Ep. 594: Try Becoming a Fan, Plus Tips for Dealing with Travel Bores

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Lemonada Media

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Education

4.7 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Becoming a fan—of sports or anything—can improve your happiness. We share listener tips for dealing with people who share every boring detail of their latest trip. Episode highlights: Try This at Home: Become a fan— Research shows that fandom reduces loneliness and gives your life more structure, connection, and ritual [04:37] Happiness Hack: Cross off the common denominator—When you're anxious about a decision, ask yourself: does this worry apply to every option? [14:45] Listener strategies for dealing with travel bores: How to redirect the conversation and ask targeted questions that make travel stories actually interesting. [17:41] Demerits & Gold Stars: Elizabeth's demerit: return timing regret; Gretchen's gold star: a perfect souvenir find. [25:03] Mentioned in this Episode: "Why Watching Sports Makes People Happy" — Time Magazine Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer by Warren St. John (Amazon, Bookshop) There's Only One Sin in Hollywood by Rasheed Newson (Amazon, Bookshop) The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (Amazon, Bookshop) Summer Bingo card + Design Your Summer tool — Happier App Connect with Us: Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com Website: gretchenrubin.com Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft Take the free Four Tendencies quiz Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify — it helps other listeners find the show! Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Lemonada.
0:05.7	You can focus on exercise, nutrition, all the things you're supposed to do for your health,
0:10.6	but if you are not sleeping well, it is very hard to feel refreshed.
0:15.5	Especially when you wake up overheated in the middle of the night, that completely affects my sleep, which is why I love
0:22.7	the chili pad 2.0 by Sleep Me. It is a water-based mattress topper that controls your sleep
0:28.8	temperature and works with your existing mattress. And if one person sleeps hot and the other
0:34.2	sleeps cold, and that's Adam and me. Each side can have its own temperature
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0:53.0	with code Gretchen. This special offer is available for happier listeners and only for a limited time.
0:59.0	Order it today with free shipping and try it out for 30 days. You can return it for free if you don't like it with their sleep trial.
1:06.0	Visit www.sleep.m.m.m.m-Sachin, and see why cold sleep is your ultimate ally in performance
1:15.5	and recovery. Some books change your life, and the body keeps the score with that book for me.
1:22.0	As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself.
1:27.4	The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know.
1:30.5	And that takes an enormous amount of courage.
1:33.4	It was eye-opening, hearing how traumatic experiences leave scars on us.
1:37.9	It's really changed how I understand people in relationships.
1:41.0	Life changes when you listen.
1:42.7	The body keeps the score by Bessel van der Koke. Now on
1:45.9	Spotify. Hello and welcome to Happier, a podcast that gives you ideas for how to be happier.
1:57.6	This week, we'll talk about why, if you're not a sports fan already, you might consider
	...

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