Michigan Writing Retreat, Snowmobile Plans & Dream Travel Destinations

Recorded in January 2022, Henrique Couto asks listeners where they hope to go after two years of limited travel. His own answer is northern Michigan, where he plans to spend five days writing in a secluded house followed by two days off. The combination of snow, isolation and a screenwriter alone in a cabin sounds like the setup for a horror movie, but Henrique is excited by the chance to work without internet access and perhaps try snowmobiling.Preparing for a seven-day solo stay becomes its own project. Henrique inventories eggs, bread, tortillas, cheese, canned soup, bacon, pancake mix, maple syrup, soda and emergency caffeine while Michelle questions nearly every choice. Their planning session moves from pancakes and French toast to grilled cheese, quesadillas, breakfast burritos and the practical challenge of feeding yourself when every meal has to be anticipated in advance.The food discussion expands into childhood cooking and comfort meals. Henrique recalls learning boxed macaroni and cheese, ramen, guacamole and hot sauce; Michelle remembers helping her mother cook; and both compare vegetarian chili, meat substitutes, V8 as a soup base and the creativity of transforming leftover pasta sauce into chili. Pieces of April, Primordial and Speed enter the conversation through stories about Thanksgiving cooking, deliberately bleak shelf-stable meals and movie scores.Michelle jokes that she is not going anywhere and expects to keep working on the post-apocalyptic webcomic Stray Cats. The hosts also consider what a truly restorative trip might look like, whether a remote retreat can still count as work and how leaving Chicano and Henwolf behind complicates Henrique’s excitement. The result is an episode about dream destinations, creative solitude, cabin meal planning and all the small decisions that make leaving home feel real.LinksEmail the hosts: [email protected]