Spain was Season 3, Episode 9, and the concept came from something I find genuinely compelling about Spanish culture: the way meals aren't just sustenance but structure. The entire day — and therefore the entire episode — is organized around five distinct eating occasions. I built the show around that framework, using each meal as a chapter marker and letting the rhythm of Spanish daily life become the rhythm of the episode itself. Desayuno with our co-host at a local market. Almuerzo with Ferrovial. Comida with ONCE and Ilunion Hotels. A merienda churro on the way to a soccer pitch. And la cena — a tortilla de patatas cooked by our host and co-host together at 10pm, which is simply when dinner happens in Spain.

I also introduced split-screens as a visual device in this episode, allowing us to intercut between Corey and Carolina's parallel storylines while deepening the cultural texture through additional footage. It helped with both pacing and visual interest in a way that felt organic rather than stylistic for its own sake.

What I haven't mentioned yet is how much went wrong and how little of it shows.

We lost one of our three customer interviewees while we were still on the plane to Madrid. They had been our first scheduled shoot, including the location. Our client, already on the ground, arranged a replacement within hours. Our local production team found a restaurant for the same day. The backup turned out to be a genuinely strong interview, and Ferrovial's Chief Information and Innovation Officer was so naturally engaging on camera that the segment feels like it was always the plan.

For the LaLiga segment, I had always envisioned a soccer setting and spent weeks in conversations with stadiums and clubs in the league before hitting a wall on rights and permissions. What we ended up with instead was a local coach, a couple of his young players, and a neighborhood pitch. I figured out the framing on arrival: Corey's friend David had invited him to watch a practice session. Once that context clicked into place, the whole thing worked. Corey played, got thoroughly outclassed by a child, and the segment was better for all of it.

Then, on the drive to our wrap-up location (an apartment with a view we'd specifically chosen) we got a call that the building was under construction, windows covered in tarps. I remembered a rental space someone on our team had flagged earlier but passed on for budget reasons. It was still available. Same-day pricing had cut the cost in half. It had a beautiful balcony overlooking Madrid, and we were there within the hour.

The kitchen was tiny and nearly impossible to shoot in. The tortilla de patatas was delicious. The episode was everything I'd hoped it would be.