What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

When I was a kid, I don’t think I knew anyone who had an actual security system in their home.It just wasn’t heard of. I’m sure they existed, but really, for most typical middle-class families, you just didn’t think a lot about someone breaking into your home.And we certainly never had the concept of a home invasion – you know, someone coming right through the front door, while you’re home and awake, with plans of theft or even violence.But these days, if there’s a knock on the door, everyone’s suddenly on high alert. Who’s at the door? In our house, we have the doorbell camera and we also have cameras all around the house. Because answering the door – literally opening the door to your house, to a stranger – can be a really dangerous thing to do.Annie knows this. As a young woman, she was home alone in her new place, and she heard someone knocking.She opened the door, and immediately regretted it.If you are a victim, you can contact RAINN 24/7 (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): 800-656-4673. Or you can chat with someone directly from their website – https://RAINN.orgYou can read Annie’s Victim Impact Statement here.Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/171Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.Try What Was That Like PLUS free:iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any appSponsor deals:Get 15% off OneSkin with the code WHATWAS at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpodCancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every Tuesday, Scott and Meredith grab a past Tuesday Question from the Facebook group and answer it, and also talk about some answers submitted by listeners.The question for this episode:If you could make yourself twice as attractive, OR twice as intelligent, what would you choose?To check out the new Tuesday Question and get in the discussion, join us at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.Sponsor deals:Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to Seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever had one of those moments in your life where your life just changed dramatically?Like, your life is suddenly divided into two chapters – before that moment, and after that moment.Well, that’s the kind of moment Justin had.Justin was adopted the day after he was born. So he never knew his birth mother. He was adopted immediately into a loving family who gave him a wonderful childhood and a great start in life.He always wondered about his birth mother, and he searched and searched for her. And at the same time, she was wondering about him, and hoping they would eventually connect again.Then, they finally found each other. This is the story of how that happened.And partway through our conversation, I surprised Justin with something. I love that part.This is a Flashback episode, and Justin told this story here on the podcast way back in episode #4. A LOT has happened with Justin since then, and you’ll hear him talk all about that right after our conversation.Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/170Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.Try What Was That Like PLUS free:iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any appSponsor deals:Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to Seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every Tuesday, we grab a past question from the Facebook group, then Meredith and Scott answer it and read some of the answers given by other listeners.The question for this episode:You just made a donation to your favorite cause (money or volunteer time) - what is that cause?To check out the new Tuesday Question and get in the discussion, join us at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.Sponsor deals:Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you know how you would react, in an emergency situation?The first time I remember being put to the test with something like this is when I was 18 years old. I was just driving, by myself, on a sort of rural road here in Florida one morning. And as I drove down this road, I could see something odd up in the distance. It was a car, off the road – and it was upside down.Probably most of us have approached accident scenes like this. You’ll see one or two cars that have obviously crashed into each other, and you see fire trucks, and police cars, and probably an ambulance or two, to take care of the injured people.But as I approached this upside-down car, there was none of that. No emergency vehicles, no one walking around, just no activity at all. So, as I pulled over and got out of my car, I kind of assumed that this must have just happened. And 18-year-old me was thinking, I’m probably going to go over to this car, and find dead people inside. Or, people that might be still alive but they’re badly injured. And this was before cell phones so I couldn’t just call it in.I walked over to the car and got down on my hands and knees and looked inside. And I was happy to find that there was no one in that car. Whoever was driving had apparently already left the scene. And a few minutes later, a state trooper rolled up. He told me that someone else had called it in an hour or so earlier, so he was there to check it out and make a report.There were a lot of people who saw that car and just kept driving. And I get that – seeing or dealing with a potentially traumatic situation is not for everyone. Honestly I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with it either.My guest today, Jonathan, was put into an emergency situation like that once. He was the passenger in a moving car when he noticed that the driver, his cousin Paul, had passed out. They were gaining speed.And up ahead were pedestrians.Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/169Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.Try What Was That Like PLUS free:iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any appSponsor deals:Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to Seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every Tuesday, we grab a past question from the Facebook group, then Meredith and I answer it and read some of the answers given by other listeners.The question for this episode:If you had one “do-over” what past event would you spend it on?To check out the new Tuesday Question and get in the discussion, join us at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.Sponsor deals:Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a quick episode to let you know that starting Tuesday, March 5, 2024 – we’ll be doing the weekly Tuesday Question episodes.Every week in the Facebook group, we have a new thought-provoking question. These questions always generate a lot of great discussion, and this weekly post has become very popular.Now, every Tuesday Scott Johnson (host of What Was That Like) and Meredith Hackwith Edwards (host of Meredith For Real: The Curious Introvert) will pick a question from the archives and give their answers, and discuss some of the answers given by other listeners.This is discussion that’s designed to make you think!The weekly Tuesday Question episodes are in addition to the regular podcast episodes – the What Was That Like podcast episode schedule will continue bi-weekly as it has for over 5 years.To check out the new Tuesday Question and get in the discussion, join us at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.Sponsor deals:Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a little different from the norm.Usually we talk to someone who has experienced something really unusual. But every once in a while, I like to have a guest on who has an unusual job – a job that I find really interesting and have lots of questions about.So that’s what we’re doing here today. My guest is Julie – she works as a hospice nurse. She’s been doing this for many years, so she has lots of information, and lots of stories.Every one of us is unique as an individual, but we all have something in common – we are all going to die eventually. And in some cases, we might get a medical diagnosis that says we have a certain number of weeks or months left before that happens. Of course, it’s usually just a rough guess and not always accurate. But still, it’s a sobering thing to have a medical professional tell you that there are no more treatment options, and you’re probably approaching the end of your life.That’s often when hospice care enters the picture. So Julie told me all about that and what she does as a hospice nurse.And there was something I also found very interesting that Julie told me, about herself. She has a very specific fear – and it’s not one that I would have guessed, based on the type of work she does.Julie has a fear of dead people.If you’d like to contact Julie, her email is: justjulie63@gmail.com. She’s also in the Facebook group, where you should be too!Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/168Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.Try What Was That Like PLUS free:iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals:Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to Seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You ever watch a video on YouTube, or TikTok, and it shows someone walking right on the edge at the top of a very tall building?Or maybe they’re right at the edge of a cliff with a steep drop off, and they’re doing flips or some stupid thing, just to get views and show how fearless they are.Every time I see one of those, I get this weird feeling in my gut because I think about the risk that they’re taking, and the horrifying outcome if they make just one little mistake.I wasn’t always afraid of heights. As a kid, I was on the roof of our house all the time. But as an adult I fell off a roof, and since then – I avoid high places.That’s why I’ll most likely never go hang gliding. It actually does look like it would be an incredible experience, just flying silently through the air. But my mind would always go back to the thought of what could go wrong, and that kind of destroys the moment.My guest in this episode, Chris, went hang gliding and he found out exactly what could go wrong. It was his first time, and he was flying with an experienced hang gliding pilot. When they took flight, Chris realized he was not strapped in – his pilot had forgotten to attach him to the hang glider.This is a Flashback episode. Chris originally told this story a few years back here on the podcast, so after you hear his story I’ll play a recent conversation I had with him so you can hear what’s happened since then. And I asked him – have you ever gone hang gliding again?And hang around to the end, because I’ve recently discovered a podcast that I think you’ll really enjoy.The video of Chris hang gliding unattached -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLBJA8SlH2wYou can get Chris’s book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Day-Fall-Chris-Gursky/dp/B0CFZQRSWJ/ref=sr_1_1Check out the Birth As We Know It podcast at KionaNessenbaum.comFull show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/167Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.Try What Was That Like PLUS free:iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any appSponsor deals:This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to Seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are some people whose dream is to live on a boat and just spend their life sailing around the world.In fact, there’s a company called Villa Vie that’s hoping a LOT of people want to do that. They have a cruise ship that holds 924 passengers, and they’re offering a never-ending cruise that goes around the world every 3 ½ years. You can actually buy one of the cabins – starting for as little as $100k. And you own that cabin! Kind of like a floating time share I guess. But you also have monthly maintenance fees – that’s $3500 per month. So far, more than 30 people have put down a deposit to purchase a cabin.I’ve gone on a few cruises, and it can be a great way to vacation. But I don’t think I’d want to spend years living on a cruise ship. Like most things, spending time at sea is wonderful, but in moderation.Today you’ll hear from my guest, Suzanne. When she was just 7 years old, she and her family got on a large sailboat and sailed away from their home in England. What she didn’t expect was to spend the rest of her childhood there.Suzanne told me about growing up on a boat, the good and the bad, and how she finally escaped.Suzanne’s book:Wavewalker: A Memoir of Breaking FreeFull show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/166Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.Try What Was That Like PLUS free:iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any appSponsor deals:This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self.Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.Go to Seed.com/WHAT and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.Go to rakuten.com or get the Rakuten app to start saving today!To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices