Before we had committed to Taos, I wrote into our favorite podcast, Too Beautiful to Live, asking for their advice on which location to choose. They’ve finally responded, and their perception of Taos is hilarious and entirely false!
Here’s a transcription of their conversation.
~~~
Luke: Hey, we’ve got to thank Aisha and Cameron Little who are…
Andrew: …living that #vanlife.
Luke: Aisha and Cameron say “we’ve been on the road close to a year trying to figure out where to live. Luke and Andrew, please share your opinions about the following top contenders.”
Andrew: Oh this sounds like we won’t get into any trouble with this.
Luke: No.
Andrew: Just ranking cities.
Luke: Right? Taos, New Mexico – I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think I’ve been to Taos, New Mexico.
Andrew: No, me either.
Luke: I’ve heard it’s lovely. Wenatchee, Washington – the apple capital of America. I have been to Wenatchee, Washington and I quite enjoyed it. Beautiful country out there. Missoula, Montana, where my dad, Walt Burbank went to Hellgate High School. An incredible name for a high school if you ask me.
Andrew: No kidding.
Luke: Missoula is absolutely gorgeous and what’s cool about Missoula is you’ve got the University of Montana there so you have kind of a small town feel but you’ve got a lot of culture going on. You’ve got a lot of interesting events, you’ve got, you know – towns that have a college usually have that sort of vibe going on which is fun.
Andrew: Mmm hmm.
Luke: Bend, Oregon. Well…
Andrew: That’s the only place I’ve been on this list.
Luke: You may have to keep living in the van is all I can say because Bend is really a town that has, particularly in the pandemic – everything that I hear is that the real estate prices there are quite something.
Andrew: Mmm hmm
Luke: But I don’t know Aisha and Cameron’s finances. I know that they’re dazzling donors so you know, maybe they got Bend bucks. People love it. It’s beautiful. Then Carson City, Nevada. Ok, that came out of left field.
Andrew: Yeah, I guess that is a little bit different, but I don’t know what Taos, New Mexico is. But Carson City I picture – do they have a big cowboy sign?
Luke: No, that’s Reno. Well, the big cowboy sign is in Old Vegas.
Andrew: Yeah. I guess I’m thinking Reno. Yeah.
Luke: It’s the old strip. I think it used to be associated with like Binion’s Horseshoe or something.
Andrew: But Carson City I think of cowboys. No?
Luke: Well Carson City is the capital of the State of Nevada…
Andrew: Mmm hmm.
Luke: …so it’s got that going for it. I can’t say that I’ve been to Carson City. Now the thing I’ll say about Taos – Taos is quite beloved and I know is a playground for the rich and famous. A lot of people move to Taos when they have the means to, so my guess would be Taos, not unlike Bend, is beautiful and cool but also…
Andrew: Oomph yes. Wow, I’m looking at photos.
Luke: …but also pretty, umm, you know. Again, one of those kind of like, umm, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. One of those places where you got a small town and many of the people who work in the town can’t live in the town because you’ve got all the Gwyneth Paltrows of the world, you know, flying in and enjoying the beauty of the town. That’s the sense I have about Taos having never been there.
Andrew: Hmm.
Luke: Bend has a little bit of that going. I have none of that sense for Carson City, Nevada, which is a good thing. Maybe Carson City, maybe you can get in on the ground floor of Carson City. You know, before it becomes the next Taos.
Andrew: Mmm hmm. I’m going to go just by how the names sound, which is I think how Aisha and Cameron would probably appreciate us doing this. And I think it’s down to Wenatchee, Washington or Missoula, Montana.
Luke: Hmm, alliterative.
Andrew: Just because – you have alliteration, but also Wenatchee and Missoula – those are fun to say!
Luke: Yeah, they are. I’ve cross country skied in Missoula and had a really nice time there. I really, I enjoy that city greatly.
…
Luke: Anyway, Aisha and Cameron, let us know where you land and what you decide.
Andrew: Yeah. They do have one last note here.
Luke: Yes.
Andrew: “TBTL has been with us all around the country. Thanks for all the banal content.”
Luke: Hey, come on now.
Andrew: I thought you were going to criticize the way I say ‘banal.’ Is that a word that you can say two ways?
Luke: Well I say ‘bah-nall’ but I don’t think that’s right.
Andrew: Banal!
Luke: Let’s call the whole thing off.
~~~
If you care to hear the whole thing, you can find it starting at minute 50 in episode #3921, “Wackadoos and Whackadont’s.”
It’s a great podcast, but I’d only recommend it if you need 5-10 hours of time each week to fill your ear holes with disposable media.
No comments:
Post a Comment