Armchair Explorer
104 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago -The world's greatest adventurers tell their best story from the road. Each episode is cut documentary style and set to music and cinematic effects to create an immersive storytelling experience. 'Best travel podcasts 2020'- The Guardian, 'Thrilling Stuff'-Sunday Times, 'Ear Candy for Listeners' - Washington Post
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Episodes
The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold: Adventures Along the Iron Curtain Trail with Tim Moore
April 24, 2024 18:45 - 34 minutesWriter Tim Moore is no stranger to the unusual and unique. In his early days as a travel writer, he rode a container ship to Iceland, biked across Italy in a period costume, completed the Camino de Santiago with a donkey as his only companion, and more. So when Tim got a call out of the blue one day from his editor, asking if he'd consider biking the length of the newly established Iron Curtain Trail, he had two thoughts. One was that he was absolutely not in shape to embark on this jou...
From the top of Crater Lake to the bottom of a Lava Tube: On Location on Oregon's Central Nature Trail, USA
April 15, 2024 16:56 - 1 hourIn Oregon, the natural world doesn't just inspire awe -- it gives a touch of the sublime. In the words of one guide, it's "timeless...important for the soul of humankind." And today, we're immersing ourselves in those sublime experiences along the Central Nature Trail in Oregon! Follow along as we snowshoe to the top of Watchman Peak, for the best view over Crater Lake in the park – “like a sapphire embedded in the Earth”, as Aaron describes it. It’s exposed, it’s hair-raising and it’s ...
In Search of Paradise with Legendary Travel Writer Pico Iyer
April 08, 2024 06:20 - 43 minutes"Paradise: that elusive place where the anxieties, struggles, and burdens of life fall away. Most of us dream of it, but each of us has very different ideas about where it is to be found. For some it can be enjoyed only after death; for others, it’s in our midst—or just across the ocean—if only we can find eyes to see it." Thus begins the premise of Pico Iyer's journey in The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise. Pico is one of travel writing's most legendary and prolific authors. He's sp...
In Search of Paradise with Pico Iyer
April 08, 2024 06:20 - 43 minutes"Paradise: that elusive place where the anxieties, struggles, and burdens of life fall away. Most of us dream of it, but each of us has very different ideas about where it is to be found. For some it can be enjoyed only after death; for others, it’s in our midst—or just across the ocean—if only we can find eyes to see it." Thus begins the premise of Pico Iyer's journey in The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise. Pico is one of travel writing's most legendary and prolific authors. He's sp...
Speaking With Dolphins and Searching for Sunken Treasure: On Location in the Florida Keys
April 01, 2024 15:17 - 32 minutesIn the Florida Keys, the ocean isn't just part of the scenery. Because beneath those shimmering teal waters, there are adventures and discoveries just waiting to be found. And in today's episode, we'll explore two very different - yet equally captivating - gems of the Keys, with excerpts from two different episodes of the 30-part Florida Keys Traveler podcast. First, join host Elizabeth Harryman Lasley as she visits Marathon's Dolphin Research Center. Mandy Rodriguez co-founded DRC in 1984 ...
Travels Through Countries that Don't Exist with Eric Czuleger
March 25, 2024 17:59 - 56 minutes“I'm sure bungee jumping is crazy and a real like adrenaline rush. But if you've never walked through Somalia with $15,000 in your backpack, you have never lived. You think you like adventure sports, but that is real, real pumping adrenaline.” In this episode, American journalist Eric Czuleger takes us on a journey into the twilight zone of almost countries, the places in the world that are fighting for recognition: Kurdistan, Kosovo, Somaliland, and a tiny island called Liberland that has ...
Irish Myths and Mysteries: Searching for St. Brigid on Location in Ireland
March 17, 2024 16:14 - 55 minutesSt. Patrick might be the most famous of the Irish saints...but he's far from the most interesting. In 2023, St. Brigid’s Day was decreed a National Holiday in Ireland to honor Brigid. Over the millennia, this legendary woman has evolved into a figure encompassing myth, holy legend, pagan icon, and now modern feminist symbol. But who was Brigid, really? To answer that question, travel writer Nicola Brady set off around Ireland to see how she’s celebrated, and she found that there’s not one si...
Himalaya Bound: Migrating with India's Nomadic Van Gujjars with Michael Benanav
March 11, 2024 19:16 - 54 minutesThe Van Gujjar tribes spend half of each year living deep in the forests of northern India and the other half high on the mountain plains of the Himalayas. Herding water buffalo, whose milk nourishes and sustains their livelihoods, every Van Gujjar family makes an annual migration from their winter home in the forests to their summer grazing fields in the Himalayas. That is -- until now. Faced with the threat of losing their herds and their grazing lands to the development of national parks...
Honky Tonks, Country Music and All Sorts of Mayhem On Location in Nashville, Tennessee
February 26, 2024 23:30 - 39 minutesThis week we are going to Nashville, Tennessee The Country Music Capital of the World … but don’t worry you don’t have to love country to love Nashville. It is a music town. If you like listening to live music – who doesn’t? – then this is a musical odyssey you must take at least once in your life. We’re going to have some fun, we’re going backstage at 3 rd and Lyndsey, one of Nashville’s most iconic venues, to meet the songwriters who are the beating heart of Nashville and hear a song or two...
Flooded Forests, Piranhas, and Mountains Above the Clouds: Experiencing the Amazon through Indigenous Eyes with Alex Robinson
February 19, 2024 16:32 - 34 minutes"I will show you my Amazon - the Amazon that visitors never get to see." When Alex Robinson heard those words, he knew he was in for the adventure of a lifetime. His guide, Saru Mundurucu, had recently founded his own adventure and travel company, Aracá Expeditions. As the first and only Amazon adventure company owned and operated by an indigenous Amazonian, Saru promised Alex an experience unlike any other - and he delivered. Immerse yourself in rich, abundant landscapes as Alex he recount...
Hidden Bar Crawls to Experimental Art Labs: Getting Weird On Location on Oregon's Culture Trail
February 12, 2024 16:40 - 52 minutesToday, we're embracing our weird in Oregon as we explore the Northern Culture Trail! We’re going to discover Portland’s favorite food carts, sample food from around the world and go on a secret bar crawl to hidden local spots. “Portland is the rebel base of the Star Wars universe, we’re sticking it to the forces of normal,” Dresden of Throw Snakes told us. We’re going to have some fun! From there we hit the road south to the Willamette Valley to sip some of the most delicious Pinot Noir grap...
Rowing to Baikal: A Camel, Horse, and River Journey to the 'Pearl of Siberia' with Peter Fong
February 07, 2024 04:56 - 47 minutesToday we're journeying to Lake Baikal, the largest, oldest, deepest freshwater lake in the world...and to get there, we're crossing over a thousand miles in Mongolia and Russia by camel, horse, kayak, and rowboat. Like all lakes, Lake Baikal exists because of a river. And in 2018, fishing and river guide Peter Fong led the first-ever expedition from the headwaters of Mongolia’s Delgermörön (Selenge) River all the way to Lake Baikal. As Peter writes, "Rowing to Baikal is about the fish and...
The Legendary Tale of Bird & Jim: On Location in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
January 29, 2024 05:00 - 41 minutesToday, we're returning to the mountains of Colorado to hear about the adventures of Isabella Bird, a British explorer who famously ascended Longs Peak in 1873 with her guide and companion Jim Nugent. The story of Bird and Jim illuminates the early history and character of Estes Park, as her writings helped establish the town as a tourist destination, and parallels with the broader historic myth of the frontier and the American west. Bird remains an inspiration to the locals of Estes Park, inc...
Flying Polar Bears and Charging Grizzlies: Beartrekking With Ecologist Chris Morgan
January 24, 2024 16:45 - 47 minutes"There are eight species of bears on the planet. Six of them are threatened everywhere they live." Thus begins Beartrek, a documentary which took Chris Morgan nearly 8 years to make. In Beartrek, he follows the lives of several individual bears around the world, from a friendly spectacled bear in Peru's arid mountains to a shy sun bear cub in the muggy rainforests of Borneo. Chris, a British-born ecologist, conservationist, TV presenter, and podcast host, has spent most of his adult life ...
The Birth of Soul and Rock N' Roll: On Location in Memphis, Tennessee
January 15, 2024 08:07 - 51 minutes"It was here, on the banks of the Mississippi River, where music changed the world." In Memphis, music has always been more than a melody and lyrics - it's a movement. This is a city that launched some of the world's most beloved musicians, from Otis Redding to Isaac Hayes, Carla Thomas, Elvis Presley, and more. And in the midst of segregation and racial tension, the music of Memphis became a powerful tool for bringing people together - and creating the sound of a civil rights movement that...
SPECIAL EPISODE: Surviving Thailand's 2004 Tsunami with Aaron Millar (Adventure Sports Podcast)
January 09, 2024 07:48 - 1 hourToday's episode is a little bit different - because our very own Aaron Millar is our guest! This re-released episode is one of the most memorable conversations he's ever had, and we're very excited to share it with you. In this interview, which originally aired with the Adventure Sports Podcast in 2020, Aaron shares stories from his years as a travel writer - from doing a ridiculous 100-mile pub crawl in Britain to trekking with Shugendo monks in Japan. He also shares a never-before-shared ...
Revisiting the Herd at the End of the World: Christine Amour Levar's Journey With the Nenet Reindeer Herders of Siberia
December 25, 2023 06:07 - 48 minutesIt's hard to imagine Christmas without reindeer. But long before the beloved antlered animals were pulling Santa's sleigh, they were providing a way of life for indigenous peoples around the world, including the Nenets of Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula. The Nenets of Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula are among the world’s oldest existing true nomads, making a living by herding reindeer in a place that literally translates to ‘the end of the world.’ And when Christine Amour-Levar learned that she had a th...
Bicycles, Bad Violin Playing, and Blank Maps: Redefining Adventure With Alastair Humphreys
December 18, 2023 07:46 - 1 hourWhen Alastair Humphreys was young, he craved something unknowable. That something - adventure, excitement, wisdom, whatever it was - was close. But he suspected that in order to find it, he'd have to step outside of the familiar shapes of his routines. He'd have to break free from the expectations of his friends and family, of advanced degrees and office jobs and apartment living. In his search for something, he moved to a rural village in Africa at 18. And after university, he cycled acr...
Born Among the Black Hills: On Location With the Lakota Sioux Nation of South Dakota
December 11, 2023 17:01 - 34 minutes“It's kind of interesting that people that come here to Crazy Horse Memorial, because it's almost like there's a spiritual calling. They don't know quite what it is. But they feel it.” – Paul LaRoche, Lakota tribe member and founder of the band Brulé The great Lakota Sioux Nation have become the international symbol of America’s native people. Over 60,000 Lakota Native Americans live in South Dakota, and they believe that their very creation began in the Black Hills. Join us as we delve d...
Kite-skiing to Mars via Antarctica with Explorer Justin Packshaw
December 04, 2023 05:00 - 49 minutes"Humans are meant to excel. And when you start pushing that and seeing how capable we are, it's phenomenal what you can actually go and do." -Justin Packshaw When Justin Packshaw was trekking in Antarctica several years ago, he noticed something disturbing: The ice shelf had visibly melted since his previous visit, just a few decades prior. "In the grand scheme of how old our world is, and its present state, that's a really quite frightening thing," he said. And with that, he had an idea. ...
Slow Food Values in a Fast Food World: On the Farm-to-Fork Trail in Yolo County, California
November 27, 2023 14:40 - 51 minutesYolo County in Northern California is one of the world’s premier destinations for slow food. But that doesn’t mean waiting for your dinner - it means savoring every bite and building a connection to the land from which it comes. We live in a fast world. 20% of all meals are eaten in cars. One third of Americans eat fast food every single day. That has consequences. When we forget that food isn’t grown in supermarket aisles or materialized in drive-through windows, when we fail to remembe...
Out of the Grocery Store, Into the Field: Discovering the Joys of Slow Food On Location in Yolo County, California
November 27, 2023 14:40 - 51 minutesYolo County in Northern California is one of the world’s premier destinations for slow food. But that doesn’t mean waiting for your dinner - it means savoring every bite and building a connection to the land from which it comes. We live in a fast world. 20% of all meals are eaten in cars. One third of Americans eat fast food every single day. That has consequences. When we forget that food isn’t grown in supermarket aisles or materialized in drive-through windows, when we fail to remembe...
A Ridiculous Road Trip: Crossing India in a Three-Wheeled Rickshaw With Simon Parker
November 21, 2023 22:54 - 39 minutesThis week, we're digging into the Armchair Explorer archives to bring you one of our favorite - and most ridiculous - stories. If Monty Python went on a road trip, this is what it would be. Follow along with journalist Simon Parker as he travels 2,500-miles and two weeks across the length of India … ...in a rickshaw. You read that right. The rickshaw is perhaps the least suitable vehicle on the planet for long distance travel. Used commonly across many parts of Asia, it’s basically a three-wh...
We'll Make a Cowboy Out of You: On Location in Laramie, Wyoming
November 13, 2023 09:33 - 56 minutesThe 'Old West' is alive and well in Laramie, a small city at the southern edge of Wyoming's great expanse. Here, ghosts of outlaws stalk the streets as the bustle of 21st century commerce and culture whirs to life. This is a pioneering town to its core - a place where layers of history intermingle with the ever-evolving, trailblazing present. And today, you'll come to see why Laramie is known as the place where 'the Old West meets the New.' Join us as we embrace the cowboy lifestyle in its en...
How Akashinga - Africa's All-Women, Plant-Based, Anti-Poaching Unit - is Changing the Faces of Conservation with Founder Damien Mander
November 06, 2023 07:00 - 53 minutesWildlife poaching is a complicated problem. But for many years, most anti-poaching groups had only one way of fighting it. Many organizations adopted the same formula: A battalion of men, armed to the teeth, ready to act as a last line of defense between the poachers and the animals. But these efforts lacked community stewardship - they didn't build solutions, they burned bridges. They were costly, they were deadly, and they were lacking one critical thing: Women. Now, Akashinga - Africa's fi...
Restoring Coral Reefs and Rescuing Turtles: Marine Conservation On Location in the Florida Keys
October 30, 2023 06:00 - 42 minutesFrom colorful schooling fish to dolphins, sea turtles, crabs, sponges, and more, the Florida Keys are known for their abundant marine life - so it's no surprise that they're also a hotspot for marine conservation. That's why today's episode is a special 3-in-1 feature, showcasing clips from three different episodes of our on-location series, Florida Keys Traveler. And not only will you get to hear highlights from multiple episodes - you'll also be hearing from a special guest host, travel wri...
In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch with Writer John Zada
October 23, 2023 19:12 - 56 minutesWhether you known him as Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Yeti, Thla'Thla, Sninik, or something else, you've heard the legends - the stories of the hairy mountain man who lives, as writer John Zada says, "in primeval nature and collective memory." And today, we're plunging deep into Canada's ancient forests to find him. But make no mistake - this isn't Bigfoot searching like you've seen before. There are no infrared cameras, scanners, or traps. Instead, we'll follow John as he listens and learns from Can...
Campfire Ghost Stories and a Haunted Lodge: On Location in Rocky Mountain National Park
October 16, 2023 06:00 - 56 minutesEstes Park was founded more than 100 years ago, and of course it was inhabited for thousands of years before then by the Ute and Arapaho Native American tribes. You don’t get that kind of history without a few tall tales building up along the way; legends and ghost stories retold through generations. But myths are more than just tales. They are a part of living history, part of the fabric of a place passed from campfire to campfire, woven through the land in the invisible threads of our imagi...
Following in the Treads of the 1897 All Black Bicycle Corp with Erick Cedeño
October 09, 2023 06:01 - 38 minutes“Those are my heroes, those guys paved the way for me to be able to travel through this country, free, and they're almost superhuman to me.” - - Erick Cedeño, Bicycle Nomad In 2013, Erick Cedeño, aka. Bicycle Nomad, came across an old photograph that changed his life. Taken in 1897, it showed 20 black soldiers riding bicycles across the American West. As he dug deeper, he learned that these were the Buffalo Soldiers, an all-black infantry regiment formed after the civil war. The pho...
Moonshine, Mad Scientists and The Scariest Distillery in the World: On Location on the Tennessee Whiskey Trail
October 02, 2023 06:01 - 1 hourArmchair Explorer goes on-location! "Whiskey is a combination of fire, water, wood, time - and feelings." Join host Aaron Millar as he samples a recipe as old as the Revolutionary War; visits a haunted prison that distills one-of-a-kind moonshine; meets a mad scientist blending chemistry and artistry in the glass; and learns the untold tale of the legendary whiskey maker that the world never got to meet. Spanning 600 miles across the state of Tennessee, the Tennessee Whiskey Trail takes visit...
The Way of St James to the Burning Ghats of Varanasi: Walking on Sacred Ground with Travel Writer Rosemary Mahoney
September 25, 2023 06:01 - 48 minutes“When I first decided to do these pilgrimages, I told myself I'm doing this as an investigative reporter. I'm doing it as an observer, and as an outsider … and in the end, that isn't what happened.” Rosemary Mahoney, author The Singular Pilgrim: Travels on Sacred Ground When Rosemary Mahoney got off the ferry at the tiny island of Tinos, in Greece, she witnessed something extraordinary. Pilgrims dressed in black exited the boat and immediately flung themselves to the ground, crawling on hand...
Riding with the Herd on Location at the Buffalo Round Up South Dakota
September 18, 2023 06:00 - 44 minutes“You’re experiencing what you see on TV and the old western movies, the buffalo roaming across the prairie like that. It's that old west tradition that you don't see anywhere else in the world.” – Matt Snyder, Superintendent of Custer State Park Feel the ground rumble and the dust fly as sixty cowboys and cowgirls saddle up to bring in a thundering herd of 1,300 buffalo at the 57th Annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup. But we’re not just watching it, we are in the thick of it as we get ...
Expedition Deep Ocean: Diving to the Deepest Part of the World's Oceans with Victor Vescovo
September 11, 2023 16:03 - 47 minutes"Half of planet Earth is still completely unexplored...and nobody seems to be paying attention." When Victor Vescovo learned in 2016 that nobody had been to the deepest point of four of the five's oceans, he was flabbergasted...and he was up for the challenge. Victor had earned his pilot's license at only nineteen, and he had spent much of his life pursuing adventure. He was one of the only people in the world to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam, during which he climbed to the highest peak ...
On Location: San Francisco Cable Car Crawl
September 04, 2023 06:00 - 50 minutesFor today's 'On Location' episode, we're exploring San Francisco in the most iconic way possible. San Francisco’s cable cars are not only the first in the world – invented here in 1873 – they are also the last. And though they travel at a mere 9.5mph, with the wind in your hair, the bells ringing and track rattling, it feels more like a roller coaster tour of the city than anything else on the road. Join us for a whirlwind journey, recorded on location, celebrating 150 years and counting of ...
Kayaking the Entire Amazon From Source to Sea with Darcy Gaechter
August 28, 2023 08:28 - 58 minutesWhat constitutes a life well lived? When Darcy Gaechter turned 35, her life was everything she had hoped it would be. She had a loving partner, a rewarding job as a kayak expedition guide, and hard-won fame within the competitive world of whitewater kayaking. By her own measures, she was living the dream. And yet, many of her friends and family looked at her life and saw only what she did not have - a husband, children, a traditional high-paying office job. Listening to them, doubts began to ...
On Location: The Call of the Wild in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
August 21, 2023 06:00 - 44 minutesFor this ‘On Location’ episode, we are going to get our boots on and do some hiking. There are 124 named peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park, with most of them over 10,000-feet. When you stand on the summit of one, a sea of peaks surrounds you on all sides. There are few things more exhilarating in life. And for many of us, it’s why we come here. But it hasn’t always been that way. For thousands of years, mountains were the abode of Gods and monsters, places to be feared and avoided. They...
Crossing the Oregon Trail in an Authentic Covered Wagon with Author Rinker Buck
August 14, 2023 06:00 - 42 minutesArmchair Explorer is back! We're so excited to launch our new season as part of APT Podcast Studios, the newly launched podcast network of American Public Television. As part of our new season, we'll be releasing episodes every week. That's right - Armchair Explorer is now a weekly show! Between signature episodes, keep your eyes peeled for our brand new 'On Location' episodes, airing every other week. Each of these documentary-style episodes was recorded on location - from the peaks of the R...
TRAILER: This is Armchair Explorer, an APT Podcast Studios Production
August 11, 2023 19:48 - 1 minuteWelcome to Armchair Explorer, where the world's greatest adventurers tell their best stories from the road! Hailed as "inspiring storytelling" from the New York Times, each documentary-style episode drops you into the heart of the action - from the heart-pounding to the inspiring, the unusual, the deadly, the hilarious, and the downright jaw-dropping. Armchair Explorer is now proud to be part of APT Podcast Studios, the podcast arm of American Public Television! Our upcoming season will feat...
BONUS EPISODE: The Coastal Adventure Trail of Oregon
January 06, 2023 16:57 - 46 minutesThis week, listen to an episode from Armchair Productions' newest series, The Hidden Trails of Oregon! Join us on the Coastal Adventure Trail for a documentary road trip, following award-winning travel writer Aaron Millar from Florence to Port Orford and beyond. We begin at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, in Florence, for a sand-boarding lesson from world champion rider Gabe Cruz. Then, we head south down the coast, stopping at the sleepy seaside town of Port Orford for wild bea...
The Herd at the End of the World: Traversing Siberia with the Nenet Reindeer Herders
December 21, 2022 16:58 - 43 minutes“This style of reindeer herding is truly the last of its kind…and I wanted us to be the first group to experience it.” The Nenets of Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula are among the world’s oldest existing true nomads, making a living by herding reindeer in a place that literally translates to ‘the end of the world.’ And when Christine Amour-Levar learned that she had a third-degree connection to the tribe, she set about arranging an unprecedented trek to accompany them during their southward migratio...
Seeking Bluer Skies: Three Months in a Remote Buddhist Monastery
December 07, 2022 16:54 - 39 minutes"Did you even hear a single word I just said?" This question, asked of writer Bruce Kirkby one morning by his ten year old son, catalyzed a life-changing journey. Bruce and his wife, Christine, decided to break the cycle of 21st-century distraction by relocating their family - complete with two young boys - to a remote Buddhist monastery in Ladakh, India for three months. But before they would reach the monastery, they would travel for nearly 100 days - via container ship, fishing boats, hor...
Life in the Deep Blue: Diving the World’s Oceans with Author and Photographer Pier Nirandara
November 23, 2022 17:29 - 28 minutes“You stand at the edge of the boat - and you take a giant stride into the unknown.” Today we’re chatting with Pier Nirandara, a bestselling author, film producer, SCUBA diver and underwater photographer. She's dedicated her life to sharing the beauty and importance of this marine world about which we still know so little. With her work in photography, writing, and more, she's also helping to shape a new generation of divers and ocean advocates from all corners of the world. In the episode,...
The Vagabond's Way: Lessons from Decades of Travel with Rolf Potts
November 09, 2022 17:49 - 47 minutes“The best way to travel? Dare to be lonely, lost, and bored.” Today we’re joined by travel-writing legend Rolf Potts, best-selling author and pioneer of indie travel. Long before the era of contemporary van life and digital nomadism, Rolf’s first book, Vagabonding, inspired countless travelers to forgo expensive, overly planned travel in favor of affordable, spontaneous exploration. And with his new book, The Vagabond’s Way, he’s sharing some of his best stories and pearls of wisdom from a li...
Stories from the Edge with Legendary BASE Jumper Jeb Corliss
October 26, 2022 16:48 - 52 minutes“I jump off buildings and cliffs for fun. And I don’t recommend it to anyone.” Dive into heart-pounding adventures with Jeb Corliss, one of the world’s most revered BASE jumpers and wingsuit pilots. In this episode, you’ll hear Jeb recount some of his most impactful stories, from the very first time he attempted BASE jumping to the incident that nearly put him off the sport for good. His energy and his vivid storytelling puts you right in the middle of the action - whether you’re plummeting o...
Land of Wonder: Four Weeks on Colombia's Magdalena River with Jordan Salama
October 12, 2022 16:46 - 37 minutesWhat does it take to really know a place? When Jordan Salama arrived in Colombia for the first time, he realized immediately that it was a country that was deeply misunderstood. For a place so often associated with violence, Jordan found himself in a country teeming with rugged beauty, welcoming communities, vibrant music, and astonishing art. Jordan wanted to dive deeper. To do so, he heeded the advice of locals, who told him that to really know Colombia, he needed to sail along the Magdal...
If I Live Until Morning: Cheating Death on the John Muir Trail with Jean Muenchrath
September 29, 2022 16:45 - 41 minutesWhat happens when adventuring goes suddenly, horribly wrong? For Jean Muenchrath, what began as a pleasant cross-country ski trip up the John Muir trail quickly spiralled into disaster - and what happened changed her life forever. Journey back in time with us to hear one of the most gripping survival stories that occurred over three decades ago in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Jean’s story stands as a testament to the power of the mind, the importance of dreams, and the sheer fo...
Borderwalk: a 16,000-mile Trek Across the Entire World with Adventurer Arjun Bhogal
September 01, 2022 16:43 - 35 minutesFollow adventurer Arjun Bhogal on a five-year 16,000-mile trek across the entire world. This is an insane story, with more than one life or death situation. But it’s also an incredibly funny one. Arjun began with his friend Kieran in 2012, with the idea of walking from Cardiff, Wales where they were at university to Cardiff New South Wales in Australia. They thought it would be a 3-year two-man journey, but it turned into a five-year mostly one-man journey – one of the most difficult ever at...
Outlandish: Walking into Europe's Hidden Landscapes with Acclaimed Travel Writer Nick Hunt
August 09, 2022 16:31 - 38 minutesFollow acclaimed travel writer Nick Hunt on a journey to walk Europe’s outlands – a piece of arctic tundra in Scotland, a primeval forest in Poland, a desert in Spain, the vast grasslands of the Hungarian steppe. These are outlandish places; wild, remote and untamed; places that shouldn’t exist, but they do. Like portals in our imagination, these anomalies transport us to faraway regions of the planet. They show us secrets, hidden aspects of our world that would hitherto go unnoticed. They g...
Crossed Off the Map: Bolivia from the Andes to the Amazon with Travel Writer Shafik Meghji
June 04, 2022 19:24 - 44 minutesFollow travel writer Shafik Meghji from the Andes to the Amazon on a journey across one of Latin America’s most spectacular countries – Bolivia. We’re going to travel from the stark white plains of the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world, to the most biodiverse place in the entire amazon rainforest, we’re going to discover a lost city and a mountain that eats men … but we’re also going to do what all good explorers do and dig deeper. While traveling up and down to every corn...
No Guidebook, No Google, No Clue: Togo, Wallis & Kyrgyzstan with Best-Selling Travel Author Brian Thacker
May 15, 2022 19:28 - 39 minutesFollow best-selling travel author Brian Thacker on a unique, mad-cap adventure to three of the remotest countries on Earth. Inspired by the intrepid spirit of explorers of old, Brian decided to tear up the guidebook, switch off the phone and turn up to a country knowing absolutely nothing about it in advance. He picked three countries at random: the east African country of Togo, the South Pacific islands of Wallis & Futuna and the Central Asian mountains of Kyrgyzstan. He boarded the plane w...