Out Of Office: A Travel Podcast

Christmas Spectacular Eight

 On this year's Christmas Spectacular episode of Out of Office: A Travel Podcast, Kiernan and Ryan hang up their socks and trade merry greetings. They discuss the official death of the Ugly Ornament Competition, the history of British Christmas crackers (no, they're not crackers), and their favorite Christmas tunes (including a Ryan original).. And for the Anglophiles out there, the boys sing the praises of one of the US's best importers of British goods, happily located right in Acton, MA.  Things we talked about in today's podcast: The Bee's Knees British Imports https://www.thebeeskneesbritishimports.com/  V&A Museum history of Christmas crackers https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-christmas-cracker?srsltid=AfmBOopqIG_oE9tXOOtQdsUnnRHXaOH8bPLkOiNC52C9XAlXv0hzY_Kf  "Have Yourself an Out of Office Christmas" https://www.mureka.ai/song-detail/WX3PuAjGnrbg8mx41mThs2?is_from_share=1  "Scrooge" from the Muppets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULaNvmjZWxg  

Christmas Book Gift Recommendations 2025

This week, The Boys unwrap their favorite book picks for the holiday season — from globe-trotting history to wild presidential tales to the secret life of gas stations in the American South. They also dig into new national park surcharges for foreign visitors.  The Books: "Lafayette in the Somewhat United States" by Sarah Vowell — https://www.amazon.com/Lafayette-Somewhat-United-States-Vowell/dp/0399573100 Amazon+1 "Bolívar: American Liberator" by Marie Arana — https://www.amazon.com/Bol%C3%ADvar-American-Liberator-Marie-Arana/dp/006073509X "The Magician" by Colm Tóibín — https://www.amazon.com/Magician-Novel-Colm-T%C3%B3ib%C3%ADn/dp/0307952879 "Wilderness Warrior: TR and the Crusade for America" by Douglas Brinkley — https://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Warrior-Crusade-American-Brinkley/dp/0066210372 "Rightful Heritage: FDR and the Land for America" by Douglas Brinkley — https://www.amazon.com/Rightful-Heritage-America-Douglas-Brinkley/dp/0812980040 "Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation's Leaders" by Brady Carlson — https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Presidents-American-Surprising-Leaders/dp/1631493952

Plymouth and the Mayflower II

On this episode of "Out of Office: A Travel Podcast," Kiernan talks to Richard Stone, author of "Project Mayflower." Things we discussed on today's episode: "Project Mayflower" book https://bookshop.org/p/books/project-mayflower-building-and-sailing-a-seventeenth-century-replica-richard-a-stone/a3f94ee44f9babb4?ean=9781493084364&next=t&next=t&affiliate=books  Plimoth Patuxet Museums https://plimoth.org/  Plymouth Rock https://seeplymouth.com/listing/plymouth-rock/  Pilgrim Hall Museum https://www.pilgrimhall.org/  Sail250 https://www.sailboston.com/sail250/  Green-Wood Cemetery New Yorker article https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/green-wood-cemeterys-living-dead  

Our Favorite Museum Heists

This week on the pod, the boys dive into their favorite museum heists, from Boston to Bogotá.

Cruising Life with Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain

On this week's episode of "Out of Office: A Travel Podcast." Kiernan talks to Richard Fain who served as CEO of Royal Caribbean for 33 years. Richard and his team oversaw—and essentially invented—the evolution of the cruise ship industry from a niche business to a global behemoth. His new book "Delivering the WOW" gives the behind the scenes story, with tons of great tidbits (how do you build an ice rink on a ship?) and business advice.   Things We Talk About on Today's Episode "Delivering the WOW" https://www.deliveringthewow.com/  Richard Fain https://www.deliveringthewow.com/about-richard  Adrian McKinty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_McKinty Black Rabbit https://www.netflix.com/title/81630027  Crazy Horse Memorial https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/style/a-hike-to-crazy-horse-stirs-patriotism-and-doubt.html