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The Last Show with David Cooper

Gary Direnfeld: How To Manage Travel - January 14, 2026

15 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.993 - 24.56 David Cooper

When your therapist won't take your calls anymore, there's always The Last Show with David Cooper. Travel. People say it's fun. People say it's mind-expanding, that you should do it to enjoy your life. But what they don't tell you is there are indignities when traveling. There are stressors. You're out of your comfort zone, and it's not always fun. I am here with therapist, social worker.

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24.78 - 27.263 David Cooper

It is Therapy Thursdays on a Wednesday.

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Chapter 2: What are the common stressors associated with travel?

27.343 - 30.747 David Cooper

Gary Dierenfeld is the man I am talking about. Gary, welcome to the show.

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31.047 - 37.604 Gary Direnfeld

So good to be with you. I'm refreshed after a beautiful week's cruise in the Caribbean.

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37.705 - 46.187 David Cooper

Great. You were in a massive Petri dish with germs. I won't get on one of those boats. One flu virus with one passenger means the whole boat's going to die.

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46.471 - 60.778 Gary Direnfeld

You know, we go with a smaller cruise line. We go. It makes it sound like I've been on a million cruises. This is the second cruise in my life. The previous one was 15 years ago. But this was with Silver Sea. And this is not a paid endorsement.

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60.798 - 62.321 David Cooper

Well, if they want to sponsor the show, great.

62.481 - 90.838 Gary Direnfeld

Brought to you by potentially Silver Sea. Yeah, I'm going to have to send them a link to this. Anyways, they were fabulous. They are smaller ships. There was supposed to be about 380 passengers aboard this ship. We left and arrived just as the airspace was being closed because of the incursion into Venezuela. Oh, my goodness. So we were an extra day in port waiting for the other travellers

90.818 - 92.18 Gary Direnfeld

to come in the next day.

92.78 - 99.267 David Cooper

However, all that- Who'd have thought like geopolitics would delay your cruise? How dare they delay your cruise invading?

99.287 - 110.36 Gary Direnfeld

I know. And most people settled into that and were good. A couple of people were angry, wanted to blame the cruise line. And I'm looking at them and it's like, it's not their fault.

Chapter 3: How can you manage birthday blues during travel?

340.4 - 360.431 David Cooper

You're totally out of your comfort zone. You don't get to use your home-based bathroom, which I think is very important to some people, myself included. Yeah, absolutely. The food might upset your stomach. You might get sick. You're not sleeping great. You're in a different time zone sometimes. You bicker. You're forced to spend every waking minute with someone.

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360.451 - 375.553 David Cooper

You don't get any downtime in some cases. Travel isn't always fun. And I look to you, Gary, knowledgeable therapist, to help me and our listeners deal with some of these stressors that probably you just experienced some.

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376.141 - 388.437 Gary Direnfeld

Yeah, well, of course. And people who follow my Facebook page, they know I'm not actually a happy traveler. I'm happy when I'm at the destination. I hate the process.

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388.698 - 403.077 David Cooper

You don't like being crammed in like a sardine on an airplane and being strip searched at security and having people yell at you and take off your shoes and you got to print out the ticket at the kiosk and it doesn't print out. It says see agent and there's a line to see the agent. Why did I need to see the agent?

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403.748 - 433.923 Gary Direnfeld

People know that I am gregarious. I'm a people person. I'm out there. I'm loud. But what people don't realize is there's still a part of me that's an introvert. I don't like crowds. I feel uneasy. I feel unsafe. And to be in that cattle call, which is baggage... Right? I'm not talking about the emotional baggage. I'm literally talking about the stuff I'm checking in.

434.864 - 468.928 Gary Direnfeld

You're there with, I don't know, a couple thousand other people in the airport because they're all leaving at the same time. I find that personally overwhelming. You can't be alone there. I don't think so. And in my experience, which is limited, but in my experience, I don't find many of the staff at the airport to care or to be truly helpful. Excuse me, how do I find blah, blah, blah, blah?

468.948 - 471.95 Gary Direnfeld

And someone will literally point in a direction.

472.251 - 472.471 David Cooper

Yeah.

472.691 - 473.412 Gary Direnfeld

Not say anything.

Chapter 4: What strategies can help you cope with travel discomfort?

1084.137 - 1087.483 Gary Direnfeld

Yeah, yeah. My issue wasn't constipation.

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1088.465 - 1093.213 David Cooper

Is it the same advice? Take a deep breath and try not to let yourself get too stressed out?

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1093.548 - 1105.898 Gary Direnfeld

Well, that's called, you know, I was going to say preparation. I don't want this to be preparation age. But we prepare. We prepare for travel. Arlene brought gravel. I brought Imodium.

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1107.141 - 1108.063 David Cooper

Yep. I bring Pepto.

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1108.304 - 1108.384

Yep.

1109.157 - 1127.94 David Cooper

And this is not a paid advertisement for Pepto, but I do feel like they'd be a great sponsor for this show. I do have IBS. Gary Dierenfeld, he is a social worker. He is a therapist. He joins us every week on Wednesday for a little thing we do called Therapy Thursdays on a Wednesday. Gary, it was a joy having you. Thanks for being here. I hope you had a nice new year and welcome back. Thanks.

1127.96 - 1150.257 David Cooper

Great to be with you yet again, David. My name is Jordan, and I'd like to invite you to join me on The Canadian Gothic, a podcast covering stories of Canadian crime, mystery, and the offbeat. The Canadian Gothic blends the spirit of late-night talk radio with the depth of a documentary film and applies that approach to both developing stories and historical cases.

1150.878 - 1161.49 David Cooper

So if you're drawn to the dark, mysterious, and offbeat, search for and subscribe to The Canadian Gothic wherever you find podcasts. You are listening to Canadian Gothic.

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