I used to think I was a pretty good talker. Turns out, solo travel and a language barrier will make you question everything, including whether you actually know your OWN language, let alone another.

This episode is about the growing distance between my brain and my mouth, the mistakes I made trying to connect with strangers, and why I decided those mistakes were worth making anyway.

In This Episode

• I unpack (pardon the pun) why solo travel turned me into someone who talks to cats, chickens, and cobblestones
• I admit the real reason I sometimes avoid conversations with strangers
• Tell you what might happen if you ask for 'twisted chicken potatoes' in a pharmacy
• Share what using the wrong word for a full year taught me
• I tell you about a conversation with a stranger that ended in one perfect piece of grandmotherly wisdom
• I make the case for why connection matters more than getting the words exactly right

Episode Highlights with Timestamps

• [00:55] — Episode ten kicks off with balloons, streamers, and some sobering podcast statistics
• [03:53] — Why I have started talking to myself, and to every cat and chicken I pass
• [06:04] — Talking is hard. I blame the growing gap between my brain and my mouth on menopause
• [08:33] — The “valley of language melting pot,” where French, Spanish, and the local language end up in the stew
• [09:47] — Why I start avoiding conversations, and the fear underneath it
• [11:47] — What if your attempt to speak in another language is an epic fail (dental floss anyone?)
• [13:07] — Free plums, and what happens when you take the risk anyway
• [14:06] — Visibility is hard; so in English
• [16:57] — Michel calls me out, and is annoyingly right, again
• [17:49] — A conversation with a stranger - "relax"

Links and Resources Mentioned

• Google Translate (used throughout the trip to have real conversations across language barriers)
• [email protected]

If this one made you laugh, or made you think about the conversations you avoid, I would love for you to subscribe wherever you listen, Spotify, Apple, or anywhere else podcasts live.

That way you never miss an episode, and honestly, we need to take the pressure off my husband as the one person who I know will always listen!

And if you want more of the behind-the-scenes travel moments, come join the Laughter Revolution Digest at marlasimlett.com. It is the fun stuff that does not make it into the episodes.