My First Season

My guest today is Derek Baron, the creator of the popular travel website called “Wandering Earl”. On December 25th, 1999, Derek left the USA for a three-month, post-graduation trip to Southeast Asia. The idea was for him to backpack around Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and then return home and start a career in the sports industry (He wanted to be a Sports Agent). When Derek landed in Bangkok, he had $1500 USD to his name and that was it. Since then, he has visited over 100 countries on 6 continents and has lived, worked, traveled and volunteered all over the world. He has been to India thirty times and was even kidnapped by inept kidnappers for three days in Bangladesh (and yes, he shares that story). He visited and stayed three days in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and visited the Galapagos Islands among many more. Derek worked also worked as a Tour Manager aboard cruise ships and I asked him to recount a tour-from-hell story and boy...did he deliver! This very funny story involves Mount Kilimanjaro. Why is that funny you ask? Well, the excursion was in Hawaii, for one, but I’ll let Derek tell that tale. It’s not just the traveling that Derek loves, as he prefers to focus on the human interactions and the life lessons learned along the way. These incredible aspects of travel are what keep Derek Baron going after 18+ years traveling the world. Please check out his travel blog website and his social media listed below. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

https://www.wanderingearl.com/

https://www.wanderingearl.com/wandering-earl-tours/

https://www.instagram.com/wanderingearl/

My guest today had his first season in Club Med Sandpiper in Summer of 1990. He had a contract as an Animator. Here’s the thing though: he actually worked at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a Clown and Acrobat for two years and when he applied to Club Med three months after leaving Ringling Bros., he didn’t know Club Med even offered Circus! Everyone, please help me welcome Carlos Ragas! Originally from Rhode Island now living in California, Carlos shares many funny stories with us from his first season. From animation passages gone awry to “borrowing” the water ski boat one night, to winning a trip to Walt Disney World because he did the splits with an Italian choreographer onstage… he’s got ‘em all! Carlos is currently a stuntman and actor and will be on an upcoming episode of my other podcast, Butcher Bay Rejects, and tell us how he got started in the business and the movie and TV work he has done. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you want to hear Carlos talk about his life as an actor and stuntman on my other podcast, Butcher Bay Rejects, please see the link below:

https://www.butcherbayrejects.com/e/bbr-ep-30-carlos-ragas-stuntmanactor/

My guest today's first season was in Club Med Turks & Caicos in February of 1987 as a Windsurf G.O. Only here’s the thing-he wasn’t a windsurfer! I’ll let him tell that funny story, a great JoJo story, and another one involving American currency washing up on the beach one morning. Originally from San Diego and now living in La Jolla, California, please help me welcome the always-entertaining, Eric Eaton! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Paradise Island, Bahamas in 2002/2003. His first season was in Club Med Sonora Bay, Mexico in June of 2001 as a Sound Engineer. Originally from Coney Island, NY and now living in Las Vegas, please help me welcome the “Coney Island Striker” himself, Ian Seidenberg! Ian recounts his first season in Sonora Bay and what it was like coming from New York and then suddenly scuba diving with seals in the Sea of Cortez and riding horses in the Sonoran Desert. He even shares a story about how he was Paul Shaffer’s sound engineer one night in Sandpiper while Paul played keyboards. Being a lifelong Letterman fan, I am very jealous! In his Club Med career, he went from sound engineer to Chief of Animation to Chief of Sports, and he’ll tell us all about it. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest today and I were fortunate to work together in Club Med Columbus Isle in 1999/2000. Her first season was in Club Med Turks & Caicos in 1990 as a Boutique G.O. She went on to become a Chief of Animation and attend the Chief of Sports stage as well. She tells a very funny story about trying to learn to windsurf and JoJo the dolphin not wanting to let her. Originally from California and now living in Las Vegas, everyone, Veronica Margellos! !

**My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

My guest today and I had the pleasure of working together in Club Med Columbus Isle in 1999/2000. He became a Scuba instructor at age 18 and to date, has logged between 3500-400 dives all around the world. His first time in Club Med was as an au pair in Club Med Sonora Bay in 1993 and then he went back to Club Med as a Scuba G.O. in Club Med Cancun in January of 1998. Originally from Vancouver and now living in Las Vegas, please help me welcome Nick Margellos!! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Nick is now a commercial pilot and he came on MFS to talk about the process to becoming a pilot:

https://www.myfirstseason.com/e/my-first-season-nick-commerical-pilot-and-first-officer/

**My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Paradise Island, Bahamas in 2002/2003, which happened to be her first season as a Tennis G.O. Before Club Med, She attended Arizona State University on a tennis scholarship. Everyone, from Winnipeg, Canada please help me welcome Tannis Goulet! Tannis tells us what it was like her first season and shares an amusing story about a day trip to Exuma, $10.00 all-you-can-eat-and-drink-rum punch and an evening visit to the Atlantis resort (all in the same day), I do not want to spoil at all, so you’ll just have to listen. And yes, I ask Tannis how many times a day in Club Med someone brought up her name and the fact that she teaches tennis.

**My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

My guest today did not work for Club Med, but he did spend a year working for Carnival Cruise Lines and was the only American in Carnival Cruise Lines’ thirty-year history to work a full contract in the ships’ restaurants without quitting or transferring. We’ll get into why that is such a huge deal and his first season in the travel and tourism industry and everything he experienced on the high seas. He is author of the books Cruise Confidential, Ship for Brains, Unsinkable Mister Brown, High Seas Drifter, Cruise a la Carte and many, many more. He has adventured in over 60 countries to gather material for his bestselling books and won dozens of literary awards, including the USA REBA Grand Prize. He has been featured on ABC's 20/20 and was anointed Sir Brian by Prince Michael, Regent of the Principality of Sealand (yes, really). Everyone, please help me welcome author, Brian David Bruns!

If you worked for Club Med and ever wondered like I did, what the heck goes on aboard a cruise ship, well then you’ll love these books. We only covered a small fraction of his story in the first book on the podcast, so if you want the whole story and you’re looking for that good summer read, look no further. You can find Brian’s first book, Cruise Confidential, at the link below as well as his other books. Brian will be back at a future date to discuss his time as an Art Auctioneer aboard the cruise ships, which is covered in his second book, Ship for Brains.

Please see the link below where to find Brian’s books:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cruise+confidential&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Lindeman Island, Australia in 2000/2001. His first season was at Club Med Chateau Royal-Noumea, New Caledonia in April of 1999 as a Circus G.O. Everyone, please help me give a big Aussie welcome to Luke “Casper” Murphy! Casper is originally from Maitland, New South Wales Australia and now lives in Sydney. Casper recounts a very funny story about his first night in Noumea involving him dressing in drag as Celine Dion and a trip to a local bar. He also tells us what it was like being a high-level gymnast before Club Med. We of course talk about our time in Lindeman Island and all the fun we had there. Casper even recounts a conversation he had with Liev Schrieber and Hugh Jackman on the set of 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which was filmed in Australia), where he was a WW1 extra. There is a Club Med, full-circle moment with this story, so you will just have to listen all the way to the end to find out. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

**You will hear a lot of talk of “VB” in this episode, and that is an Australian beer called VB, or, Victoria Bitter. We also mention the word, “Bush Chook” which is a bird native to Australia (or as Casper likes to call them, a purple-breasted swamp fowl or Australasian swamphen), which is like a bigger, uglier version of a pigeon. I issued a challenge to the Circus Team involving said Bush Chook and an obscene amount of beer.

My guest today and I worked together in what was her first season in Club Med Playa Blanca in 1996/1997. She was a Scuba G.O. and I was Landsports. Funny story…she didn’t like me! (I can respect that). I was a huge fan of hers though and we’ll get into that and more on this episode of “My First Season”. Listen as Dana tells us what it was like going from working as a Commercial Diver and Scuba Instructor in Key West, Florida to working in a big singles resort in Playa Blanca, Mexico. She also shares a hilarious horseback-riding story with us! Everyone, please give a warm welcome to Dana Winess!! 

**My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.