🎙️ Episode Summary: Adam Rowe’s India Bike Ride

📣 Ari Shaffir’s Announcement

• Ari is recording the final season of Ari Shaffir’s Renamed Storytelling Show before retiring the show permanently.
• Shows are scheduled for April 20, 21, and 22 in New York City. The lineups will remain secret.
• Tickets are available through Ari’s website. The presale starts Tuesday at noon with promo code ARI; the general sale date was uncertain.
• Ticket-holder ID must match the name on the purchase to prevent scalping. Attend only one show per night so the audience stays energized. Dressing up is optional.

🚴 Adam Rowe’s Charity Trip

• British comedian Adam Rowe joined friends and fellow comics on a cycling fundraiser in November 2024 for Zoe’s Place, a Liverpool hospice caring for babies and children with serious or life-limiting conditions.
• The group cycled roughly 450 km (about 280–300 miles) over six days, from Agra to Jaipur, after flying into New Delhi. They also filmed material for their podcast.
• Rowe said the trip was exhausting but memorable—and that he was glad he went, though he has no plans to return.

🇮🇳 What the Trip Was Like

• Road cycling was challenging and sometimes dangerous: traffic was chaotic, roads could be steep or narrow, and drivers often used horns to signal their presence. Curious passersby sometimes stopped to film the group, occasionally disrupting the cyclists.
• Poverty and wealth existed side by side. Rowe described children in rural villages warmly greeting the cyclists, and contrasted the hardship he saw with the luxury of a five-star hotel near New Delhi’s airport.
• At a school visit, a head teacher shared a moving message: teaching children practical skills matters, but so does teaching them how to find happiness despite having very little.
• Rowe described India as striking and perspective-changing, while also speaking about pollution, harassment and the difficulties women may face traveling alone. These were his personal observations, not a guide to every part of the country.
• One local explained that “Namaste” is a broadly appropriate greeting, while “Ram Ram” is associated with a particular religious community and may not be welcomed by everyone.

🍛 Food, Lodging and Practical Lessons

• The group was advised to avoid meat because they could not know how it had been handled. Meals were often curry-based—even the pizza and sides at one restaurant, to the group’s surprise.
• One traveler who repeatedly ate chicken became seriously ill with vomiting and diarrhea.
• Rowe’s practical advice: carry toilet paper and wet wipes. Some bathrooms on the route were basic, and he encountered a school toilet full of spiders.
• Their final hotel near the airport was unexpectedly luxurious and affordable, highlighting the sharp contrast in living conditions he observed during the trip.

🐅 Other Trip Highlights

• A pre-dawn tiger safari lasted several hours, but Rowe’s group didn’t see any tigers; they mostly saw monkeys and other animals.
• Monkeys were bold around people and food, including one that took a can of Fanta and poured it out before licking it from the ground.
• The ride ended with a celebration in Jaipur, followed by a punishing nine-hour bus trip back to New Delhi after the air conditioning broke.

✈️ Rowe’s Travel Advice

• Get comfortable traveling alone. If you always wait for someone else’s schedule, interests or availability, you may miss places you want to see.
• Try dining alone or exploring independently in a familiar setting first; traveling solo can make it easier to follow your own pace and plans.
• Rowe would like to visit South America, parts of Asia such as Thailand or the Philippines, and Bora Bora. After visiting Australia, he felt its long travel time wasn’t worth it for him personally.

🌿 Ari’s Recommendation

• Ari recommends AllTrails for finding hikes by difficulty, length, route type, dog-friendliness and other features.
• On a hike, he suggests putting your phone in airplane mode if you need it for navigation, and writing down thoughts or reminders on paper to deal with after the hike.