Alan's New Travel Podcast - Give me a Break !: Recent Episodes
Alan Whitworth
This podcast was created for travel lovers, people who are passionate about travel, especially backpacking, and for the many people stuck at home during this pandemic who love travelling, exploring, having adventures, and discovering new places. Each podcast is about thirty minutes and consists of interviews, stories, anecdotes, and the odd travel tip.
.."Every road can be travelled a thousand different ways." .... and this travel podcast is for people like you, made by people like you, so give me a break and check it out!
This is the fifth and final leg of my 5,300 kilometre journey down the great Amazon river to rendezvous with a friend. In this episode our boat gets besieged by young children begging in canoes, the gay guy in the hammock next to me want to get it on, another guy gives me a weired feeling and the weather improves
As I head down river this week, the three of us encounter a god fearing man, a domestic dispute, a blown turbo, ingenious bamboo poles, and one very angry Pierre, on my journey down the great Amazon river ...... contributions and donations humbly accepted through PayPal using my email address ... travellingsanadventure@gmail.com
... in this weeks travel log episode I encounter a sniffer dog, Pierre and Carlos, we get raided by the Brazilian Police, and we discover a phanomima in the river water just before Manaus city
February 2017 ... This episode covers my next leg down the great Amazon river, this section is only about 370 kilometers whereas the first leg was around 500. And this time I get to see the elusive dolphins, a family of giant otters, a beautiful and colourful pair of macaw parrots and several massive storms that fill the wide river with huge trunks, branches, and other debris that the boat has to avoid. We deliver supplies and other goods to many of the small villages and towns on our way down this famous river. ... any donations and contributions are humbly accepted to keep this podcast alive, as its my only source of income at the moment and I really appreciate everyone who listens to my podcasts, all 7 of you ... at PayPal using my email address ... travellingsanadventure@gmail.com ... thank you
Unplanned journeys and destinations keep the adventures coming, as I've never really been one to research or delve too deeply after I decided my basic plan. And the amazon river trip was one of those, I'd never planned to travel 5,300 kilometers across the top of south america, but did. Find out how I adapted to life on the great amazon river.
This is the final episode in the series of 5 parts (plus the original 'walking into a pandemic' episode), that describe life, and the events durning my 2020 camino walk from France to Santiago. Then I got stopped half way through my hike and lockdown at La Casa de los Dioses near Astorga, in northern Spain. With absolutely no facilities, no running water, no fixed toilet, no shower, no kitchen, no wifi, etc, and we just about managed to survive together for the three months, even with arguments, fights, selfishness, and egos. A real strange group of up to eight individuals who were all adamantly solo travellers, with strong opinions, most of them were camino hobos and vagabonds, these are people who live on the many caminos throughout Spain and Portugal but are not pilgrims, and I was one of only two true pilgrims locked down there, the other pilgrim was the only female at La Casa de los Dioses on the Camino Francés. (Contributions and donations to travellingsanadventure@gmail.com at PayPal, thanks)
The saga continues. Lockdown is easing but life at La Casa de los Dioses is getting harder, Paco peels potatoes, Tao will have a massive hangover in the morning, Carlos crashes his bike into into a 4x4, David takes all his clothes off, Galya comes back as the sun goes down, and I thought the police had come for Carlos. These are just some of the event and interactions that occure when seven odd ball individuals are put together.
The saga continues, with David getting a phone of his own and then orders ayahuasca, Paco is always in the shack listening to spanish rock music from the 80s, Carlos has a grudge building up inside him about Davids actions, Galya has made new friends down at the petrol station, Tao dreams of having his own goat herd one day, and, oh yes, frank arrives and he oozes menace, and Davids friend is accused of murder, and as for me, I'm just chilling in the hammock
... in this weeks episode ... Francis fights with David, Galya mets the police, Paco can't access his porn, Carlos finds a hawks nest with eggs near the camp, a new weary camino hobo turns up, and me, I'm just chilling in the hammock as spring arrives with the odd swallow fly passed and the sound of a cuckoo
Three months locked down with other independent free travel spirits, sounds easy and fun, but we were like caged tigers who didn't want to be there. The only thing we all had in common with each other was we were on the Camino de Santiago when the first lockdown was enforced, and there were only a couple were true pilgrims there, and I was one of them, the rest were camino hobos
Nobody would have imagined that in 2020 the world would close down, but it did. At the time I was walking the Camino de Santiago, because three months earlier I'd broken my leg and the doctors said it would take a year to heal at my age, but I believed by walking on it everyday all day, it would heal faster, and if that wasn't enough, I got locked down in northern Spain for three months, this is that story, my time on the camino, and the thousand kilometers I walked.
... even if you are only a weekend hiker, camper, or just have a love for the great outdoors you'll have encountered one or more of these critters. I cover the 9 most common pests that I've experienced while backpacking, camping, and hiking over the last few years
Here are two short travel stories, the first from Australia, and the second Agra, India. While hitch hiking around Oz I met a great guy and his wonderful family, he's since tragically died and this stories is dedicated to him. The second from India is about a cup of chai and a rickshaw
... while managing a backpacker hostel I saw one of the guests having trouble sitting down, I asked him if he was ok, and he told me this story. It took place in the Rainforest Taman Negara in Malaysia .... I'm not sure if this is true karma or not ....
During my backpacking adventures through south east asia, I lived and worked in Georgetown, in Penang, Malaysia for awhile. One day I came back from the supermarket to find a dead body in the street in front of my hostel, the victim of a violent attack, I tried to discover what really happened, the police didn't seem that interested about it, because in seems life is pretty cheap in Asia
... this guy's life is spent helping those who are a lot less fortunate than ourselves, his way of meditation and relaxation is to get out on the open road on his bike where ever it takes him. Open to new experiences and adventures he set off to cycle to the Scandinavian countries for his holiday, but had to change his plans due to the pandemic, this created new opportunities to explored France, Spain, and Portugal, taking in a Camino de Santiago en route, his plans changed yet again, as his reformed plan to cycle down and through Morocco was scuppered by yet more lockdowns, pushing him west to check out southern Portugal ... which is where I sat down with him for a chat ...... you can check him out on Instagram @bordvoor.jekop.2020
The whole episode only lasted an hour, and changed my life, and has stayed with me for ever .... I was riding down the west coast of North Africa, in Morocco some years ago on my motorbike
Passionate about all things outdoors, Alex craves the weekends to hike the mountains and valleys around Portugal and Spain for now while the pandemic still has its strangle hold on the world, he's also walked a couple of Caminos to Santiago, backpacked South America, and spent years travelling and living around Asia
She has just discovered backpacking after travelling many countries around the world and now loves the hostel community and the friends she's made. My chat with this well travelled lady was conducted as the sun set over the marina
This episode this week is something different, first I describe my experience being in an 8.1 earthquake in Mexico City, and that's followed by my interview with Jacob from the Czech Republic.
This couple's love of travelling made them buy their first campervan, a Mitsubishi L300, they are now backpacking in Portugal. I met them in Faro and they told me their story.
Max is a adventurous young french backpacker who has a great attitude to life and how he travels, we had a great conversation.
My long time friend and traveller Jorge Sierra spent 4 years driving around the world, he has a great documentary of his trip on youtube as well as this interview with me ... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsc1SjSSaw0454MRZ2IUN3w
This young girls bubbly personality has certainly helped her travel , which include having some great adventures. This is her story.
Eric, an American used to live in the Amazon. Now he found his home in northern Portugal. My interview with him was over 3 days and this is a result.