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Five years, 200-plus episodes, and one gloriously cringey comb-over later, the crew rewinds to episode one to grade their own baby-podcaster advice — a warm, self-roasting victory lap that proves the drink-of-the-day cup is still a $30 mistake.
What they covered
Topics on deck
Five-year anniversary
200+ episodes
Re-grading the original top 10
The comb-over origin video
Drink-of-the-day cup trap
Route 66 centennial
Chichén Itzá backpack ban
Powerball time travel
Don’t miss
Moments worth the wait
- The milestone framing — the crew marks half a decade of a show nobody expected to last.
“This show has been going on for five years, which is ridiculous. I don't know how that happened. And the longest-running thing we've ever done.”
- Comb-over cringe — rewatching Trevor's original comb-over video sends Tom into on-camera despair.
“You can see me physically die.”
- Tip #1 still holds — follow John Heald on Facebook; a callback that Heald once replied to their launch post, and lore that 20-plus cruise directors' favorite onboard meal turned out to be "a salad."
- The best surviving advice — the drink-of-the-day cup trap, still a rookie tax.
“Get the drink of the day, but don't buy the cup. The drink is $15, the cup is $15. That is a $30 drink.”
- Graded down to “just a task” — get your key card, download the HUB app, airplane mode — warm ribbing at their 2020 selves "still finding our voice."
- Tim finally pays out — the time-traveling correspondent coughs up his long-promised numbers.
“27 13 15 19 14 3 7 and the Pellball was 18.”
Golden nuggets
Running bits & lore born here
- Tim's time-travel powerball — the future-numbers saga finally delivers a set of digits for the anniversary.
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, again — the audiobook obsession mutates into "cruise crawler Steve."
- Trevor gets stalked — the recurring bit about being recognized (and gently followed) by fans onboard.
- The Route 66 thumbtack — the giant thumbtack photo op teed up for the highway's 100-year anniversary.
- Princess medallion / Infinity Gauntlet — the daydream of collecting medallions like Infinity Stones lives on.
- The “stays on YouTube” sign-off — the trademark close, fittingly aired on the milestone episode.