0 GPA.

• 32:36Speaker 01

  I mean, OK, I get it, but the eight, eight locks and all of that, I don't know. But if the inside looks good, then, OK, I'm just gonna focus on the good part. I'm gonna be grateful for what we have and not think about the negative stuff.

• 32:50Speaker 00

  Um, there is a long future ahead of us because like I said, this is a month long trip. Exactly. Um, and we have only got so much time in this podcast, so I'm gonna hit some highlights of this trip. If I told you the whole trip, we'd be here for a hot minute.

• 33:05Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 33:06Speaker 00

  We start off on a high note. After the night in Vlad's beautiful apartment that has eight padlocks, our friends set off on a three hour bus ride. The bus is perfectly fine. It's just like a coach bus. Though Kayla does expect to be sitting next to Barbara, but somehow she ends up next to Seth. And Barbara ends up next to Joe, which is totally fine. Talking to Seth is always great for Kayla, except Kayla's pretty sure she can hear Barbara and Joe doing that thing where they're comparing hand sizes because Barbara's is so small.

• 33:41Speaker 01

  I mean, Kayla's concerned for the right reasons, I would say, yes.

• 33:46Speaker 00

  Can you think of any good, normal reason two people would compare hand sizes besides flirting?

• 33:52Speaker 01

  Um, no.

• 33:56Speaker 01

  Shall I say something really embarrassing?

• 33:58Speaker 00

  Yes, please.

• 34:00Speaker 01

  I remember like one of the first, or maybe the first dinner that I had with Asser. It turned into like comparing hand sizes. It's like a universal thing.

• 34:10Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 34:11Speaker 01

  And then I just pretended to be a palm reader for no reason.

• 34:15Speaker 00

  I love that.

• 34:16Speaker 01

  I was like, maybe, maybe this line is about your fortune and all of that. Oh, you're gonna meet the love of your life very soon, maybe tonight.

• 34:23Speaker 00

  Exactly. This line on your hand says that you might be getting married to the woman right in front of you.

• 34:29Speaker 01

  Oh, see, that turns out to be me. Oh, what a coincidence.

• 34:31Speaker 00

  Well, oh, no, oh, no.

• 34:34Speaker 01

  Wow, comparing hands, that's, that's very common, actually. So, no, I mean, of course, Kayla, yeah, they're flirting.

• 34:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, Kayla's getting really nervous. She's getting worried because remember Barbara is newly single. So this is the first time Kayla is actually meeting single Barbara. And single Barbara is starting to look like someone who falls really fast.

• 34:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 34:54Speaker 00

  Kayla turns to Seth and she's like, how well do you know Joe? And Seth may be a golden retriever, but he's not a golden doodle. He's no dummy. He saw Joe and Barbara comparing hand sizes and he knows what that means. Seth is unfortunately also a man. So when Kayla asks him how well he knows Joe, he's like, I don't know. We play Call of Duty together all the time.

• 35:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, and that says a lot about that other person, of course. When a guy says that, it makes complete sense.

• 35:28Speaker 00

  Kayla's like, okay, what is he like with girls? And Seth just kind of blinks. Is your husband good at gossiping? Or do you have to like pry details out of him?

• 35:39Speaker 01

  Oh, no, he's not. He's not. I have to ask him all these questions. I'm like, and so? Did you ask this?

• 35:46Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 35:47Speaker 01

  And he's like, no, why would I? I'm like, why would you not? Somebody told you like the biggest secret of their life? Like somebody's breaking up or like somebody's getting divorced or something. But why? What happened? Did they talk through it? For how long has this been going on? Everything. I was like, but how do you even react? You just say, uh huh, okay, you're getting divorced. Good. So what are we, what are we having for tonight or something?

• 36:08Speaker 00

  No, literally. It's like, what do you talk about at dinner if you're not talking about this?

• 36:12Speaker 01

  Exactly. Should we order chicken or fish? I'm like, no, what are you guys doing?

• 36:16Speaker 00

  Why did you break up? Yeah.

• 36:17Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 36:19Speaker 00

  Seth is very similar to this. He has not been trained in the ways of gossip. So Seth is like, honestly, we haven't really spent a whole lot of time together outside our room. And Kayla's like, okay, great. So you're absolutely useless. Good to know. After this bus ride, they arrive at their second destination, which is next to a stunning lake. And Barbara tells them that the home she booked on Wee Puss is actually right by the stunning lake. It's just a short little walk from the bus stop. Except the short little walk turns out to be a 20 minute hike. And so they're dragging their luggage through the forest for half an hour. But to be fair, the home is actually stunning. Like it's all glass. It's got a fire pit. Later that night, when they're sitting around the fire pit and they've all had a shower and a couple of beers,

• 37:03Speaker 00

  they can like see the lake in the distance. The sky is full of stars and Kayla's like, Okay, the vibes, they're a little inconsistent, but they're mostly pretty good.

• 37:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think I see sort of this sequence, it's like a pattern where the travel and the ride is not best quality.

• 37:20Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 37:20Speaker 01

  Super cheap and all of that, very inconvenient, but then the, the stay is good.

• 37:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, Barbara's like, I want to experience travel and then I want to sleep in a comfortable bed.

• 37:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, so Barbara's like, I want to have this real world experience, but that's only limited to travel, like.

• 37:37Speaker 00

  Yes, exactly, exactly. So all four of them are around the fire pit. They wrap themselves up in blankets as the night gets colder. Barbara's sitting next to Joe and they're sharing a blanket. And Kayla can't help but notice that it looks like they're holding hands under the blanket.

• 37:55Speaker 01

  They're still comparing the size, guys. Don't judge them.

• 37:58Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 37:59Speaker 01

  People can be so judgmental, ugh.

• 38:03Speaker 00

  So this doesn't seem like a problem to you?

• 38:05Speaker 01

  No, not at all.

• 38:10Speaker 00

  That was a heavy eye roll.

• 38:14Speaker 01

  I mean, it's like Kayla, like you can't do anything. It's gonna be a fight like soon. So do you want to have a nice holiday and then question them later? But I don't think there's much you can do. It's just gonna ruin the whole holiday.

• 38:27Speaker 00

  No, you're really right. And Kayla's having this debate too. And she's like, this is starting to look like a problem. And normally she would look to Seth to help her figure out if this is a problem because he's so grounded and reliable. Except Seth is clearly still under the spell of Before Sunrise. So when Kayla tries to start gossiping with him about Barbara and Joe, Seth's just like, I don't know. I think it's kind of cute.

• 38:55Speaker 00

  So Kayla's like, you know what? This is all a question for future Kayla. This is not my problem right now.

• 39:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:02Speaker 00

  So the next few days pass by uneventfully. They all go swimming in the lake every day. They cook breakfast and dinner together. It's honestly like really lovely. Barbara and Joe continue to get closer. Like they're always finding excuses to go off alone, even if it means hiking to town to get supplies. But it's been five days and so far the only thing going wrong is a little flirting. So Kayla's like, you know what? I'm counting this as a win. It's their last night at the lake house. They're sitting around the fire pit. They're talking about the next leg of their trip when Joe sort of clears his throat. And then he looks at Barbara and they like nodded each other like this is the right time. And that's when Joe is like, Barbara and I have something to share with you guys.

• 39:44Speaker 00

  And Joe's like, I just don't think it's fair for us to continue this trip under false pretenses. And that's when Joe is like, Barbara and I are officially dating. It's day five of this trip. What is your strategy for how to handle this?

• 39:58Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness. Joe. I mean, Barbara, even if they are dating, like, why are they making it a big deal? They're still getting to know each other. You don't know a person in five days.

• 40:13Speaker 00

  No.

• 40:14Speaker 01

  No. Wow.

• 40:15Speaker 00

  No.

• 40:16Speaker 01

  I mean, poor Kayla and Seth.

• 40:20Speaker 00

  Kayla's like, it's been less than a week. And Barbara's like, I know it's fast, but when you know, you know, right?

• 40:26Speaker 01

  Yes. Wow.

• 40:32Speaker 00

  Kayla does not know what to say to that. And so she looks at Seth, who, if she's not mistaken, actually looks a little jealous. Like Seth is like, that's so nice for you guys. Congratulations.

• 40:45Speaker 01

  I wish I was also dating somebody right now.

• 40:48Speaker 00

  Who was maybe on this trip who could say?

• 40:51Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 40:52Speaker 00

  Kayla's like, oh, fuck, okay, I don't want to be the Debbie Downer. So I guess I'll just say congratulations too, I guess. And Barbara starts tearing up and she's like, you guys are gonna be our maid of honor and best man at the wedding. And as she's saying this, a giant mango vape cloud appears above her head. From this point on in the trip, everywhere they go, Joe and Barbara are engaging in like copious amounts of PDA. Like Joe is always picking Barbara up and carrying her around. They ask Seth to take photos of them with their hands in each other's back pockets. On the train the next day, they're making out the whole time.

• 41:33Speaker 00

  But it's when they get off the train that things really start going off the rails because this is when Barbara reveals that the next place she booked on Wee Puss is three hours away from the train station. Barbara's like, okay, I know it's a pain, but it has a hot tub. And I just figured we'd hitchhike.

• 41:52Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness.

• 41:54Speaker 00

  Barbara says that hitchhiking is a quintessential European experience. And it's at this point that Kayla starts thinking that it might be time for her year of yes to end. Like, even Joe looks skeptical.

• 42:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:07Speaker 00

  Maybe because in between making out with Barbara on the train, he had finished his mango vape and he had not been able to find another one. And he has never actually smoked a cigarette, so he is too scared to buy the Eastern European ones. So he's clearly already experiencing nicotine withdrawal. So it looks like he's about to say no. But then Barbara says, besides, we've got some big, strong men here to protect us. And so Joe, he sticks his thumb out and they're hitchhiking.

• 42:38Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 42:39Speaker 00

  In another life, would you ever hitchhike?

• 42:42Speaker 01

  Um, no, no. As I say, like for me, convenience is everything. Like, I need to know, how are we getting to that place? But you should never plan to have the experience.

• 42:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, you should never plan to hitchhike. Yeah. Literally, nothing about hitchhiking appeals to me, mostly because I feel like I would be really embarrassed if no one picked me up.

• 43:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, and it's scary, like, who picks you up?

• 43:08Speaker 00

  Also that, yeah. Luckily, or unluckily, no one stops for our friends as they're hitchhiking in half an hour of trying. Except for a taxi driver who charges them extra for squishing four people and their luggage into his car. So all in all, this three-hour taxi drive cost them $450.

• 43:31Speaker 01

  That is crazy. You know, this is exactly what happens when you are, like, penny wise. You are trying to save, like, the cents, but you end up spending more.

• 43:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, after the $450 cab ride, things largely go according to plan. For the next few days, like, somewhere around day eight or nine of this trip, things fall into an uneasy stasis. Barbara and Joe are attached at the hip, and in public, Seth and Kayla pretend not to know them. Um.

• 44:01Speaker 00

  Luckily Barbara and Joe are too busy gazing deeply into each other's eyes to notice. So.

• 44:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, they don't even know, so.

• 44:09Speaker 00

  There's like, there are other people on this trip? I didn't know that. One of Kayla's favorite days ends up being in Slovenia, and it's her favorite day for a few reasons. First, Slovenia is gorgeous. Second, Joe's nicotine withdrawal had finally gone bad enough for him to get over fear cigarettes. So even though he now smells like cigarette smoke, he's in a much better mood. So vibes are going up. But the most important reason is that the place Barbara had booked had three bedrooms. So Barbara and Joe could share a room without forcing Kayla and Seth to also share one. So Kayla pretends to be surprised when Barbara and Joe decide to stay in for the evening. But secretly, she is very relieved not to have to spend another evening watching them do PDA.

• 44:54Speaker 00

  Ends up being the best night so far. Kayla and Seth have a really nice dinner. They buy new toothpaste. They try to go to a place that's apparently famous for their dessert, but they end up getting there too late. So they just buy like a little pack of cookies and just share them on the walk home. And it's as Kayla's brushing her teeth that Barbara sort of floats into the bathroom. And she sighs and doesn't say anything. And so Kayla just looks at her and Barbara sighs louder. And so finally Kayla's like, okay, what? What do you want to tell me? And this is when Barbara says that her and Joe have said, I love you to each other. It's been 13 days. Do you think this is too early?

• 45:38Speaker 01

  If they're planning to get married by the end of this trip, then fine, like just, just do it quickly. I don't know. I don't know what they want. It's wow, this is happening so fast. This is happening so fast.

• 45:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 45:50Speaker 01

  You know how long it took me and my husband to say, I love you to each other?

• 45:55Speaker 00

  How long?

• 45:56Speaker 01

  More than a year. More than a year.

• 45:59Speaker 00

  You were taking your time.

• 46:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, we kind of knew, but it's just like too awkward. You know, you're still getting to know the person. You just want to know if these. Feelings are the same on both sides. And also, if the feelings you're having right now are actually like true feelings of affection or not, sometimes these feelings can be really temporary. They can like go away sort of quickly. Um, yeah. So for me, it, it, you know, it took us some, some time, but I, yeah. I would not say I love you like in thirteen days. Sorry. Took me like thirteen months.

• 46:32Speaker 00

  Yeah. I mean, I think that you probably made the better choice here.

• 46:39Speaker 00

  And Kayla is also like, this is a little early. This is a little early for me. And she's like, maybe it's time for me to say no. Maybe it's finally time for me to say no here. And she's like, Barbara, uh, I'm happy for you, but don't you think this seems a little fast? And Barbara's just like, I know, isn't it so romantic?

• 47:01Speaker 00

  And this is when Barbara is like, also, there's been a change of plans.

• 47:06Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 47:07Speaker 00

  Yeah. Barbara and Joe had found out not only that they loved each other, but that they also loved the movie The Sound of Music and that it was only a fourteen hour bus ride to the hills that are alive with The Sound of Music. And Barbara is desperate to reboarder these hills onto her blanket. Joe has already said yes. Kayla thinks about the prospect of spending fourteen hours on a bus with Barbara and Joe. And she's like, you know what? Why don't you go by yourselves? Seth and I can just hang out here. Do you think that's a fair compromise?

• 47:40Speaker 01

  Yeah. Also, I think Joe and Barbara need some time alone. Because sometimes it's just so much about like, oh, you know, my friend doesn't want us to be together, but like I, I love you so much and all of that. And these emotions get mixed up. And I think, you know, when nobody cares about, you know, you guys dating and it's just about you guys now.

• 48:03Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 48:03Speaker 01

  So, like, how do you actually feel? Kayla doesn't care, like, how do you actually feel? Seth is not looking at you guys. How do you actually feel? In 14 hours, I mean, yeah, just go on a bus, figure it out.

• 48:15Speaker 00

  You got plenty of time to figure it out on that 14-hour bus ride.

• 48:19Speaker 01

  Compare your hand size.

• 48:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 48:20Speaker 01

  For 14 hours.

• 48:22Speaker 00

  14 hours of comparing hand sizes.

• 48:24Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 48:24Speaker 00

  Yeah. Apparently Barbara does not think this is a fair compromise. Because the next morning, she tells them that she's found a solution to their problem. Barbara has put a deposit on a moving truck, which she says is a much better option than the bus. Because with the truck, the drive would be half as long. And also, the deposit at $400 is non-refundable, so they have to do it.

• 48:47Speaker 01

  What? Why a truck?

• 48:50Speaker 00

  A moving truck.

• 48:51Speaker 01

  No way.

• 48:52Speaker 00

  Correct.

• 48:52Speaker 01

  No way.

• 48:54Speaker 00

  Yeah. Kayla is speechless. Meanwhile, Seth is of two minds. On one hand, the whole reason he came on this trip was to see Vienna. So he's like, driving through Austria, I don't mind that. We're gonna see Vienna. On the other hand, he's like, Barbara, why did you rent a moving truck? Why didn't you just rent a car? And Barbara's like, it was cheaper. I'm trying to be mindful of your, you know, situations.

• 49:24Speaker 00

  And then Barbara says that she rented the truck in Kayla's name because Kayla is the only one on the trip who can legally drive stick shift. Even though Kayla has only driven stick shift maybe a dozen times in her life. And she has never driven anything bigger than a Toyota Camry. Which, along with the winding mountain roads, ends up being the real problem. It only takes one particularly tight turn for Kayla to be like, you know what? We all might die today, but I'm not gonna be the one to kill us. So she makes Joe, who can drive stick, but who for some reason does not have a driver's license, drive the moving truck, even though this is so many levels of illegal.

• 50:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, very much.

• 50:05Speaker 00

  Kayla rides in the back with Seth in the darkness while Joe and Barbara sit up front. Every curve they take is terrifying. Every time they stop, they're worried they're getting pulled over and that they're gonna be arrested in Austria. And this could theoretically be like a little bit romantic. Except Kayla barfs like six times in the back of the moving truck.

• 50:30Speaker 00

  Kayla's like, this is insane. While Seth is like, I can't wait to tell this story at Barbara and Joe's wedding.

• 50:36Speaker 01

  Rolling my eyes. Oh, my goodness.

• 50:40Speaker 00

  Is there anything in the world that would make an experience like that worth it for you?

• 50:44Speaker 01

  Um, I think if I feel like, you know what, I have nothing else to do in life.

• 50:55Speaker 01

  You know, I have, I have no say. I'm here on their mercy and yeah, fine. No, I would not. I would not.

• 51:04Speaker 00

  Same, same.

• 51:06Speaker 01

  I'm generally like, I am a backseat driver. I am really scared of, you know, driving these cars and these things. I can't drive yet.

• 51:13Speaker 00

  Same.

• 51:15Speaker 01

  Wow, we have so much in common.

• 51:16Speaker 00

  We do. No, I like took driver's ed when I was in high school and then, I think, undiagnosed anxiety at the time. I just, I was like, I don't like driving. It scares me.

• 51:27Speaker 01

  Exactly. I mean, it's terrifying.

• 51:30Speaker 00

  It is.

• 51:30Speaker 01

  But yeah, wow. But friends risk it. Friends do that. I mean, they don't have a license or, you know, they're like, I have a license, but you, but I can't drive and you don't have a license, but you can drive. Let's switch.

• 51:42Speaker 00

  Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. So basically they just switched and Joe does get them there in one piece. Although I will say this is where I start to judge our friend of a friend, Kayla, because there is nothing in the world, to me, worth getting rattled around in the back of a moving truck. But apparently those hills really were alive with the sound of music. Because at the end of it, Kayla's like, I'm so glad we did this.

• 52:08Speaker 01

  I mean, that's just the way, you know, sometimes we have to look at life. After all that has happened and if you are there, you know, you're like, you know what? I love this.

• 52:18Speaker 00

  It was worth it. Also, 18 year olds are so much more resilient. Their bodies are so much springier than mine. So they're all, you know, running up that hill as capish intended. When Joe tells Kayla that he is planning on proposing to Barbara on the last day of the trip. And he's like, would you help me pick a ring? And in response, Kayla trips on a rock and just fully face plants. Like Seth has to come help dust her off. Joe's like, I told Kayla the great news. And Seth is like, isn't it so cool how we're here to witness this?

• 52:55Speaker 01

  Does Seth have any other line in the script?

• 53:00Speaker 01

  His character is just so consistent. Wow, that's great.

• 53:04Speaker 00

  He's reliable. He's consistent.

• 53:09Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, this is driving Kayla a little bit crazy as well. She's like, Seth.

• 53:16Speaker 01

  Help me.

• 53:17Speaker 00

  Literally, this is crazy. How do you not see this? So later, Kayla thinks it might be, you know, Seth being too accommodating, or maybe just Joe planning to propose that finally makes her snap? Or maybe it's the fact that in Vienna, Barbara reveals that she had booked a single room for the four of them on Wee Puss for the next three nights? Barbara's like, don't worry, I'll just check in with Joe, and then we'll sneak you both in later, every night, for the next three nights.

• 53:49Speaker 01

  Barbara, what was she thinking? One room for four people? No way. And after, you know, this proposal thing, no.

• 54:01Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah. Kayla finally just snaps. And by snaps, I mean, she's like, year of yes is over. Cancelled, we're done with that. I'm the captain now. It's the year of no. Kayla sends Barbara and Joe out for dinner. She sends Seth out to go buy himself a leather jacket, exactly like Ethan Hawke's in Before Sunrise. And then Kayla checks herself into a nice hotel room, where she then calls her mom, crying. And after this phone call, Kayla just rebooks the remaining 10 days of the trip on her parents' credit card. She's like, I'm not getting in the back of another moving truck. We are not having another single-room situation. We are getting on trains, planes, and normal automobiles.

• 54:44Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness.

• 54:46Speaker 00

  This ends up costing an additional $800 per person. Kayla is like, I would have paid a lot more than $800 for peace of mind.

• 54:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, for sure. You know, if it's a holiday, you don't want it to be a miserable experience. That's not the point of a holiday. And if you want to pay less money, just shorten it. Like, be realistic, but have a good experience.

• 55:09Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 55:10Speaker 01

  I mean, if you don't want to pay a penny, just go to a nearby hill or something. Go on a hike or something.

• 55:15Speaker 00

  Have a staycation, yeah.

• 55:16Speaker 01

  Exactly. But don't be this like, I'm gonna make this trip so miserable and travel every part of the world and... No, sorry Barbara, but that's not how it works.

• 55:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, Barbara, oh Barbara, that's what I have to say. Kayla's also saying, oh Barbara.

• 55:34Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 55:35Speaker 00

  Kayla's fairly certain that having her own hotel room is the only thing that gets her through the rest of this trip. Specifically, the proposal that happens on the final day of the trip, because yes, Joe does propose. At this point, they're in Italy, Rome specifically. Joe had chosen Rome because one of Barbara's favorite movies is Eat, Pray, Love. So he proposes in the mausoleum of Augustus, even after Seth is very gently like, you know, that's a tomb, right?

• 56:07Speaker 00

  Joe doesn't care. He makes Kayla and Seth spend hours setting up candles in a corner of the mausoleum that isn't covered in piss and graffiti. And you know what? Barbara says yes.

• 56:16Speaker 01

  Aww.

• 56:17Speaker 00

  The ring that Joe bought her is already turning her finger green by the time they land stateside.

• 56:25Speaker 00

  And that's kind of the end of our story. I do have some updates for you, but first, I want to know, how long do you think Barbara and Joe are gonna last?

• 56:34Speaker 01

  You know what? From the story so far, I would not be surprised if they're still together.

• 56:43Speaker 01

  Because if they could survive, you know, those few weeks, they can survive a whole lifetime.

• 56:49Speaker 00

  It's true, they were forged in fire.

• 56:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:52Speaker 00

  So I have three updates, two small and one big.

• 56:56Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 56:57Speaker 00

  So the first update is that on the last day of this trip, along with getting proposed to, Barbara reveals that she has only been bathing in natural bodies of water for the whole trip. Yeah. Kayla's honestly a little bit impressed because Barbara hasn't smelled particularly bad and they've been around each other for a month.

• 57:16Speaker 01

  You know, like you need to take a shower after you get into a lake, you know that, right?

• 57:22Speaker 00

  Apparently Barbara did not at this point in her life. The second update is that after this very memorable trip, Kayla and Barbara, uh, basically stopped talking to each other. Kayla lives in her sorority house her sophomore year and then off campus. The only time Kayla and Barbara actually speak after the trip is after graduation, when Barbara hits Kayla up for money because she's raising funds to do a Catholic mission in Cameroon. Kayla doesn't donate. You just shook your head.

• 57:50Speaker 01

  No, it's a no.

• 57:51Speaker 00

  No, no.

• 57:53Speaker 01

  If it involves travel, no.

• 57:55Speaker 00

  No, literally, exactly.

• 57:56Speaker 01

  Exactly. Anything for you, Barbara, but travel, no.

• 57:59Speaker 00

  But not a plane.

• 58:00Speaker 01

  No, nope.

• 58:02Speaker 00

  Yeah. And finally, the update that you're waiting for. Barbara and Joe break up two months after the trip ends. But the trip was good for one thing. Kayla was honestly really impressed by how well Seth handled all the craziness. Kayla told us that Seth was totally her rock throughout the whole trip. They end up hanging out a lot for the rest of the summer after they get back. And they start officially dating right before sophomore year. They get engaged after college and they're still married.

• 58:33Speaker 01

  That is cute. Oh, I'm happy. I'm happy for Kayla and Seth.

• 58:38Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:39Speaker 01

  Yeah. Do you know, like, when somebody is there with you and for you?

• 58:44Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 58:45Speaker 01

  Through, you know, the thick and thin and it's, you sort of know they're the right one. I think it's just their presence that makes everything a lot easier for you. And you know that when you share this whole life journey together, it will be a beautiful journey.

• 59:01Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 59:02Speaker 01

  I feel the same way about my husband as well. Yeah.

• 59:05Speaker 00

  That's so sweet, even when he doesn't gossip, even when he's supporting a crazy love story right in front of him.

• 59:14Speaker 01

  I know. He's just like so chill about these things and he's a believer in minding my own business.

• 59:21Speaker 00

  I don't know what that mean. I've never heard that phrase before. Minding my own business? What does that mean?

• 59:28Speaker 01

  I know, very unfamiliar with that. But there are people who just, yeah, do not interfere in other people's business out there.

• 59:36Speaker 00

  I don't know them. I don't know them.

• 59:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 59:41Speaker 00

  Well, that is the end of our story. Thank you so much for joining me, Malala.

• 59:45Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you. This was so beautiful. I mean, not the detail of the story, but the ending of it. And I think these experiences, these friends just teach you a lot about yourself, about others, about life. Yeah. Wow. Okay, I'm going to be thinking about them for a long time now.

• 1:00:07Speaker 00

  That is the normal gossip promise to give you a story that you will never forget.

• 1:00:11Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:00:18Speaker 00

  Thank you for listening to Normal Gossip. If you have a gossip story to share with us, email us at [email protected], or you can leave us a voicemail at 2679 Gossip. If you love this podcast and want to support us, become a friend or friend of a friend at supportnormalgossip.com. You can follow the show on Instagram and TikTok at Normal Gossip. You can follow me on all social media at HeyDenee, H-E-Y-Y-D-N-A-E. This podcast was produced by Sierra Spragley-Ricks and Jay Tolbierra. Our audio engineer is Samantha Gatzic. The co-creators and dowager queens of Normal Gossip are Kelsey McKinney and Defector's supervising producer Alex Hujan-Loughlin. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor.

• 1:01:02Speaker 00

  Jasper Wang and Sean Kuhn are Defector's business guys. Tom Lay is our editor in chief. Dan McQuade runs our merch store, which you can find at normalgossip.store. Tara Jacoby designed our show art. Thank you to Brandy Jensen, David Roth, Catherine Shu, Serena Imbler, Chris Thompson, Dave McKenna, Patrick Redford, and Ray Rado for your help on this season. Thank you to the rest of the Defector staff. Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber-based media company. Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. I'm your host, Rachel Hampton, and remember, you didn't hear this from me.