On this year's Christmas Spectacular episode of Out of Office: A Travel Podcast, Kiernan and Ryan hang up their socks and trade merry greetings. They discuss the official death of the Ugly Ornament Competition, the history of British Christmas crackers (no, they're not crackers), and their favorite Christmas tunes (including a Ryan original).. And for the Anglophiles out there, the boys sing the praises of one of the US's best importers of British goods, happily located right in Acton, MA.

Things we talked about in today's podcast:

The Bee's Knees British Imports
https://www.thebeeskneesbritishimports.com/

V&A Museum history of Christmas crackers
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-christmas-cracker?srsltid=AfmBOopqIG_oE9tXOOtQdsUnnRHXaOH8bPLkOiNC52C9XAlXv0hzY_Kf

"Have Yourself an Out of Office Christmas"
https://www.mureka.ai/song-detail/WX3PuAjGnrbg8mx41mThs2?is_from_share=1

"Scrooge" from the Muppets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULaNvmjZWxg

This week, The Boys unwrap their favorite book picks for the holiday season — from globe-trotting history to wild presidential tales to the secret life of gas stations in the American South. They also dig into new national park surcharges for foreign visitors.

The Books:

"Lafayette in the Somewhat United States" by Sarah Vowell — https://www.amazon.com/Lafayette-Somewhat-United-States-Vowell/dp/0399573100 Amazon+1

"Bolívar: American Liberator" by Marie Arana — https://www.amazon.com/Bol%C3%ADvar-American-Liberator-Marie-Arana/dp/006073509X

"The Magician" by Colm Tóibín — https://www.amazon.com/Magician-Novel-Colm-T%C3%B3ib%C3%ADn/dp/0307952879

"Wilderness Warrior: TR and the Crusade for America" by Douglas Brinkley — https://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Warrior-Crusade-American-Brinkley/dp/0066210372

"Rightful Heritage: FDR and the Land for America" by Douglas Brinkley — https://www.amazon.com/Rightful-Heritage-America-Douglas-Brinkley/dp/0812980040

"Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation's Leaders" by Brady Carlson — https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Presidents-American-Surprising-Leaders/dp/1631493952

On this episode of "Out of Office: A Travel Podcast," Kiernan talks to Richard Stone, author of "Project Mayflower."

Things we discussed on today's episode:

"Project Mayflower" book

https://bookshop.org/p/books/project-mayflower-building-and-sailing-a-seventeenth-century-replica-richard-a-stone/a3f94ee44f9babb4?ean=9781493084364&next=t&next=t&affiliate=books

Plimoth Patuxet Museums

https://plimoth.org/

Plymouth Rock

https://seeplymouth.com/listing/plymouth-rock/

Pilgrim Hall Museum

https://www.pilgrimhall.org/

Sail250

https://www.sailboston.com/sail250/

Green-Wood Cemetery New Yorker article

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/green-wood-cemeterys-living-dead