You know I love a good guest post, but it’s been years — and one deleted blog — since I’ve hosted John in this space.
But that’s changing! Earlier today I asked him if he’d be up for a little Q&A-style guest post, and he very cheerfully said yes. Not only is he willing to answer my questions, but he also said he’d be game to take on yours, too.

So here’s your chance: got a question for John? Big, small, serious, silly — I’m collecting them all. I can’t promise he’ll answer every single one, but since he’s not quite as verbose as his wife (ahem), I’m betting he’ll get through most of them.
Drop your questions in the comments!
Discover more from The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.




This is exciting! In no particular order:
1. You travel a lot – any places you’ve been for work that you can’t wait to bring Elisabeth and the kids to see too?
2. Favourite personality traits etc of Elisabeth? We blog readers know so many wonderful things about you from her – your turn to tell us about her!
3. Favourite parts about being a dad?
4. Indy is into fishing – did he get that love of fishing from you?
5. If your family could all just pack up and go live somewhere else for six months, where would you go and why? (And we’ll assume that all the annoying things about moving and hassles with jobs and schooling etc are just non-existent so it would be easy to do and practical considerations about work and school don’t have to factor in.)
This is going to be fun! (Maria got to ask 5 questions, so I’ll take her lead!)
1. What are your favorite things to do with Elisabeth (and vice versa)? What things does she do you’re not interested in (and vice versa)? Basically what hobbies overlap and what ones do not.
2. What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited? Why?
3. If you could retire anywhere in the world, where would you want to retire?
4. What’s the hardest part about travelling so often for work? The best part?
5. If you were forced to quit your job today, what’s your dream job?
How fun! I will be looking forward to that post 🙂
Ooooh! It’ll be fun to read this interview!
My questions for John:
1. What were your five favorite things about your recent trip to Africa?
2. Are you feeling better now? (I sure hope so!)
3. Do you read Elisabeth’s blog?
4. Do you read any other blogs?
5. What do you enjoy reading?
Hi John!
What’s your favorite part of parenting? What’s the hardest part? What did you never expect but popped up with your kids?
Do you like peanut butter as much as Elisabeth?
So many fun questions already! I feel like we’re covering everything from peanut butter to dream jobs!
One thing I haven’t spotted yet, though: if John magically had a completely free day with zero obligations, what would his perfect day look like from start to finish?
Love this. I’d like to know:
Do you love to be frugal like Elisabeth? Or are you more “spendy” by nature?
What’s your top 3 movies? Fave movie genre?
Given how much you travel, can you sleep on planes? Any travel strategies for staying fresh while traveling?
Thanks! 🙂
Wow- people have some amazing questions already! If he gets through all these, he deserves a medal. I can’t think of anything to add- but I am interested in what he likes to read. I’m looking forward to this post!
Girl…nobody is as verbose as you are! 🙂
Okay John:
(1) I have one week in Finland and I would like five things to do (active is always a plus). What should they be (rapid fire style!)?
(2) What is the funniest thing Elisabeth has ever said to you?
(3) What is something you feared when you were in your twenties, has happened to you, but was not as bad as you expected it to be?
(4) What did you want to be when you were little? And…did it pan out?
(5) If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?
Looking forward to your answers!
I’m glad John is game for this. There is ZERO CHANCE Phil would ever do this. He said if he had a blog, it would be mindyourownd*mnbusiness.com. Ha. It’s interesting to have a blog while being married to a private person. And I found out this winter that he reads my blog which shocked me!
Anyways, back to John. Here are my questions:
1. What is your favorite meal that Elisabeth makes?
2. Do you prefer sweet or salty foods?
3. I’m the traveling spouse in my marriage, although I travel far less than you and for shorter trips (both in terms of distance and length of trip). Are there you do to make life easier for Elisabeth or things you do when you get back to offset all the solo parenting she has done? My biggest challenge with work travel is how hard it is for my husband when I am away (our kids are 4 and 7). I don’t worry about the kids or the impact of my travel on them – I worry most about the challenges Phil faces while I am away.
Ha. Phil’s blog name has quite the ring to it 😉 That’s hilarious that you didn’t know he read your blog!
This is so fun. I can never think of good questions and I read what the other friends here have come up with and they are such good questions. I’m looking forward to this post.
I am wondering do you have siblings?
Is your parenting style much different than the style your folks had?
I believe your home is very neat and tidy and organized. Are you a person that contributes to that situation or does that not come naturally to you?
Did you play sports when you were a kid?
What was your first date with Elisabeth?
Just one question for John: How do you feel about being a public figure, along with your wife and children being so out there on the World Wide Web? (It is something I continually wrangle with as I post to my own blog, even though I only have tens of readers.)
I don’t have a question, but has anyone ever said that the two of you look quite similar?
No! You’re the first. I’ll have to look at all our pictures more closely, now!
Ahhhh this is exciting. And as always I am drawing a blank so I am hoping for everyone else having the best questions.
Oh, how exciting to get the opportunity to hear from John!
I have a couple of questions to add:
1) What do you love most about your relationship with Elisabeth?
2) Favorite movie and actor/actress?
3) Do you have a signature dish you like to cook for the family?
4) What’s your favorite travel destination so far?
5) Would you ever want to write your own blog?
[…] For readability, I’ve grouped the questions by theme. Since I mixed and matched submissions, I’m not attributing questions to specific readers, but a huge thank you to everyone who sent them in! (If you’re curious about who asked what, scroll down to the comments on the original call-for-questions post.) […]