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Our Love For Travel
13 Plays2 months ago
🎧 Welcome to Thoughts For Rent — the podcast where real estate gets real (and local)!
Hosted by Jenni McKenna, a Las Vegas born and raised seasoned broker, and Owner of McKenna Property Management, this show is your inside look at what’s really happening in the Vegas property management and real estate world. With over 20 years of experience herself - Jenni brings not just knowledge, but heart to the conversation.
Whether we’re talking market trends, property tips, community happenings, or just the everyday quirks of Vegas living, this podcast is all about keeping you in the know.
💬 Real talk. Local stories. Professional insight – provided from a company who has their boots on the ground and hearts in the community.
In this episode, we talk about our love for traveling. We discuss some places we've been too, where we want to go, and what we think are some hot topic travel destinations.
McKenna Property Management, proudly managing Las Vegas homes since 2005 (and loving every minute of it).
Hit subscribe and comment down below to join the conversation! 💛
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Instagram: @mckennapropertymanagement
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Website: McKennaPropertyManagement.com
Phone: 702-434-HOME (4663)
Owner/Broker: Jenni McKenna B.29819
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Transcript
Introduction to Thoughts for Rent
00:00:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. It's Thoughts for Rent. Realtors keeping it real. I'm Max Zerfloo here with... Jenny McKenna. Man, and that's my wife. Can you believe that? Look at her.
00:00:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
You're gorgeous. You know that? Thank you. It's so fun being married to you. Let me tell you. Hey, we have our podcast that we talk about all kinds of stuff. Sometimes real estate related, sometimes not.
00:00:45
Irelynn Zurflueh
And today, it's a not.
Planning a Family Trip to Japan
00:00:47
Irelynn Zurflueh
Today we're going to talk about travel. Where have we been? Where are we going? Where do you want to go Where do people want to go? What what are what are great travel destinations?
00:00:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
You know, we we have plans to go to Japan. i know. i don't know why we're doing that. Honey, our love blossomed in Japan. I've already been there, done that. i don't know why we have to go again. If you know, you know, i was a translator on Disney on Ice in Japan and she was a skater on Disney on Ice and that's where we met And we started dating in Japan. So we're going to go back with our children, our adult children now.
00:01:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
And that should be very fun. It will be fun to a certain degree. We're not going to
Cultural Insights and Culinary Delights in Japan
00:01:29
Irelynn Zurflueh
be there in the summer. And when we met with Disney on Ice, it was the summer and it was very hot, very humid.
00:01:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
And of course, I was working. So that makes it a little different from a vacation standpoint. One thing I am excited about, I love when Max speaks Japanese. So speak a little Japanese for everybody.
00:01:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
that a yoo so thoughts for rent nor poo a yooso kiwa bokum max chau and jinnyangng I love it when he speaks Japanese. And I can't wait for the kids to see that his their dad is running around Japan speaking the language. I have not been to Japan for 33 years.
00:02:11
Irelynn Zurflueh
yeah That's crazy if you think about it. but So we talk about Japan, but that's not just something we're going to do. Japan is a huge travel destination for a lot of people right now. I know it is. yeah lot of people are going out there in April, May tends to be a really hot time for Japan because of the cherry blossoms and that sort of thing. But we're going to, we're going to cherry blossoms. We're going to do baseball. We go to a baseball game. We're going to go to an onsen, a hot springs.
00:02:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
We're going to chill out in Tokyo. We're going to to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. Yes. And you know what? Let's talk about those hot springs because. oh we're talking about that? yeah Yeah. When you were there in Japan, there's something interesting that one of my clients came back and said, some of them still have this rule.
00:02:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I never knew about this rule. But in Japan, tattoos are not as good. favorably looked upon, we should say? well What do they mean in Japan? I mean, I would say and that was 33 years ago. Has it changed? I don't know. But when I was there and probably now, ah usually the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia, have tattoos.
00:03:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
um Your standard or standard person might not and don't have that. So a lot of onsens actually don't allow tattoos. A lot of hats don't allow it. I know. And our kids are tattooed, two of the three.
00:03:26
Irelynn Zurflueh
So. You're just throwing that out there on the podcast here? They're there. If they ever meet them, they will see them. They're not hidden as all at all. And so I was telling Max, I go, oh my gosh, well, we're not going to be able to go.
00:03:38
Irelynn Zurflueh
Those guys may not be able to go to the hot springs. In fact, our new son-in-law. He has an entire arm sleeve of a tattoo and it's gorgeous. It's really cool. But are you telling me that they may not be able to go to some of these? I'm not telling
Memorable Childhood Travels and Family Reflections
00:03:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
you that. There are hot springs that recognize that ah people from foreign countries have tattoos and they allow it. I've already done some research on that.
00:04:02
Irelynn Zurflueh
Nice. we're also going to go shopping. We're going to go eat ramen. We're going eat sushi. We're going to tonkatsu, maybe some sukiyaki, maybe some okonomiyaki. I think it could be a problem for me. I think it's not going to be a problem for me because I hate sushi.
00:04:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
I do not want to eat sushi. When I was in Japan, I gained so much weight because everything I ate was my fast food. I met you in Japan and then I hadn't met your family yet.
00:04:28
Irelynn Zurflueh
Then apparently you came off the plane when you came back from Japan. I wasn't there at that airport. But your dad said you waddled off the plane. Yes, this is true. And the funny thing about it is i was actually a character on Disney on Ice that does a lot of waddling.
00:04:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
So the fact that they said that I waddled off the plane, they were kind of making double digs. the dig The dig that I was a character that waddled. And also, and by the way, I had a great waddle on ice.
00:04:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
I have no problem with your waddle. My waddle was absolutely world class. But then the waddling off of the plane meant that I had gained some weight. And they were right. Because what are those things that I used to buy in the 7-Eleven store that were sweet?
00:05:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
yeah Kind of the brown exterior. Yeah. A type of sushi, which you say you hate. But as you're talking about Inari. But the outside was really kind of sugary. Yeah, you deep fried bean curd pocket that's also made with sugar and other stuff.
00:05:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
Packed with rice. those You think those are fattening? I didn't think they were fattening. I actually bought them thinking that they weren't fattening because, you know, when you are an entertainer, you have to keep the weight where they want you to keep it.
00:05:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
So I thought I was doing a great thing by going to 7-Eleven and purchasing those every morning. Come to find out, they are just well very fattening. Well, your children love those, but... and Well, they can keep eating them. But at this point. i mean that's I don't want this whole podcast to be about Japan. oh it very well could be. And 7-Elevens in Japan have, it's like an experience in and of itself with treats and sushis and different foods.
00:05:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
I just can't wait. can you Not to mention your roadside vending machine with all the drinks and Cokes and beers and sake and everything you want. It's an amazing place. Can't wait to I'm sure it will have a different feel going at 33 years later.
00:06:15
Irelynn Zurflueh
i'm sure that with my kids it will be super fun. It's not my um thing that I wanted to go do. I'm sacrificing for my kids. This podcast isn't about whether you want to go to Japan not. Perfect. Well, I let everybody know that and then we can report back after we go. You feel the need to disclose that to the world?
00:06:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
I do. You don't want to go? Okay. Fully disclosed.
Exploring Iceland and Future Destinations
00:06:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
But I started traveling when I was like five or six. My mother took my brother and I and moved to Iran. So I lived in Iran. I lived in Italy. I lived in all kinds of different places. And I moved to Japan when I was 12 or 13. So I've been traveling my whole life. When Jenny and I got married...
00:06:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
We made sure travel remained a big part of our life. And now it is a huge part of our life. We travel a lot. But i'm I'm kind of interested to see what destinations you think people are traveling to a lot now. And not just us, but who do you what do you think are hot destinations for people?
00:07:03
Irelynn Zurflueh
Hot destination is Japan. Everybody that I know is going to Japan. Well, you don't get that one. That's the easy answer. We just talked about that one. Oh, I have to get another one. Let's get another one. I would say another one would be Iceland.
00:07:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
Everybody seems to be talking about Iceland. Yeah. um I have wanted to go. It's a lot of hiking, though, and I know you don't like the hiking part. So it may not be something that you and I will go to because of... Is it a lot of hiking?
00:07:27
Irelynn Zurflueh
That's what everybody goes to Iceland and they talk about all these amazing hikes that they go on And you want to see Aurora Borealis? Is that a place? Yeah, that would be fun. But there is a chance you can go there and never see that.
00:07:38
Irelynn Zurflueh
I've seen it though, sir. Yeah, you have. You've seen everything. I've seen everything. But i saw the Northern Lights in Alaska when I was there. The best story that Max has, and I want him to share it because it's so cool.
00:07:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
Tell him the story about when you were in Ireland and where you slept one night. When I was about seven, we were visiting friends in... I think Dublin. i hope I don't get it wrong.
00:08:02
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then my parents at the time, they're still my parents. I don't know why I said that. Wait, did you trade them in or something? ah My parents and my brother and I, along with ah ah an Irish couple that were friends, we rented a horse-drawn carriage.
00:08:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
I like to call it a gypsy wagon. I forgot what it was called in Ireland. though Anyway, it's a gypsy wagon. You actually travel the countryside in the... singular horse drawn carriage our horse's name was rosie i recall and uh it was amazing we we would stop at a farm and sleep on the in the barn or we stopped at a castle one night and slept in the castle they built there's a huge fireplace that that we actually all moved we moved into the fireplace and had a picnic on the fireplace floor of this castle
00:08:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
That's the story that always resonates with me is that being able to sleep in a fireplace. Not many people can say that. And because Max likes to touch this table, you'll shake a little bit. That's Max's fault. That shakes the video? It sure does.
00:09:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
um But I did want to say that because you had that story and it always was something that I thought was so cool, we did it with our kids. And it was probably one of the, for me, the funnest memories ah for travel with the family.
00:09:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
It was an amazing trip. It was very fun. And the kids were young too. They were, I mean, Kai was probably only six at the time. about my age when I did it. It's about eight. Oh, maybe eight. That's the thing. you You go on a trip that you you did when you were a kid and then you go and you're the adult.
00:09:36
Irelynn Zurflueh
It gives you a whole different perspective and you get a whole different idea about what you're doing, you know? Well, I also wondered, cause you know, obviously we copied this based upon Max's trip and fan scene.
00:09:48
Irelynn Zurflueh
all that fun stuff. And when we were in this gypsy wagon, we were on a main road, a main thoroughfare. And there were lumber trucks just going right past us. Big old trucks.
00:10:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
Big old trucks. And I looked at Max and I'm like, do you remember this happening when you were doing this? I did not. He did not. Also, you do that in a country like Ireland. and They go, okay, here's your horse and a carriage and say, here's your map. We'll see you there in a couple days.
00:10:15
Irelynn Zurflueh
They just wouldn't do that in America. I don't think you could accomplish that. No, and that's also... There'd be liability issues and... Gotta sign your life away. Can't do that. well And it was proven when we first got into Ireland, we went to a carnival and part of the carnival, they had those blow up slides where you just bounce on them and then slide down. yeah well okay.
00:10:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
because I've been in America, whenever you do that, they will have too. And our kids, they would make you sign a waiver that, you know, if your kids get hurt, it's not their fault. You're not going to sue them. Go down on your bottom, first. on your bottom, nothing else, blah, blah. So my kids show up, my kids, look at that.
00:10:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
Our kids showed up at this particular slide and they're ready to get the instructions. They're ready for signatures. I'm ready to figure out what we need to do. And the little girl at the bottom is like, yeah, just go.
00:11:04
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, actually, one of the kids said, i don't if was Kai or Ireland or China, but one of them said, so do we have to go down to our bottom or what's the rules? And she goes, oh, there's no rules. No rules. And they had the time yeah of their life. They were jumping from the top and like just Superman in it and going down three at a time. But it was really fun. But Ireland was a great place to go with your family as well. Because, you know, not only was the countryside cool and you can go to the the Blarney Castle and Cork and the different countrysides. We went to Clifton and a few places on the the west coast of Ireland.
00:11:38
Irelynn Zurflueh
But then when you go into Dublin, The culture is great. We stayed at a hotel, what used to be an old schoolhouse. Remember that? That was wonderful. And it was right next to the locks and the canals were going through the city. It's a really good place to go. and And some countries really welcome kids and make it really nice to travel with kids. And I think Ireland for us was one of the best.
00:11:56
Irelynn Zurflueh
I would agree. If you have the younger kids and you want to show um a little bit of outside of the United States, definitely I would recommend Ireland. And it's just over the pond. Just over the pond.
00:12:08
Irelynn Zurflueh
Correct. Later, when they were adults, we went to Scotland with them That was fun. too Yes, but I wouldn't think that Scotland is his kid-friendly. That's just my guess. they were older They were older. They were adults when we went to Scotland, but I just didn't see a lot of kid-friendly atmosphere, at least in Isenborough. were there with as adults, so maybe that means... It's Edinburgh. I always say it wrong, but it's Edinburgh.
00:12:30
Irelynn Zurflueh
Edinburgh, Scotland. I will never forget the word Edinburgh because my friend Niwa, who's Japanese who I grew up with, he studied in Edinburgh. Oh, my and And he always, when he pronounced Edinburgh, the Japanese way to say Edinburgh is Ejimbala.
00:12:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
So it's kind of different. But anyway, it always makes me, that's why Edinburgh's got a place in my heart. But I think Scotland was cool with kids. I think most of Europe, I think they kind of accept kids a little differently than they do in America. It's a little different approach.
00:12:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
They kind of let the kids join in most of the stuff. and maybe that's not the case in America. Yeah, I do. I think that America kind of tends to say, um right, children need to be children and they don't necessarily interact with like a long yeah dinner. But in Italy, it was if you were going to a dinner that takes three hours, the kids are coming and the kids just learn how to to deal with it.
00:13:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah, and well, nowadays everybody just has an iPad and sits and watches it. watch Yeah, but I don't really think we have culture of a three-hour dinner. I don't think that that's really, that's not really in the American culture. and if we did, it's moving way away from that. You know, yeah us as parents, we didn't allow phones or iPads at dinners in restaurants or anywhere else.
00:13:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
We were right on the cusp of they weren they weren't really 100% accessible. That's true. Yeah. So we we were kind of, the kids had to sit there and actually entertain themselves. So we've gone, obviously been in Asia. I've been to Hong Kong and Korea and some of those places. I spent time in Australia and New Zealand.
00:14:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
lot of times because of work, because of the ice show work. But then you and i we've been traveling a lot to the Caribbean lately. sort of a more sort of relaxing vacations. But I think we'll, we'll probably start delving into some more adventuresome stuff.
00:14:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
We loved our river cruise. We went on that river cruise that stopped at many ports that gave us not only Germany, but also gave us France, uh, the opportunity to look at all of that. There's so much history in Europe. I mean, we it really makes you understand that the United States is nothing but a baby.
00:14:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
She's a pup. Because when you go over to Europe and and you're looking at ah ah building, I mean, a building that is like in the fourteen hundred And they still think that's relatively newer. That's really new. I looked at it and I went, oh my gosh, this is built 1400.
00:14:46
Irelynn Zurflueh
I like in England and Scotland and where the houses have names. Different pretty cool. Yes. They got their address, I assume, but each one has a little sign in front. It says the cottage or the rose cottage. Yes. So that's cool.
00:14:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
But Dubai, I want to go to Dubai. Yeah, I could pass on that one.
00:15:03
Irelynn Zurflueh
Thailand. i want to go to Thailand. If you take me to an elephant reserve, you might get me there. Preserve or reserve? I think it's called a reserve, but it could be a preserve. It's where you go and it's like a sanctuary for elephants. So let's call it that. What if I took you to like a nice luxurious spa in Thailand?
00:15:23
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. If you get me to the elephant. You know, the last episode of White What's it called? White Lotus. White Lotus. I was in Thailand. Yeah. So I'd like to go to Thailand sometime. I'd like to go to Dubai, check out some of those places.
00:15:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
But as far as the places I've been to, I'd like to go back to probably Australia, and New Zealand, and check those places out again. And
Cruising as a Lifestyle Choice
00:15:39
Irelynn Zurflueh
I do want to go to Australia, and New Zealand. It's a short flight. i could yeah Oh my gosh, I know. You could definitely have a travel partner if we go to Australia, and New Zealand.
00:15:48
Irelynn Zurflueh
A lot of my clients I've been talking to lately, and maybe it's the age group that I'm talking to, it seems like cruises are huge right now. I know. I think the same thing. don't, it's like everybody's doing them I know after COVID, right? Because the cruise, the cruise market was in jeopardy during COVID.
00:16:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I was really worried that, um, that was just going to go away. Poof gone. Yeah. It's just the opposite. It's the absolute opposite. They're building bigger ships. The marketing rapidly, rapidly, exactly. And the entertainment is definitely family oriented And they're making it Except the late night comedian guy.
00:16:25
Irelynn Zurflueh
He's not family court. Obviously not. But like they've got the slides and they've got the zip lines and they've got the excursions that are all family oriented. So no, they are definitely hitting the family market for that.
00:16:36
Irelynn Zurflueh
It just feels like Americans... And probably Europeans and Asians and all other parts of the world are just going on a lot of cruises. Okay, well, let's think about this. We've been on a few in the last couple years. Sure.
00:16:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
I don't really recall a lot of foreign language. oh No, I saw a lot of people. Did you? Because I think it was a lot of Canadians and a lot of Americans. That's what I noticed. The whole gamut i I ran into. And obviously, there's the Costa Cruise Line, which is a subsidiary of Carnival.
00:17:08
Irelynn Zurflueh
They're all over Europe. Yeah. So anyway, i think I think the world is cruising right now. And I think it's because it's so, everything's right there. have a fun story for you. You do? So I have a client that I met at his house to kind of discuss what we're going to do to get the property in rent-ready condition.
00:17:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
And he could only meet me on that day because the next day he was going to go to the Panama Canal. He was going through the Panama Canal. on a cruise. Through the locks.
00:17:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
Through the locks. So I said to him, oh, my husband's always talked about the Panama Canal and he wants to go. And so how let when you get back, let me know about this cruise. And he goes, oh Jenny, I basically live on cruises. I said, what do you mean? And he said, it's actually a really inexpensive way to do it.
00:17:52
Irelynn Zurflueh
He likes to gamble on the cruises. So he gets cruise credit. And then on the cruise credit, he literally can book another cruise and it's free. It's insane. Then he was telling me that his cruise credits on some of his cruise lines can actually be transferred for more cruise credit on another cruise line.
00:18:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
Or a casino in Vegas. i They cooperate with cruises too. Well, he's not even loyal to one cruise line. What if he loses the gambling? It costs him a little bit more then, huh? I did not ask him any of that.
00:18:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
But then I did read an article about a year ago that said that some retirees actually find it less expensive to just cruise every week i heard because of the fact that everything is so expensive right now. And the food is all included.
00:18:39
Irelynn Zurflueh
Everything's included. Your entertainment's included. Your obviously room and board's included. So it's all there. It's kind of interesting.
Impact of Grandparenthood on Travel Plans
00:18:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, I say the cruise thing is hopping. I don't know if the stocks are going up, but it's hopping.
00:18:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
yeah And we're looking forward to our next cruise. January. Star of the Seas. Yes. It was supposed to be in October. We were supposed to go in October, but we can't go in October. Why is that, Max?
00:19:02
Irelynn Zurflueh
I thought you weren't supposed make these dates specific. We're going to break that rule. I'm just excited. We can't go in October because we're going to become grandparents in October. First time. But I think we announced that. I'm going to announce it every day because I am so excited that I get to be an Oma and hopefully fingers crossed, everything goes good, but that'll be sometime in October. Yes. Oma Jenny, Grandpa Max.
00:19:25
Irelynn Zurflueh
October, 2025. So exciting. That'll be something else.
Conclusion: The Importance of Cultural Appreciation
00:19:29
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, anyways, Hey, I think we've talked about a lot of different locations and you know what the important, the impressive thing is we've barely touched the surface of the different places you could go in this world.
00:19:39
Irelynn Zurflueh
It's a big world and there's lot of different places to go. And boy, if I could tell you anything, it would be to travel. Go out there and see the world and just experience it because it's out there for us.
00:19:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
Experience a different culture. And then sometimes you'll really come back and appreciate America too. Amen to that. Amen to that. yep Hey, that's Thoughts for Rent. Realtors keeping it real, talking about travel today and looking forward to future travel and always reminiscing about past travel.
00:20:08
Irelynn Zurflueh
That's also great. You sit on the table with your family and talk about the places you've been. It's memories. creates memories. So don't forget, you're the person who pushes the button. So get ready to do that. I'm ready. It's been great talking to you. We'll see you next time on Thoughts for Rent.
00:20:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
Keeping it real.