Move. Breakup. Loose Job. Loose Visa. Lose Yourself. Find Yourself. Repeat.
House Of Peregrine (01:03)
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the House of Peregrine podcast. also known to many as TallRedBeard on TikTok. Garrett is a second generation American with deep Dutch roots, a filmmaker turned content creator and a curious historian who makes his audience laugh and at times angry as he would be the first to admit he sometimes his facts are
loosely interpreted. Garrett's fascination with the Netherlands began early, thanks in part to the stories of his Dutch grandparents, who immigrated to the US after World War II. But it wasn't until a sabbatical with his then-fiance that the idea of living here took root. When that relationship ended, Garrett found himself suddenly without a visa, without a home, and bouncing from place to place for six months until, in true modern fashion, he found an apartment through a random Instagram post.
The same day he signed the lease, he lost his job, which then left him in Visa limbo again. Garrett is a creator at heart. After graduating from film school in Los Angeles and landing his first job editing for Sesame Street, he brought his skills in storytelling, e-commerce, and experimentation into the thriving online presence. His TikTok persona is, in his words, him at 110%, the humorous, high-energy channel that now reaches over 15,000 followers.
In this episode, we talk about identity and motion, the humor and heartbreak of building a life abroad, the stories we inherit, and the ones we rewrite. We also talk about how Garrett's views of family and home has transformed after more than three years living in the Netherlands. Thank you so much for joining me today, Garrett. I'm so excited to have you on.
Garrett Vanderwielen (02:44)
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (02:48)
I want to get kind of right into it. You and I spoke earlier and I was very, I want to talk about your TikTok channel because that's how I came about you. ⁓ And it makes me laugh all the time. But I want to start actually at the beginning, tell us about, because I'm really fascinated with this idea of reverse immigration right now. And so I really want to hear growing up as a second generation American and then how that kind of flowed. Cause it wasn't that intentional from what I understand.
Garrett Vanderwielen (03:18)
No, not in the
Yeah, so growing my parents and grandparents, they made it a point to tell me I'm Dutch, and they would show me Dutch things breakfast that make haggislag. We had wooden shoes during Christmas instead of stockings. ⁓ We were very proud to be Dutch, even though ⁓
I was growing up in America to the point where the first time I came to the Netherlands was when I was eight.
House Of Peregrine (03:52)
I grew up in the US and I had no idea where my ancestors were. Like, my grandparents would say, we're American. They wouldn't say we're English or whatever. And so actually it brings a different kind of awareness of identity. Did you notice that was different from your kids, other kids growing up?
Garrett Vanderwielen (04:09)
Yes, definitely. I do feel American, especially now living here. I tell people I am Dutch by blood, but ⁓ culturally American, because it's just too different. And what I found is ⁓ there is sort of a generational cultural thing, so it's like
Some of the things that I know to be Dutch are actually just really old because they're coming from two generations ago. like certain Dutch phrases that my grandparents would say, some people will look at be like, are you like 80? What are you talking about?
House Of Peregrine (04:46)
Yeah, because you got all of that influence from your grandparents, which is two generations. that makes so much sense. So you're like an old soul Dutch person and a young and you're correct age in your own culture. It's so interesting to me how that those stories affect the way you grow up. so when you're hearing these stories and I think you shared with me, they would sometimes say this phrase, if you're not Dutch, you're not much or something. Did I say that correctly?
Garrett Vanderwielen (04:51)
Right.
Right, Yeah.
Yes, that's very
common. ⁓ Yeah. And it's one of those things where it's this sense of pride. ⁓ My opa's brother, he was a carpenter, and he just had so much pride in
designs and stuff that he would make. like, it wasn't just that, like, he designed it, was like he, a Dutchman designed it, because Dutchmen are good at engineering. And it was like, so it's like, it's pride in his work, but then like also pride in the heritage in which the knowledge came from.
House Of Peregrine (05:43)
Yeah. And I can identify with that becoming a little bit stronger when you move like as a parent, like I have kids and they're American, like I'm American, my husband's American. And so I identify with that so much where you just become more of something or I don't know. It is wild. you had that all growing up, your grandparents saying these things to you. And it's almost you're living in two worlds. We know this about immigrant families They're living in more than one world, which is
again, House of Harkin exists, because you probably now even more understand your grandparents.
Garrett Vanderwielen (06:17)
Yeah, I would say, don't want to sound, how do I say this without making my grandparents sound terrible because they're not terrible. growing up, I kind of thought that my grandparents, specifically my Oma was like, kind of mean.
House Of Peregrine (06:39)
Yeah, but she's just Dutch.
Garrett Vanderwielen (06:40)
Like,
she just Dutch. She just Dutch. Like I came home from college with my freshman 50. And ⁓ the first thing she said to me was ⁓ you got fat. Like, okay. Thanks, old man. ⁓
House Of Peregrine (06:53)
Grandma, we don't
say this out loud, Grandma.
Garrett Vanderwielen (06:57)
But if I did not say that, then I would be lying. It's like, well, that's kind of, kind of, but not really.
House Of Peregrine (07:04)
That is so true though. I mean, that's the first thing ⁓ that people tell you when you move here is that they're rude, but it's just a different kind of honesty,
Garrett Vanderwielen (07:14)
Right, yeah. It's honesty ⁓ in that, well, it popped up in my head and I have to say
House Of Peregrine (07:22)
yeah, it's true. Well, it's only if you you experienced this and from your grandparents would they have said that to a stranger or is this more of a Intimacy like if you're close to someone you tell them what's popping into your head
Garrett Vanderwielen (07:32)
that's interesting. Yeah, think it has to do with like... God, I would hope they're not saying that to strangers, but I don't know.
House Of Peregrine (07:43)
Well, I've learned to, well, I think my Dutch neighbors have learned to go easy on me and I've learned to appreciate this, this about them. I think we've come to the middle.
Garrett Vanderwielen (07:50)
Right, yeah you can kind of see the
silver lining of it.
House Of Peregrine (07:56)
Yeah, but you I always love that even honesty is cultural. that it makes me so I really get into it. you grew up California, Dutch grandparents, you go on to film school and you're studying film. What was your process like being a creative in the anywhere is a process when you graduate, but what was your story?
Garrett Vanderwielen (08:08)
Yes.
I look at it, because I grew up in Los Angeles, it was mostly just that was the work, that was the industry there. So it's like, if I had grown up in Idaho, I would have been a potato farmer. But because I grew up in Los Angeles, it was like, that's the work that was there. So it was PA work
House Of Peregrine (08:33)
Hmm.
Garrett Vanderwielen (08:41)
my first job was like
it was this like, it was some subsidiary of a studio and they would just get like script submissions all the time. And it was like my job to just read them and like put them in the good and the bad pile and then like give them like a synopsis. So it was like the executives could like just go through the good pile and read like the top line of each script. they like, yeah. So it was like, I was the first filter.
was an unpaid gig, but it was great.
House Of Peregrine (09:09)
You got to read a of screenplays then.
Garrett Vanderwielen (09:11)
Yeah, I
did. And that was very fun. I was so proud when one of the scripts that I said yes to, I saw created five years later. And I was like, my gosh, I put that in the yes pile. It turned out to be a terrible movie, ⁓ but that's fine.
House Of Peregrine (09:28)
I understand. And that I spent my early career also in the film industry, but in Salt Lake City. So I worked a lot on ⁓ everything, everything coming from LA that was filming in Utah, which is a lot actually for the bigger movies. But yeah, I identify with that. was, yeah, super, super interesting industry, but you do learn a lot. And so when you graduated,
Garrett Vanderwielen (09:39)
Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (09:52)
I grew up watching Sesame Street. Maybe our listeners don't know what Sesame Street is. It's a, we'll put a little link in the thing, but it's a beloved children's show on public television in the U.S.
Garrett Vanderwielen (10:04)
Yeah. Yeah, I love Sesame Street. mean, even still, I got hit with a clip ⁓ from Andrew Garfield talking to Elmo about grief. And I was just like, my God, I'm crying. It's Yeah, right out of college, I started working for an animation company called Extra Credit Studios. And they had a very successful YouTube channel.
House Of Peregrine (10:19)
This is so deep, yeah.
Garrett Vanderwielen (10:31)
but it wasn't enough to pay the bills, so our producer would get us gigs on other things. so she got me a... It was just supposed to be a one-time job. It was a DIT for an on-site live action shoot for Sesame Street. And what DIT is, if you don't know, just... Or if the listeners at home don't know, is
House Of Peregrine (10:55)
Yeah, explain it.
Garrett Vanderwielen (10:56)
There's one guy on set with a computer and the hard drives and as the camera's memory card fills up, he hands DIT memory card and I just put them on the hard drives. And then I duplicate them. then so at the end of the day, I'll give one hard drive to the director and then one hard drive I deliver to the editor. so yeah, that was a very fun day. was just ⁓ we were shooting because Sesame Street is in studio.
with puppets, but then it's also live action sketches of kids playing and stuff. So that's what we were shooting that day. And then, at end of the like I said, I gave one hard drive to the director, and then I was assigned to hard drive to the editor. And then when I got to the editor's house, he wasn't picking up. He wasn't answering the door or answering his phone.
And so I called the producer and I was like, Hey, the editor isn't answering. And they're like, Oh my God, what are we going to do? And I was like, I'm an editor. can, I'm, I, yeah, I, I, I edit videos and they're like, okay, can you meet the director at his place and like get into the edit? I was like, okay, yeah, sure. So that was great.
House Of Peregrine (12:04)
That's amazing. Can I tell you a story about that? I was working on a movie that maybe I shouldn't name, but it was a very big movie and they kept losing footage. So I had to edit it at my house for a few weeks before they replaced the entire digital team.
Garrett Vanderwielen (12:24)
my gosh.
House Of Peregrine (12:25)
So I have this footage that I'm editing because we were in production and so it was yeah, it's it's Movie magic is made by people by instances like this, which is actually what makes it so addicting but not always a sustainable living
Garrett Vanderwielen (12:44)
Right. Yeah,
I was working for at that parent company NBC Universal and like HBO had the rights. These are like the biggest studio names. Sesame Street, which is like a show that is prolific. It's been on for over 40 years.
House Of Peregrine (12:57)
Yep.
Garrett Vanderwielen (13:03)
And meanwhile, their editor is sleeping on a couch in West Hollywood because I'm getting paid $100 a day. Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (13:14)
Yeah, that's what the industry runs. And that's hard to understand. And it's actually still today. This is how it works. And I don't think a lot of people understand that.
Garrett Vanderwielen (13:25)
Yeah, I've heard from my friends back in LA that it has gotten worse. wages have stayed stagnant, and then also a lot of stuff is being outsourced out of the city. It's not even the creative hub that it once was.
House Of Peregrine (13:42)
Well, and this was tell us what year this was. This was maybe before YouTube was so. What is today, I guess?
Garrett Vanderwielen (13:50)
Yeah,
yeah, I think it was around 2015. So it was like YouTube had just been acquired by Google, like a couple years before, I think. And so it was just starting to bring in some like pretty good ad revenue. Like, like I said, the studio that I worked for extra credit studios, like, they were able to keep the doors open because of YouTube ad revenue. So it was like, and this was like a big
deal. So it was like, it was kind of at the start of it. Before like, it was like pre Mr. Beast YouTube era.
House Of Peregrine (14:26)
Yeah, that's what I mean. I think we've seen a turn in maybe the professionalism or people doing it for a living. ⁓ And so those were kind of the Wild West days. Now it's almost a given if you're a filmmaker that you have some sort of platform on your own. That's almost your showreel now.
Garrett Vanderwielen (14:42)
Yes, exactly. I saw this trend happening where was like you had at the time a lot of streaming platforms would just give people with a lot of followers shows. They'd you have like 2 million followers. Great. We want them to come to our streaming platform. And they just throw a bunch of money at creators. it was like this trend that
was awesome for creators, but those skills don't translate. It's like someone who's vlogging and has, 14 million followers on YouTube. First of all, people don't like to leave their platforms. And the second of all, like, that doesn't mean they're a good actor or actress. It's just
House Of Peregrine (15:27)
Yeah. Well, and I think it's really what I what I think most people love about making films and making content is it's a team sport. But with these platforms, it can become you become almost your own production studio or you have to. And so that's what that's what this change in industry, at least from my point of view, has done. I I spent a lot of time as a producer as well as I like I had the camera skills and have the producing skills. And so that served me well. But ⁓
Yeah, it's super interesting. you're kind of in this moment in LA ⁓ when, tell us how this comes about because it's not like you had your sights set on a move to the Netherlands, or did you?
Garrett Vanderwielen (16:09)
No. ⁓ There was, throughout my ⁓ childhood, it would pop up. would bubble up. It would be fun to live in the Netherlands. I would ride my biker on LA, and I only got hit ⁓ twice. ⁓
House Of Peregrine (16:27)
my gosh. It is a totally different game.
It's like taking your life into your hands, riding a bike around this. Yeah.
Garrett Vanderwielen (16:31)
it's it's really
bad. Yeah. And so like, when those things would happen, I'd be like, man, it'd so nice to live in a place with like bicycle infrastructure. But it was Yeah, it was just like, there was no viable like option to do it. So it was just like a passing thought. Or, you know, like when Trump got elected, but man, I love to get out of this country. But it was like, I didn't have any sort of way to do it. So it was just like,
House Of Peregrine (16:56)
Did you ever talk to your grandparents about it?
Garrett Vanderwielen (16:58)
Um, yeah, yeah, I remember, would come to visit the Netherlands and say, Oh, I want to live here. And they're like, it's very cold. It rains a lot. I don't know if you want that. So it's they weren't like, yeah, do it. They were like, I mean, I think they were very proud life that they were able to build for the family
House Of Peregrine (17:20)
Yeah, that makes sense. So they're like, why would you go back? We've made a very nice life right here. Yeah, that that makes sense. But the country that they were building in with was is also changing rapidly. We I think we're similar ish ages where the country like industries, countries, everything have. There's a moment in time where all of us are experiencing a lot of change that maybe our parents and grandparents didn't.
Garrett Vanderwielen (17:23)
Right, yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, definitely. I mean, like, I'm sure there is somebody way more skilled that can talk on this than me. But me, it just felt like was just certain things, certain like goals, certain like, I guess, just life markers that were just always out of reach for our generation. yeah, I my dad bought his first car in cash.
from like a part time job and like bought a a down payment from like money that he got from the wedding and like a mild saving. So it was so it was like, those those like, things were just always a little for like, I had come to terms with the fact that like, okay, I'm just never gonna own a home. That's not gonna happen for me. Because it was just like, every year.
even like the dumpiest places in like Silver Lake would be like 1.5 million. And it's like, this is a shed on the like the backyard of a house. How can you justify this? But yeah, so okay, well, that's never gonna happen for me.
House Of Peregrine (18:44)
Yep. Yep.
Yeah. how, when was that list like right after university or when did you start realizing this?
Garrett Vanderwielen (18:54)
Yeah, I mean, was it was basically right after university. Like I said, I was like sleeping on a couch for a little while. And I was like trying to save as much money as I could. And it was just, yeah, it was it was impossible to really get ahead.
House Of Peregrine (19:11)
Yeah, interesting. So when you and your then fiancee tell us that story about deciding to try life abroad.
Garrett Vanderwielen (19:22)
Yeah, it happened really fast. had just kind of like finished the first year of the pandemic. ⁓ So it was like we were locked away. ⁓ yeah, so the company that she worked for was an advertising agency. ⁓ they're like, hey, we're opening, not they weren't opening up the satellite office, but they were like, we need to get more control over the
satellite office in Amsterdam. So we want to install someone from the main office. Does anyone have a volunteer? Does anyone want to volunteer? And yeah, we talked about it. The decision was made fast. was like, hey, this opportunity came up. I want to do it. like I said, I was just coming off the pandemic. I had, as far as like
my career goes, I had just been let go from an advertising agency, was like, like advertising for me was just a means to an end. never really even liked it. It was just a way to keep the lights on. And I had been at like during the pandemic trying to pitch some animations and I was just getting, can I say ass on this podcast?
House Of Peregrine (20:39)
Yeah,
it's a technical term actually.
Garrett Vanderwielen (20:42)
Sure, yeah. And I was just getting my ass kicked pretty consistently in these pitch meetings. It was brutal. so I didn't like, of better term, just didn't have a lot going for me. So it was like this great opportunity to be like, you know what? Yeah, fuck it. Let's drop everything and leaf. That sounds great for me.
And like I said, it was fast. we decided like, yeah, we would like to do that within like a week of the offer. And then like, okay, cool. We're gonna send you out next month or at the end of the month. And it was like, ⁓ okay, great. Okay, so they were like, we'll provide the movers. We'll, ⁓ we'll set you up for the first month in a hotel and give you ⁓
like a real estate agent, and we'll figure it out. So it was like, Oh, okay, this is all happening very fast. It was kind of this. Sorry.
House Of Peregrine (21:38)
So you guys didn't really have time
to consider what this might mean.
Garrett Vanderwielen (21:44)
No, we had no idea. Yeah, in like our head in the conversation, we're like, okay, yeah, we'll live in the Netherlands for a year. That sounds like the plan.
And yeah, I mean, we lived in the Netherlands for a year. There was ⁓ and then another one and then another one.
House Of Peregrine (21:58)
Yeah. And then another one.
It's happened to the best of us. I came for a year and it's now been nine. ⁓ But I think in a move like this, and we actually did it similarly, when you don't have much time to consider your wise, ⁓ once you land here, it's not the end of your journey. You're not just living here suddenly. You don't just pick up your life there and move it here. That's your changing your partner at the time.
Garrett Vanderwielen (22:05)
Yeah. Right. Yes.
House Of Peregrine (22:28)
She had connections that she had at her office and she was doing her life. you had, like you said, this was a fresh start for you in a way.
Garrett Vanderwielen (22:36)
100 % I knew nobody here. it was I was very lonely. Yeah, it was it was was difficult. yeah, like I said, didn't have a lot of time to consider and also, all of our stuff that was being moved by storage container had gotten caught in the Panama Canal.
around that time. So it was just like, we didn't have any stuff for like six months. And so it's just like, we're living in an empty ⁓ Dutch apartment with like, Ikea furniture that we found. And, you know, we made it work.
House Of Peregrine (23:03)
Ugh.
That has zero effects on relationships, by the way. If you do this, this has zero effect on any anything that's going on in your relationship suddenly becomes massive. ⁓
Garrett Vanderwielen (23:18)
Hahaha
Yeah. And
so what I've come to what I've come to realize about my relationship is, I think, during the pandemic, it was just her and I. And for a lot of couples, from what I understand, that was like kind of a make or break moment for them. It was like, we're spending a lot of time together. And for us, it was really good. Like we, we got along really well. But now that
things started opening up, we were in a new place. What I've come to understand about that situation is like,
uh there were no outside influences so it was like hard on not hard but just like affect a relationship so it was like the world opened up and then we went to a completely different world and then i knew nobody and she was the source of my entire social circle
through her job, which ⁓ was difficult.
House Of Peregrine (24:25)
And I think a lot of people can actually relate to this. think this is like a story I hear a lot, which is if you've come on your partner's visa for their work, ⁓ it's actually your you it's an actual skill that can be taught of actually making a new life where you have no contacts. Like the people that do this well and over and over again, they know there's a process. But if you don't know that you're stepping into this, it's
The rate of couples that don't make it through this experience is so incredibly high. there's dependencies. mean, tell us, I mean, if you don't mind, I know this is not part of your thing, but like, I would love for you to describe to us what changed in you, because I did the same. And I love to hear people talk about this, because it's psychological what happens when you're actually dependent on someone for the first time. For your visa, for everything.
Garrett Vanderwielen (25:19)
right.
Yes, yeah, that was new. ⁓ I always consider myself very social. ⁓ It's fairly easy for me to make friends, not to brag. I listen, I get along well with people, so it was like I was leaving a network of friends and family
to go be alone in a hotel Yeah, so that was ⁓ that was difficult. was right.
House Of Peregrine (25:51)
But it does things to you that you can't anticipate. it does things to your,
psychologically I feel like it does things to you.
Garrett Vanderwielen (25:58)
Yeah,
100%. Yeah, I was looking through my CBT journal just yesterday, I was like, well, what's going was this passage from it right when I moved where it was just like, I'm a passenger in my basically it was just the feeling of like, I have no control of what's going on.
it was like while it was a decision that I was a part of, I felt like a supporting character in my own story, which was weird. It was like I was watching my life instead of living it.
House Of Peregrine (26:32)
Yeah. And I think that's an un... There's a couple of layers to it, but like, especially when you've immigrated as a couple, there's this term that now people don't even use, but it used to be commonplace to say trailing spouse. Like it's now like people do not use it. But in the eyes of government and the eyes of who you are in the world, you are tied to that person. That's the only way you have access to your health care, your... Like all of this...
It's a really, really, it's a crucible moment in a relationship when this sort of dependence happens, in my opinion.
Garrett Vanderwielen (27:08)
Yes, yeah, was definitely ⁓ a shift in dynamic for sure, because I was here on a partner visa, so all of my stuff was all tied to her.
House Of Peregrine (27:11)
And then.
Yeah. Yeah. And that's tough. I remember like the first few years we lived here, not one document said my name on it. My bank card said his name on it. Everything. Everything was, I didn't exist. And that was, that's a weird, again, like, you know, you exist, you love your partner, but like, it's, it's a weird individual journey. ⁓ and so thanks for going into it. I know that's not your thing, but I think, I think it's good for people to hear other people talk about this, especially men, because for men, I think it's even diff, even more different.
Garrett Vanderwielen (27:40)
Yes.
House Of Peregrine (27:49)
⁓ And I've seen a lot of my friends come here as they had a career in the States. They come with their partner who's usually a woman's job. They become a stay at home parent. That's another layer. And that's, it just changes. It changes a lot. So, but what it also changes is it's really hard to make, it's another layer of ending a relationship to if your visa is tied to it. And so just briefly, let's talk about that.
Garrett Vanderwielen (28:05)
Yeah, definitely.
Sure. Yeah. My side of it. All right. You heard it here first. ⁓ Yes.
House Of Peregrine (28:17)
Your side of it.
No, but it's a story a
lot of people have. This is a big deal.
Garrett Vanderwielen (28:26)
Yeah, definitely. yeah, didn't have a lot of friends, but I will say this was ⁓ for me. This probably isn't for everybody listening, but I took an improv class. And as one does, was like English improv at ⁓ Boom Chicago on Rosengrat there. And I was like, I just was riding my bike by an Alex Allside. And I was like, you know what? Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (28:38)
as one does. ⁓
Love it.
Garrett Vanderwielen (28:50)
I knew a lot of improvisers in LA. I never had any interest in it, ⁓ but I was like, I don't it'd be nice to just be in a room full of English speakers. And I went from having zero friends to like 10 friends, which was really nice. It's like I still, years later, I'm still hanging out with that group of people. We still do shows around Amsterdam. It's called the Welcome Distraction. ⁓
So that was like, went from having zero friends to some friends, which was like nice. And so I kind of like got out of my shell a bit, which was, yeah, so needed and refreshing. And then so yeah, we started, we started doing shows around town together, we did our first show. And my partner ⁓ couldn't make it. And I was like, feels a little weird. I don't understand.
I sound like a psychopath right? Thank you. I'm so glad you said it You can't Okay Yeah, and it turns out that ⁓ she was cheating on me with ⁓ a co-worker a married man with a family and kids ⁓ And so when that all came to light it was just like all right this sucks
House Of Peregrine (29:42)
I changed countries for you. Yeah, changed. Yeah, I changed countries for you. No, this is real. Yeah, no, this is real.
⁓
Garrett Vanderwielen (30:09)
Yeah, so.
House Of Peregrine (30:12)
to put it mildly.
Garrett Vanderwielen (30:13)
Yeah,
was like, damn, okay. And then so yeah, obviously, top of mind, it was just like, okay, everything here is tied to you.
So it's like, obviously, the pain and stuff. it was like, we tried to work it out. And I don't want to like get too into the nitty gritty details. like, we went to couples therapy. it was like, there was this like side of her that I had never seen before. And we're five years into this relationship, we're engaged. And it was just like, this complete lack of accountability. This refusal to like, stop the
Yeah, yeah, so it was was hard. And so I made the very difficult decision to Okay, and I left with the intention to like, just just to like, take a breath because it was like, every time we were in the same place together, it was just like, my gosh, this is, I'm so mad at you at like, not just at the cheating, but like also at the
all of it. It was like it holistically or it's in its hole. It was just like, wait, am I doing here, which is a thought that I have every day when I wake up. Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (31:27)
I wonder
the percentage of people listening to this right now who actually have that same experience without the relationship drama that you're experiencing.
Garrett Vanderwielen (31:31)
Hahaha
Right.
So yeah, I reached out to my improv community and I was like, Hey, does anyone have a room that I could rent? And then like through a friend of a friend, they were like, ⁓ my, my friend's going out of town for a month. Maybe you could say at their place. And then, I reached out to them and they're like, yeah, that sounds great. And then like, ⁓ two days before I was supposed to do that, they're like, my gosh, listen, someone else is
⁓ So one of our family members actually needs it. They're having like a family emergency. So you can't stay here, but here's ⁓ this friend is going out of town. You can stay at their place. And I was like, okay. it's like a stranger of a stranger or sorry, friend of a friend rather. And I was like, okay. Yeah, sure. So I reached out to them. I stayed at their place for like three months and then that ended up. then I was like, hey, I like the person that I was staying at. was like, I need in the place after this month. And they're like, I know somebody. And then, so it was just like this.
very lucky game after that point of just like every month, the person whose place I was staying at, I would just like as the month was coming to an end, I'd be like, I need a place to stay next month. And they'd like, ⁓ I may know somebody and they would give me some information. And it was just like, I would take an Uber XL with my two suitcases and go to the next place. And I did that for six months.
House Of Peregrine (32:53)
What did that teach you? Both good and bad.
Garrett Vanderwielen (32:57)
⁓ yeah, it taught me to travel light. It ⁓ taught me to
ask for help. yeah, I think that that that is a hard lesson to learn. You know, it's like if you need help, ask for it. You don't even necessarily like have to know what you need for help. Just kind of like talk to friends about your situation. And sometimes it's like it's nice to get it off your chest, but it's also nice to just
Sometimes people give solutions to the problems that you're having.
House Of Peregrine (33:33)
Yeah. Yeah.
Going from knowing no one to suddenly having a couch to sleep on every month, that's not something that would have happened. That's not a skill you would have had to employ the feelings. All of that experience, if you were in the US and you guys broke up, it would have been done, dusted, back.
Garrett Vanderwielen (33:56)
yeah,
my dad would have showed up with his truck, I would have loaded my stuff up, and I would have gone to live ⁓ at my parents' or at a friend's house, and that would have been it.
House Of Peregrine (34:06)
Yep.
So suddenly you're thrust into this new net of people who caught you. I mean, it sounds like you were able to be caught.
Garrett Vanderwielen (34:15)
Yes, yeah, and I mean the entire time I was, you know, updating my parents about it and they're like, what are you doing? Just come home.
House Of Peregrine (34:29)
Because you were here for your ex-fiance, right? That's the mindset.
Garrett Vanderwielen (34:34)
Right, yes.
Yes. And I mean, at that time, like, like I said, I had a small group of friends. building something here. you know, outside of that whole situation, I like it here a lot. I like the I like the culture as much as I make fun of it. ⁓ I like the food quality as much as I make fun of it. I like the bicycle infrastructure.
I enjoy the directness, which is the culture. But I like my life here. But it's hard to explain that, especially when you're in a crisis and you have a group of people on the other side of the planet who love you and want you to be okay. They're like, why don't you just come home? And the thing...
House Of Peregrine (35:19)
Did you just describe chronic homelessness? Like, just come home. Like, your life can't be that great.
You're like, but there's cafes. You can sit by the side of the cafe. Yeah. Yeah. These are, these are, it is, it's hard to explain to Americans, but it's also hard to explain when you're in a crisis, like you said. Like, your life doesn't sound that great. Walking is not actually a positive thing.
Garrett Vanderwielen (35:28)
But I can walk to the place that I need to go. I have a grocery store down the street.
Right, right. But
it is though. so it was like, the thing that I told my support group on the other side of the planet was that that I think kind of got through to them was just, I don't want this to be the end of my story.
I need a happy ending in some capacity.
House Of Peregrine (36:07)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. You didn't want it to be the end of your Amsterdam story. Yeah.
Garrett Vanderwielen (36:10)
So yeah.
Yes. Yeah,
I didn't want my Amsterdam story to be I packed up everything I own moved across the planet to support my partner who then cheated on me and I left with my tail tucked between my legs because this is my country. I this I'm Dutch. I
I'm not gonna leave.
House Of Peregrine (36:34)
Yeah.
Yeah. But also it would have made the story completely you not a main character in your story at all if you left. Yeah. So having some sort of reclamation of your existence, I can imagine, feels somehow therapeutic in a way. I am not. am also an armchair psychologist suddenly. You know, I don't know. No.
Garrett Vanderwielen (36:53)
100%.
no, thank you. That's
what we were looking for.
House Of Peregrine (37:01)
No, but I see it over and over again. you know, I've had now I've been here nine years, there's been several of my friends who have gone through divorces and ⁓ it adds an infinite amount of layers to a breakup or separation to to be in a different country. You're dealing with identity, all sorts of stuff. And then if you add a visa in there, it's just complex. So thank you for exploring it with us. But this so this culture that you love, you are now
Garrett Vanderwielen (37:25)
Yes.
House Of Peregrine (37:30)
creating all these videos. How did this start? When did the mic turn on for Tall Red Beard?
Garrett Vanderwielen (37:38)
Yes. So the tall red beard brand, if you can call it that, started during the pandemic. Basically, was just kind of a way to connect with people. I'd play video games on Twitch. And so that's where I registered the username. I saw mild success with that. I think at one point I had 800 followers, which
isn't a lot in internet terms. But when I think about 800 people watching me play a video game, I actually like, I get ⁓ nervous. It's like, that's way too many people like, at most three people should be here on my couch, playing the game with me. So that's like, kind of where it started. So it was always something that I would just kind of, it was always fun. ⁓ you know, as I was working in
House Of Peregrine (38:17)
Yeah.
Garrett Vanderwielen (38:27)
entertainment and advertising, I never really the only times I ever was in front of the camera, ⁓ or like, out of necessity. It was like during the pandemic, I was working at an advertising agency, and we like still had to make ads. So they're like, Hey, editors, can you film yourself in the shower for this Dr. Squatch ad? And I was like, Okay, yeah, sure, whatever. ⁓ So it was like, yeah, the only time I was ever really like on camera as a
personality was just out of necessity. So I was collecting all these best practices and things, and my now-girlfriend, Sunay, we've been dating for a year now, this month, she was telling me this story that she heard about how Dutch last names were kind of a joke. ⁓ It was like, ⁓ the Napoleonic occupation of the Netherlands,
wanted to start registering last names so they could like track property and taxes. And up until then, Dutch last names were like based on your occupation or, uh, like your, your father. So it would be like, uh, if your father was yawned, your name, your last name would be yawned son. It was just like, you're of, or like, yeah. So was, so she's telling me this like kind of funny story where it was like a lot of Dutch people.
when they were forced to register their last names, they would just like kind of do it as a joke because they didn't really think that that was going to last. didn't think it was going to be permanent. So like that's why you have so many weird last names like, which is, I think means big. Like if you were short, you'd like write that as your last name or like the last name that like translates to naked born. It's like, so that's like if you look and
I have come to find out from my comment section is ⁓ this is debated heavily. truth of all this. so anyways, my girlfriend was telling me this story and I was like, that's such a fun story. even my last name, VanderWielen means like of the wheel, which could have been like an occupation of some sort. I don't know, maybe like my ancestors were wagon makers or something.
I like, oh, you know what, I'm going to tell this story. So I sat down and I just recorded me telling the story that she had told kind of like, like I said, I've been working in social media advertising. So was like, I had all these best practices. I kind of know the cadence in which a UGC creator is supposed to talk, how often you're supposed to edit.
And so was like, Oh, you know, I'll just try it out. You know, just just like kind of a fun experiment. And it really blew up. Like, it hit a million views within like, three days. And I was like, Okay, people like this. So then I just kind of sat down and started doing research on other fun facts. The first like couple of videos were just like, kind of things grandparents had told then obviously, the first one was my girlfriend.
Yeah, and then I just kind of kept going. But yeah, like I said, the comments started rolling in and ⁓ let me tell you, Dutch people love to correct. That is the majority of my comments is people being like, I'm actually, it was Napoleon's brother that was occupying the Netherlands. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're an idiot. And you should leave the country like, all right, everyone just slow down.
House Of Peregrine (41:49)
So everything you just said is wrong.
Yeah, that's always...
I always say how they can't hear... Like speaking English is... So I always say, because my kids speak Dutch and they make fun of me constantly, and I always say, you can understand the rest of the sentence even if I said that word wrong. Like don't pretend like you hear the rest of what I said just because you got stuck on that one word that I said incorrectly.
Garrett Vanderwielen (42:13)
Right.
that's so real. It's like, it's like, you'll try to speak Dutch to them. And like, I'm terrible at Dutch. I'm not gonna like, I've taken one class. No, you'll you'll you'll say, like, you'll try to speak Dutch. It's like, huh, what? I can't understand. And then, you know, we'll just speak English and then proceed to speak to you in the most broken English you've ever heard. Like, see, I can, I can still decipher this. What is this? I don't understand. Yeah, I can. This is not a two way street. I don't understand.
House Of Peregrine (42:28)
I am also terrible, but trying. I'm always trying.
But I can hang. I can hang with your...
Garrett Vanderwielen (42:50)
Let me speak my broken Dutch to you. ⁓
House Of Peregrine (42:51)
Exactly. No, but I think it's getting better, but it is a different tolerance for accents and ⁓ the correct way of speaking a language ⁓ that I've noticed that made it really difficult to start to learn. But once I was kind of on to this, I was like, you can handle me saying the...
one letter incorrectly. But it does come from a place of wanting to improve. And so I always wonder if they want me to correct their English somehow, but I don't.
Garrett Vanderwielen (43:24)
Yeah, I don't either. And I think a lot of that has to do with, like, my take on that is just like, we come from America, which is just massive. So it's like, every single state has its own way of pronouncing things. And I'm not going to, like, when a Texan says a word a certain way, I'm not going to be like, actually, it's pronounced this way, because like, I probably sound weird to them. And it's like, there's no point. like,
House Of Peregrine (43:38)
Yeah. Yeah.
Garrett Vanderwielen (43:48)
Netherlands is literally the size of like Los Angeles County. So it's like, everyone needs to speak the same way.
House Of Peregrine (43:54)
Yeah, but I always say that I'm like
you could be American like you're speaking English to me in a Dutch accent You could be American like I I have no idea to tell how someone's an American like there's no American English There's the LA version like the the movie version, which is like an internationalized Accent, I guess but ⁓ So it's very it's very confusing To learn a language and have it so that's it is it's very pronounced. ⁓ So now I I don't let it
Garrett Vanderwielen (44:01)
Right. Yes. Yeah.
Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (44:22)
I don't let it hold me back as much, but your comment section is on full display of the accuracy that is required to get in.
Garrett Vanderwielen (44:32)
Yes, yeah, 100%. And it's one of those things where I don't mind it. I basically like my formative years were spent reading comment sections about shows and stuff that I was working on. So was like, I have learned to not take anything personal. It's like, yeah, they can be kind of funny, too. It's always it's always funny when like they find your insecurity and you're like, ⁓ gosh, you you nailed it.
But like most of the time it's just like, you're grasping at straws here. I think it's a little bit of delusion too, where it's like, they're jealous.
House Of Peregrine (45:08)
mean, that's one way to deal with it.
Garrett Vanderwielen (45:10)
Right. yeah, so I found this was like very early on in ⁓ when I started doing like e-commerce advertising was like I would and this was found by accident where I'd like accidentally misspell a subtitle and then like version of the video would be A B testing would get like way more ⁓ interaction ⁓ engagement. Thank you.
House Of Peregrine (45:31)
Engagement, yeah.
Garrett Vanderwielen (45:33)
get like way more engagement, then you know, you go to the comment section, it's all people just correcting that subtitle. It's like, the algorithm has no idea. The purpose or like the, the intent of the comment, they just see that this one is getting more comments. So it was like, from that point, our, our advertising agency would be like, mess up a little bit. And it was like, so there was this kind of weird, like, if you can see the seams, ⁓ holding the ad together,
that actually is a little better. It makes it seem a bit more bespoke and homemade. And so I'm not going to say that every mistake I make on my TikTok and YouTube and Instagram channel is on purpose. But there are definitely there are definitely some that I'm like, I'm casting a net sometimes. Like, Oh, God, I did a video about how the Dutch love mayonnaise, and I love mayonnaise. I was like, Oh, yeah, Dutch, they put mayonnaise on everything. They put it on fries, they put on herring.
and they put it on a bunch of other stuff and like my entire comment section was like we would never put mayonnaise on herring you psychopath I'm gonna call your you should be deported for this why is that the first thing you go to
House Of Peregrine (46:39)
You
always
deported. Yes, that is, but that is real. Like that, it surprises me and people will say this and it's true. Like you're an American, you would never be deported. have the strong, you have a strong passport, da da da. And I'm like, it's very real, but you realize for the first time in your life, you can be deported from somewhere. ⁓ And so in your YouTube comment section, it's probably not visceral, but it is an interesting first lob at someone.
Garrett Vanderwielen (46:50)
You
Right. Yeah.
Yes, yeah, yeah. It's, yeah.
House Of Peregrine (47:16)
Especially about herring,
let's, mean, every country has its cult, but herring is, you hit a nerve.
Garrett Vanderwielen (47:25)
yeah, yeah, and I love herring. I've actually, was ⁓ unemployed for a little bit. And I made it a point to go to every herring stand in Amsterdam. And I know where the good ones are. But yeah, it was kind of an obsession for a while.
House Of Peregrine (47:41)
I like how all of your most interesting stories start with, was unemployed for a while.
Garrett Vanderwielen (47:44)
I've been unemployed for a while. It's funny too, cause like I work freelance, but it's like, I don't count that as a job. So I'm like, I'm still unemployed.
House Of Peregrine (47:46)
Hahaha
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. I've only ever had freelance jobs, so I get it. ⁓ But it is, yeah, that takes you on some adventure sometimes. So are you going to share with us the best herring stand in Amsterdam?
Garrett Vanderwielen (48:08)
You know what? I will. This is not sponsored, but let me find it on my maps here.
Okay, it's Herring and Zo.
it's like, it's ⁓ right by the... it's like just west of Dam Square, like right in front of that Albert, that giant Albert Heine. It is the best one. Yeah. And the guy who works there, he's nice about my Dutch, which I like. It does.
House Of Peregrine (48:24)
Okay
Mm-hmm. Okay, you heard it here.
That goes a long way, actually.
My first few years here, I planned my entire day around who wouldn't change to English. ⁓ But yeah, I get it. So that makes it also expat friendly. So in your YouTube channel, it sounds like it almost started like an accident. Like not as an accident, but like this intersection of your heritage, your fascination with the culture, and then your advertising background and filmmaking background.
All you needed to do was make yourself in front of the camera and not playing video games.
Garrett Vanderwielen (49:12)
Right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, what's nice about the video games is like, I am a little square in the corner. And the video game is like the main thing. I'm just kind of commenting on it. But ⁓ yeah, yeah, it was all just kind of this like big happy accident. I mean, like, with so much content ⁓ that I've made over the past years, it's just like throwing stuff at the wall. ⁓ There's been so many series and so many things that like, I've
House Of Peregrine (49:21)
⁓
Garrett Vanderwielen (49:41)
you it's like, had an interest in, I'll make a thing and then like, it gets no reaction. I'm like, okay, that's fine. I made it. I'm proud of it. ⁓ And yeah, so this was kind of one of the first things that really kind of popped off. And it's like, okay, cool. I'm, I'm going to milk this until people are interested in it, because it's something that I enjoy. I like learning about Dutch culture. It's something I'm doing anyways. And so it's just like, kind of learn with me.
And yeah, in fact, I am planning on releasing a book hopefully by the end of the year of 365 Dutch facts.
House Of Peregrine (50:18)
You should do one that's like anti-imbergering. Like these are the facts you don't want to learn or learn them wrong for imbergering because that's it's a little bit what you're doing. Like it helps people connect with the culture a little bit. And so tell us tell us your favorite video. Like what what it and we can maybe show it. But it's like what is the thing that. Just tell us your favorite video you've made
Garrett Vanderwielen (50:21)
Yeah.
love them all equally if they're listening, but
House Of Peregrine (50:47)
You
Garrett Vanderwielen (50:50)
Let's see. I make them in batches. So it's like, I'll make like 10 of them in one day. So they all kind of blend together. I do want to talk about a couple of them. ⁓
House Of Peregrine (50:54)
Mm.
⁓
Garrett Vanderwielen (51:05)
There was I talked about a Dutch Pokemon card being sold for 35,000 euros. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love that one a lot because ⁓ it is absurd. Like, I mean, I love Pokemon cards. like playing the game. ⁓ But like, Dutch cards only existed Dutch Pokemon cards only existed for like a short period of time. Basically, the Pokemon company like released them and then realized like, there's no market for this. So like they stopped making them.
House Of Peregrine (51:10)
My son loved that one. Tell us about it. Tell us about it.
Garrett Vanderwielen (51:33)
So there's like a very limited set. it's like, most of the world does not care about Dutch Pokemon cards. But like there is a small group of Dutch people who love Pokemon and love Pokemon cards who are like looking for pristine, perfect edition cards. So it was like, just, you know, a piece of cardboard sold for 35,000 euros. I'm like, Jesus, that a house or down payment, at least. So yeah, I like that story. And also, it's like,
House Of Peregrine (51:57)
Yep.
Garrett Vanderwielen (52:01)
it's it kind of mixed everything like it mixed everything that I enjoy a bit so it's like Dutch culture and it's also a little bit of video gaming or gaming and yeah it was kind ⁓ thing in the right direction or I don't know right direction
House Of Peregrine (52:16)
So it's like a news story that happened
mixed with the cultural phenomenon, which is like they only made so many because it's such a small country. And is it the Dutch people don't want to buy their own Pokemon cards? They would rather buy them from another country?
Garrett Vanderwielen (52:28)
Um, yeah, I'm not exactly sure the purpose of it. I think it's just like, yeah, I don't know. They like stopped producing them in like 1999. So it's like, it could have I'm not exactly sure what was going on culturally in the Netherlands at that time. But it's yeah, because I mean, they still make Spanish cards, they still make German cards, they still like make them into French cards. But yeah, they just stopped making Dutch cards. I yeah, I assume it was a lack of interest. But like now that they're hard to get, there's
House Of Peregrine (52:43)
Yeah. Okay.
Yeah, it's like
anything. So it brought a lot of things together. All right, what's your next one?
Garrett Vanderwielen (52:58)
big interest.
Yeah, so one that ⁓ I, one that I was like, kind of horrified by was, ⁓ I was talking about the Dutch East India Company massacred a an island for nutmeg. But it was just kind of the story of like the colonization.
that was really eye opening because as an American, it's like, I know there's a lot of debate about like, what the horrors in our past. like, it's, you know, it's important to recognize it. It's important to, ⁓ at the very least, like acknowledge it and and it's historical and like relevance today.
I was kind of pleased and horrified by the comment section of that because it's like you do have ⁓ a small percentage of commenters, and I know they don't represent the majority of Dutch people. I will say I want to recognize that commenters are not a good or accurate representation of the majority of people because to leave a comment on a video, you're already in a very fringe group of people. So that's important to remember when you're making content.
yeah, it was like the amount of people that were proud of the colonization like past of the Netherlands. I was like, that's, that's really weird. Like, there's, they, there's a Dutch, the Dutch word for colonized, ⁓ which I can't pronounce it, but they would like, write that word with like, a strong arm emoji. I'm like, that's, that's, that's actually kind of scary.
House Of Peregrine (54:40)
Mm.
That's bold.
Garrett Vanderwielen (54:45)
Yeah. Like that they're like proud of it. Like, okay. ⁓ I don't love that. I don't know why that's my favorite video. But it was like, definitely a shift. And like, ⁓ some of you guys are weird.
House Of Peregrine (54:53)
Yeah, but it's
Yeah,
well, but it's also without the awareness, right? So I think the thing that I learned when I started learning about Dutch, like being here, learning about more close up, it put context to some of the things that were happening in the US and also just the, yeah, it helped me understand my own culture to learn about this in Dutch culture as well. Not to be proud of it, but if you were to just...
Again, like when I was growing up in school in the US, we didn't talk about the bad parts. You only talked about the good parts, which I think in some ways happened here, where it was like, yeah, America first. We were so proud of our country. The founding fathers, if you only hear the good stories, then it's like, yeah, of course you're proud.
Garrett Vanderwielen (55:35)
Yeah, definitely.
Right. Right. Yeah. And it's like going back to what we talking about before, my family would be like, if you're not Dutch, you're not much. And I'm sure it's like there is a bit of learned exceptionalism happening in most Western cultures that is a bit hard to unlearn. nobody's sitting here saying that we should suffer or be punished for the sins of our grandparents.
House Of Peregrine (55:59)
Yeah. Yeah.
Garrett Vanderwielen (56:15)
But it's like also at the same time, it's like, well, I mean, we should, we should at least acknowledge it so we don't repeat horrific atrocities.
House Of Peregrine (56:21)
Yeah, let's at least not do it. Yeah,
yeah, it's actually so true. So you gave good tips for how to survive having a YouTube audience. Is there any other advice you would give people who are wanting to be creators on YouTube?
Garrett Vanderwielen (56:39)
Yeah, I think if you're thinking about doing it, just do it. Don't worry about the logistics of it. That's, think, just like a major hurdle for a lot of creators is like, I have an idea and I know how it's going to be perfect. And it's like, well, it might not be and just just do it. ⁓ I've never been precious about my ideas. think like, I, yeah, I don't.
House Of Peregrine (57:02)
That's hard
one training though. That's film school. That's being in the industry a while. That's a really good tip. Not being precious about your ideas. That's the difference between being, I don't know, like it's a really important skill. And I went to art school as well and didn't learn that until I left art school. And so that's a really powerful lesson. And that actually came from working in software. Like just iterate, iterate, iterate, iterate.
Garrett Vanderwielen (57:21)
okay. Yeah.
⁓ right, yes,
iterate. Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (57:29)
just keep iterating
until you find your voice. And that, I think, it's important that most creators are doing that. And if you watch anyone, even your early videos, you'll see that it's created over time. Like you found your voice over time, what works for you over time, what's accurate, what's even a persona over time. That's a really important process as a creator. And some people think content creators are artists. I tend to disagree. ⁓ They're just the new
you when the camera was invented, painters thought they weren't artists, right? Like photographers weren't artists. Now they're artists. Now they're fine artists even. So content creators, I mean, they run the gamut, but I think the process and the craft is still being crafted.
Garrett Vanderwielen (58:03)
Right, yeah.
Yeah, 100%. There's two quotes that come to mind often when it comes to the creative process. One is from Jake the Dog of Adventure Time. He says, being bad at something is just the first step of being good at something. I'm like, okay, that's very helpful. And then another quote is Dan Harmon, creator of Rick and Morty, problematic figure, but some good quotes.
He says, ⁓ if you think you're a bad writer, just prove it to yourself.
House Of Peregrine (58:49)
That's really good advice. Yeah. And we've had this moment and both you and I have been in the film industry. We have to hold two things. You said he's a problematic figure. I think this is true of countries as well as person is being able to hold two things as true. Someone's work is really great, but they're a problematic figure. A country, you love your country, also done horrible things.
Garrett Vanderwielen (58:50)
Yes.
Yes.
House Of Peregrine (59:13)
you love your country that you live in now, they also threaten to deport you all the time, those things can all be true. ⁓
Garrett Vanderwielen (59:17)
Right,
It's like, yeah, yeah, Dutch people are so mean to me, but also Dutch people in my life personally are very nice to me. So it's like,
House Of Peregrine (59:31)
Why do I crave their acceptance? They're so mean, but why do I crave their acceptance so deeply?
Garrett Vanderwielen (59:42)
That's funny. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like they're like, Dutch people are like doing like that toxic dating ⁓ technique. Or it's like, they're mean to me. I want them to love me.
House Of Peregrine (59:47)
Yeah.
It's a strategy. If it's a strategy, it's working. No, but it is complex. It is complex to be in a culture that seems rude according to your culture. And you grew up with that paradigm from when you were little, but it was something I had to learn living here.
Garrett Vanderwielen (59:58)
Hahaha
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
House Of Peregrine (1:00:18)
Very fun. Well, I hope people go to your YouTube channel. What would you say? I feel like when I watch it, I feel like you're, it's part like self confessional and part you're just wanting to share what you're learning. It just feels like we're going through it with you. Is that what you would say the intention is?
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:00:34)
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely. ⁓ Like I said, it's always been for fun. I'm just kind of throwing stuff at the wall with it. And yeah, the current like, Dutch history, Dutch culture is just like, you know, if I learn a fun fact, ⁓ my audience is going to learn a fun fact. And then I will learn that I'm wrong. I may make a correction video one day once I get like enough. But ⁓ yeah, it's just...
things that I find interesting about Dutch in my voice.
House Of Peregrine (1:01:10)
Yeah. Well, and I've learned that every history, every single history is what is right. You know, so there's the line that everyone learned in school or the, I call it the dogma. And then there's the actual historical facts, which still probably aren't exactly how it happened. ⁓ And so you're walking that line. And then there's the interpretation as someone who didn't grow up here with that dogma, or you did a little bit with your grandparents. So it makes it very rich.
what you're doing, which I think is maybe unintentional, but I appreciate it.
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:01:42)
Oh, well, thank you. I appreciate you saying that. Yeah, yeah, it's a fun time. And like, I take suggestions. I read all the comments, I don't let them affect me. But people will be like, you should make a video about this. I'm like, what is that? Researcher? Oh, my gosh, that's so weird.
House Of Peregrine (1:01:58)
yeah, cool. So you're you're having conversation with your audience a little bit as well.
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:02:01)
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
House Of Peregrine (1:02:02)
Yeah, cool. Cool. And then you're also doing, you mentioned welcome distractions. So you're also doing improv, is that right?
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:02:10)
Yes, so ⁓ we were doing once a month, now we're doing once every other month, and it's just like an improv show town. That's also, you can find that through my social media as well, I put like a link in my bio, all that stuff. And that's just been like really fun outlet. I've been doing improv now for good god three years. ⁓ So yeah, was... ⁓
House Of Peregrine (1:02:32)
Well, ever since that faithful day at Boom Chicago.
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:02:37)
Right. Yes. Yes. It was fine. I was it was just like I said, it was just a way to try and make friends. And now it's great too, because people come to the show. It's I think it's like a great environment to meet people because like people from my TikTok will come to the show and be like, I follow you on TikTok. The show is so fun. I think it's like a good environment because it's like, well, they'll see me perform and be silly.
⁓ And then it's like, well, I'll go grab a beer afterwards. And it's like, that's, that's actually very nice.
House Of Peregrine (1:03:10)
Yeah, that's a really fun and very visceral way of interacting with your audience. Very cool. So people can find you on TikTok at tallredbeard. Is that the best way or is there other ways that you'd like them to contact you?
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:03:25)
Yeah, think just tall redbeard on any and every platform. I got it across the board.
House Of Peregrine (1:03:31)
Yeah, yeah, good, good, good. And then ⁓ is there any last things you want to tell us that we didn't cover?
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:03:38)
I talked about the book that I want to release, right? I've like, I've got all the facts written. I just need to format it in a yeah, you said this might come out in the fall? Okay. So yeah. Okay. I'm going to try to get it out by then.
House Of Peregrine (1:03:40)
Yeah, you did.
All right, let's do it.
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:03:54)
Okay, okay. Yeah, so a book of Dutch facts coming out soon. I mean, ⁓ geez, I didn't even talk about the comic books that I write. ⁓ Sadie Sword is a comic book that I wrote with some friends. That's also available on Amazon. yeah, I mean, just give a follow. ⁓
House Of Peregrine (1:04:14)
Nice.
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:04:19)
if you watch the videos if you like them. Make angry comments if you don't. It helps. Yeah. Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (1:04:22)
Make angry comments if you don't. It helps the algorithm.
Good. Well, thanks for sharing with us today. Thanks for going so deep on some of that stuff and for the videos you make. think they're really fun addition to the repertoire of people who living this life and making fun of it. yeah, it's beautiful. So thanks for sharing your talents.
Garrett Vanderwielen (1:04:48)
Thank you so much. This was a lot of fun. I appreciate it so much. Yeah.
House Of Peregrine (1:04:53)
Awesome. And thank you everyone for joining us today on the House of Peregrine podcast. Please give us a like and listen on any platform you listen to and we'll talk to you next time.