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As an avid traveler, you never get enough of exploring the world. I lived in Atlanta majority of my life and there is still new places I haven’t been.

I interviewed television writer and YouTube personality George Igoe, the host of new budget travel show “George Goes Everywhere”, the weekly digital series offers inexpensive travel tips in top US cities with a daily budget of only $100! It debuted on Million Stories, the free financial literacy entertainment channel.

Filmed pre Covid-19, George dives into local culture and history as he tours cities’ hidden gems, from old subway stops and Naval ships, to puppet museums and corn mazes. A New Jersey native, Igoe has worked for shows such as “Family Guy,” “The Cleveland Show,” and was a writer on  CBS’ “Mike & Molly.” No stranger to the world of affordable travel, he developed “Rich Travel / Poor Travel,” a show where he traveled first class with frequent flyer miles, then explored the destination city on a micro-budget.

George traveled to Atlanta and he visits several sites in Atlanta including Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room, the Ping Pong Emporium, showcases homegrown Georgia tiny doors, the Atlanta Botantical Gardens Center for Puppetry Arts and World of Coca-Cola. 

Q&A with George Igoe

George where are you from?

George: I live in Los Angeles right now, but I grew up in New Jersey.

What made you start your travel journey?

George: Its pretty much been my whole adult life. It was always in the back of my head [when I was younger] and once I got old enough to start venturing out on my own I just started.

Have you traveled to each state or is that the goal of this series?

George: Going to all fifty states is a goal, I have not done that yet. I have done a fair amount of international travel, I have been to every inhabitant continent so far. All fifty is a goal but I am not there yet though.

How many states have you completed so far in your travel journey?

George: You know what? I think its only in the twenties. There are still large sections of the country I just haven’t been to.

How was your first impression of Atlanta?

George: First of all, I am glad to hear you as a local and you haven’t seen some of the stuff [in the episode] . That’s one of my favorite things to hear! My impression of Atlanta was I was kind of blown away on how creative it was. I’ve never been before, its a level of artwork; The Tiny Doors which were sprinkled all over the city. The restaurant I went to, Home Grown Georgia had artwork from local artist all over the walls! The Botanical Gardens had the hedge sculptures, it was tremendous artistry everywhere I went!

What drew you in and made you excited to visit Atlanta to put on your list?

George:  Well we tried to hit a variety of locations, we did a North East to Mid West, and then we want to visited the South East area as well. Atlanta is kinda the capital of the South so it was kind of a no brainer, especially since I have never been here before. I have never been to Georgia at all before. Atlanta was pretty high on the list.

Did you have any preconceived notions about Atlanta and did anything here surprise you?

George: Going into it, I was expecting the food to be very good and that was true! I haven’t spent too much time in the South [prior] so my experience with Southern Food was kinda lacking. I’ve never had grits before!

Grits from Atlanta’s HomeGrown restaurant

How was grits?

George: I liked it! I like it alot and I’ve had it since! But what did surprise me was the level of creativity I saw, pretty much everywhere. It was just a pleasant surprise.

Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium

Tell me your first impression of Louisa’s Church? ::spoiler alert:: Its not a church! It’s actually one of my favorite places to take visitors, and you taught me something new. My friend’s and I just called it Church, but you shared the full name which is Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium. I didn’t know that! Share your thoughts on this eccelctic place!

George: So we are doing this show for A Million Stories, so we try to keep things PG.  There were some stuff there that wasnt as PG on the wall, so I made it a point not to show some of that stuff. First impressions, I love cooky bars like that, bars with personality. I think the pictures didn’t do it justice! Playing ping pong up there was pretty empty, we got there early so we had the tables to ourselves. We kinda explored the space a little at it was a lot of fun!

So you had your first experience with grits, and now you had your first experience with sangria. So you had a lot of first in Georgia. Church is known for their sangria so how did you like you first experience with sangria there?

George: I liked it a lot! It’s their specialty, you have to get it when you arrive! Anytime you can get a bar’s specialty you gotta go for it!

Center for Puppetry Arts

Lets talk about nostalgia as you visited the Puppetry of Arts. I have lived here a long time and I’ve never been, but a fan of Jim Henson. Tell me your experience of the Puppetry of Arts?

George: That place is just awesome! Its all of the name brands of Muppets and Jim Henson’s stuff…Life-sized Big Bird. I want to point out when I went there, it was pretty much empty! They do a lot of school field trips, we arrived afte 3pm when the school children have left and it was still deserted!

We had the whole place to ourselves. It’s something I’ve seen a lot while shoot the show, you see all of these cool places but they’re empty! People don’t go to these cool things in their own cities and they aren’t even checking it out that much!

Watching the show, was the highlight of your stories to always spend $100 in a new city?

George: Yes a hundred dollars or less.

One of the many Tiny Door in Atlanta

When you came to Georgia [on the show] you didn’t even spend the whole $100. You did five to six experiences and some were free and you still spend under one hundred dollars. Tiny Doors was one of the free experiences in Atlanta, tell us about that!

George: We didn’t make it to all of the Tiny Doors, as I believe it’s in the teens [ the quantity of Tiny Doors in Atlanta] around 15 of them. She [Tiny Door creator] is always adding new ones. I believe we went to four or five of them, but she has a map on her website. We reached out to her and she was the nicest person in the world, so the Southern Hospitality was on display!

How did you feel about the Big Tiny Door?

George: [laughs] That one made me laugh actually, its really funny to have all the tiny ones and then this big one which is three times as tall as me.

Earth Goddess at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Tell us your experience at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

George: I enjoyed the garden hedges. They were incredible and they were everywhere! I’ve been to a lot of botanical gardens around the country and I’ve never been to anything like that anywhere else. It is just usually what it sounds like, gardens. The Atlanta one stood out, they were massive and they just stood out and towered all over you!

World Of Coca-Cola® Museum

You cannot come to Atlanta without getting a Coke! Tell us about your visit to The World of Coca Cola!

George: That place is like an amusement park in there! You don’t realize how much of a pop culture force Coke has been until you are there. It was taking me back to my youth with the iconic colors and logos and it was like “Oh yeah, I remember those commercials”! I remember the polar bear and all of these things I have forgotten about for decades. A real trip down memory lane!

You covered a lot of ground, but if you were to return to Atlanta would there be a place you would add to your ATL bucket list?

George: I am a huge baseball fan, I would of loved to go to a Braves game! One of my stateside travel plans is that I want to go to all 30 major league parks!

George Goes Everywhere is available free streaming on millionstories.com

About Million Stories & The Singleton Foundation

In addition to “George Goes Everywhere,” the free streaming platform Million Stories offers a diverse slate of series centering around financial literacy, including “Adulting with Richard Sherman,”  where the San Francisco 49er’s captain coaches young people through ‘adult’ financial decisions. From paying off student loans, creating a budget, or starting an emergency fund, Sherman breaks down his tips and strategies for financial success. “Faceplant” shares the personal stories from people who discover the value of failure in pursuit of their dreams. A variety of people are profiled including YouTube personality GloZell, Academy Award Winner Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and two-time Olympic gymnast Danell Leyva.

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Have you been to Atlanta, if so share your favorite places below!