Far From Home: Recent Episodes
Scott Gurian
An immersive travel and culture documentary podcast where Peabody award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian reports fascinating stories from faraway places and makes you feel like you’re really there! On past episodes, he’s road tripped 18,000 mi. (29,000 km) from the UK to Mongolia and back, visited Iran as an American tourist, wandered through abandoned buildings in Chernobyl, and participated in a hallucinogenic healing ceremony in Peru. Learn more and view bonus content at farfromhomepodcast.org
After releasing my last episode where I shared stories from my time in Oklahoma many years ago, I came across one more short radio piece in my archives that I thought some of your might enjoy. It’s about another cultural phenomenon unique to Oklahoma that I experienced, the world’s only behind-the-walls prison rodeo. Before a stadium of 9000 cheering fans, a hundred inmates from around the state competed in events like calf roping, steer wrestling, a wild horse race, and “Money the Hard Way,” a competition where people tried to grab a $100 bill that was tied between the horns of a charging bull.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Last winter during the pandemic, Jack Boswell started to reevaluate his place in life and realize that at the age of 31, he still hadn’t chased his real passion of being a Hollywood screenwriter. So he decided to quit his job and hop on a plane where he lived in London to head to Los Angeles and give it a go. But instead of flying directly there, he figured he’d instead land in Boston and make his way across the United States by train, documenting the places he visited and the people he met along the way. Out of his experiences, he crafted the first season of his podcast “Off the Beaten Jack,” which ended up being nominated as best new podcast in the British Podcast Awards. On this episode of Far From Home, I chat with Jack Boswell and we listen to some excerpts from his show.
If you’re interested in learning more about Jack’s style of traveling, you can look into couchsurfing and Workaway volunteer opportunities (or Worldpackers, which is similar).
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
As you may have seen in my feed, I recently teamed up with my colleagues at NPR’s Planet Money economic podcast to report a story that prominently featured the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan — which is probably one of the most obscure countries in the world, and certainly not a place that most of us hear much about, much less visit. Only about 10,000 tourists a year cross its borders, but in the summer of 2016, my brother, my friends Rosi and Jane, and I were some of the lucky few. We drove across Turkmenistan as part of an 11,000 mile road trip we were taking from London to Mongolia, raising money for charity.
I documented that journey on the first season of this podcast, and today — for all my new listeners — I’m re-releasing an excerpt of one of my favorite episodes (#11) called “Turkmenistan: Just Plain Weird.” If you enjoy this, I recommend going back to the very beginning of my feed and listening to my first season in its entirety!
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
A few months ago, a friend of mine named Oraz who runs an autobody repair shop in Turkmenistan came across a kind of puzzle. A new vehicle had just arrived on his lot. A white Lexus SUV. He could see by the registration sticker that it came from my home state of New Jersey, but the even stranger thing was the shape it was in. It was practically brand new, unlike like the dented and mangled cars that usually come to him for repairs.
Oraz wondered: how did this car get here, to his shop? And what kind of place, what kind of person, casts off such a nice new car? Those questions led me on a journey through the international used car underground... all the way back to a pleasant, two-story home in suburban New Jersey. To find the answers, I team up with reporter Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi of NPR’s Planet Money podcast, which features fun and surprising stories about the global economy.
To hear the complete story of my road trip from the UK to Mongolia — when I broke down in the middle of the desert and first met Oraz — scroll back to the beginning of my feed and check out the first season of my podcast.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
I’m always open to listener feedback on Far From Home, and I heard from someone recently who’s given me a new perspective on one of my past stories and forced me to see things in a new light, so I wanted to share it with all of my listeners.
Several years ago on the show, I featured a series of stories about Lucho, a traditional medicine man from Peru who describes himself as a "curandero," or someone who heals. Using medicinal herbs, archaeological relics, and hallucinogenic plants, he claims to have rid himself of diabetes and his father of cancer. He regularly travels around his country treating people with all sorts of ailments.
In part one of my series, I joined Lucho as he embarked on a journey up the coast, searching for a star-shaped stone with supposed magical powers that he saw in a vision.
Then I accompanied him to a healing ceremony in a shantytown on the outskirts of Lima where he served participants a hallucinogenic brew called ayahuasca. I’d originally planned on simply observing and documenting the event, but once I was there, I decided to take Lucho up on his offer to consume a small amount of the potion myself to understand what the experience was like for everyone else. It didn’t seem to have much of an effect on me, however, and I wondered in the story whether I might be somehow immune.
In a bonus episode, I also shared the story of my friend Dennis, who similarly tried ayahuasca during his visit to Peru and felt like it didn’t live up to his expectations.
But after chatting recently with Nora Dunn, I’ve realized that perhaps my takeaways from my experience as well as my presentation of the topic might not have been entirely fair. Nora’s been traveling the world as a digital nomad for the past 17 years, blogging as The Professional Hobo, and she also spent several years working with shamans in Ecuador and Peru. On this episode, I revisit my previous reporting and get Nora’s insights on what I might have gotten wrong.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
While I’ve been hunkered down these past few years, avoiding traveling and staying home while I rode out the pandemic, I’ve been incredibly lucky that I’ve had a safe and comfortable place to live. But what has this experience been like for people in living situations that failed to provide basic levels of safety, privacy, and comfort?
On this episode of Far From Home, I play an episode from the Shelter podcast series that I co-produced with Rutgers University, coLAB Arts, and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary looking at the topic of housing insecurity in the era of Covid-19.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Over the past 2 months, more than 5 million people have left Ukraine, and another 6-and-a-half-million have fled their homes and are now displaced elsewhere within their own country, making this Europe’s largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Neighboring countries are struggling to keep up with the exodus, but they’ve generally been fairly welcoming, which many critics have pointed out is a markedly different approach from how they’ve treated African and Middle Eastern refugees in the past.
With so much of the world’s attention now focused on Ukraine, I thought I’d spend some time this episode featuring the voices of refugees from other parts of the world, since their stories are of course equally important. The recordings come from the Sound Seekers Audio Festival and were produced by refugee, asylum, and migrant communities in partnership with community radio stations, the Irish Research Council, and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
On this episode, I speak to Savelli and Olexander, two Ukrainians who’ve suddenly had their lives upended after the Russian military invaded their country.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Central Asia is not a place that most Westerners know or think about very often. But now that I’ve been there, my ears perk up on the rare instances when it makes the news, as was the case on two separate occasions over the past few weeks. In light of recent developments in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, I re-play excerpts of some episodes I featured several years ago on the first season of Far From Home, where I documented an 11,000 mile road trip my friends and I took from the UK to Mongolia in a couple of really tiny cars.
If you’re new to the program, I recommend going back to the very beginning of my podcast feed and bingeing the entire story of my journey. In particular, if you want to listen to longer versions of the stories I played on today’s show, here are the links:
“Kazakhstan: One Surprise After Another” (ep. 19)
“Turkmenistan: Just Plain Weird” (ep. 11) - go to that link also to see a video of my friends and I approaching the giant fire pit in the middle of Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Take Santa Claus. Then ditch the red suit and the flying reindeer, and you’ve got a guy who’s all about giving. On this last episode of my third season, I tell the story of the time my dad tried out the role and got more than he bargained for!
This story originally aired many years ago on NPR’s Day to Day. Thanks to my editor Russell Lewis.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Nearly 2 years into the Covid-19 pandemic, new waves of infection continue to spread around the world, and the Omicron variant is causing renewed fears in places that previously thought they had the virus under control. So I’m releasing another episode in my series where I check in with friends and colleagues around the world to get a sense of what things are like where they live. This time we hear voices from Thailand, Ukraine, Guatemala, Belgium, Finland, and Vietnam. If you’ve missed the previous three installments of my COVID Stories series, you can check them out in my season 3 archive.
If you’re a regular listener of my show, I’d love to hear your feedback on this series. Do you enjoy it, or are you tired of it, and you think I should move on to something else? You can let me know by emailing me at info@farfromhomepodcast.org
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Having grown up just outside of New York City, I visited most of the big tourist attractions like the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Rockefeller Center when I was a kid. But when you spend a lot of time in a place and get to know it well, you start to discover some really cool but lesser-known areas, and those are the ones I always like to share with friends when they come from out of town.
Recently, I played tour guide for my colleague Palle Bo, who’s the host of The Radio Vagabond podcast and has been to nearly 100 countries. If you’re a longtime listener of my show, you may remember his episode I shared a while back about the time he and his daughter joined a tour group in North Korea.
Palle had been to New York several times before, so I figured I would get him out of Manhattan where most of the other tourists stay and bring him to see some interesting sites in the city’s outer boroughs. He ended up making a podcast episode about our experience that I really enjoyed, so I’m re-sharing it in my feed. You can read more and see some photos from some of the places Palle and I visited on his website.
If you’re new to Far From Home and want to hear some of my past episodes that Palle mentioned, check out my first season where I told the story of my road trip to Mongolia including the time my friends and I were asked to pay a bribe in Tajikistan, my episode about the time I made a fool of myself trying to learn the ancient art of Tuvan throat singing, and the time I participated in a hallucinogenic healing ceremony in Peru.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
When you travel, it’s inevitable that you’ll occasionally have weird or random experiences, where you might have certain expectations before you arrive at a place, but then you’re totally thrown for a loop. Sometimes it’s frustrating, and other times it ends up being a pleasant surprise, but either way, it’s unexpected, and there’s this moment where you can’t help but stop, take a breath, and think, “Wait. How did I end up here again?”
On today’s episode, I talk about how I found myself in a swarm of Justin Bieber fans in Bangkok, Thailand, and Nisreene Atassi — host of Expedia’s “Out Travel the System” podcast — shares the story of the time she and some co-workers went to a sushi dinner in Tokyo and ended up having a night they’d never forget.
If you enjoy this episode, you might also like this story from my last season about the time I slept overnight on the floor of Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market to see an early morning tuna auction. And if all this inspires you to head to the nearest airport, check out this episode of Nissy’s podcast where she discusses tips for planning your own trip to Japan!
As always, you can find, follow, and message Far From Home on Facebook or Instagram or contact me on Twitter. Or you can drop me a line at info@farfromhomepodcast.org
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
In the immediate aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, President Bush vowed revenge against the perpetrators, but not everyone found his words comforting. Around this time, a small but vocal group of people got together to speak out. They were the parents, spouses, siblings, and children of people who were killed in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and they said they didn’t want the deaths of their loved ones to be used to justify military attacks that could harm innocent civilians on the other side of the world.
They called themselves “September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,” and in late November of 2001, they took part in a walk for peace from the Pentagon to the World Trade Center site. I was a young reporter at the time, and I tagged along and interviewed several members of the group, later producing an hour-long documentary featuring their stories.
On this 20th anniversary of the attacks, I’m re-releasing that documentary, along with an interview I conducted a few weeks ago with David Potorti, whose brother James worked on the 96th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. David has just co-edited an anthology of poetry from over 100 poets who’ve written about September 11th. It’s called Crossing the Rift: North Carolina Poets on 9/11 and its Aftermath.
As always, you can find, follow, and message Far From Home on Facebook or Instagram or contact me on Twitter. Or you can drop me a line at info@farfromhomepodcast.org
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Knowing the rules and being able to navigate them can be a big part of feeling safe in any city. On this episode of Far From Home, I share an episode from another great podcast I recently discovered called “Here There Be Dragons,” where host Jess Myers speaks to residents of Stockholm, Sweden trying to figure out the norms, how to use them, and how to change them. Will they have to bend to Stockholm or will Stockholm bend to them?
If you enjoy this episode, I highly recommend subscribing to HTBD wherever you get your podcasts to hear more fascinating, behind-the-scenes stories from cities around the world!
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
July 17th, 2021 marked the fifth anniversary of the day my brother Drew and I — along with our friends Jane and Rosi — set out from southern England on an 11,000 mi (18k km) road trip across Europe and Asia. Over the seven weeks that followed, we’d cross 18 countries, 8 time zones, 5 mountain ranges, and a few deserts, before eventually ending up in Ulan-Ude, Siberia, just north of Mongolia. And along the way, we’d have all sorts of crazy adventures, ranging from crashing a wedding in Kazakhstan to visiting Iran as American tourists, not to mention an emergency rescue and countless breakdowns and mechanical difficulties, often in the worst possible places!
On this episode of Far From Home, I play a recent conversation Drew and Rosi had with me and a small crowd of Far From Home fans and listeners in Clubhouse, the audio-based social media app. We look back at some highlights from our adventure, share behind-the-scenes stories, and take questions from the audience (you can skip forward to 53:19 if you just want to hear the Q&A).
If you’re new to this podcast and haven’t yet had a chance to listen to my first season where I documented this journey, I encourage you to go back and binge my show from the very beginning. You can also view tons of bonus content including photos and videos on my website as well as by scrolling back in my Instagram feed. If you want to read more about my journey, check out my Mongol Rally team website, and here’s the link where you can check out the Gallivanting Quines YouTube video Anne MacAskill mentioned during the Q&A portion of this event.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
When you travel – especially if you’re in a distant and unfamiliar place – it’s inevitable that sooner or later, things will happen that are beyond your control. You’re thrown a curveball and you’ve got to do your best to stay calm, be creative, and improvise. On this episode, I feature two stories from friends of mine who got caught in unexpected and frightening situations outside their comfort zones, where they had to navigate entirely new terrain and try their best to sort things out.
First we hear from Graham and Sarah Marsden about their 2010 trip to Syria on the eve of the Arab Spring. Graham is the founder of a travel company ironically called “Don’t Go Travel,” which promotes ethical and responsible tourism. He also hosts a podcast called “Don’t Go Unless,” where I was a guest a few months ago, discussing my trip to Cambodia.
Then, Donna Salter tells the story of how she ended up stranded on a little tiny boat in the middle of very big ocean. If you want to hear about another one of her adventures, hitching a ride across the ocean on a cargo ship, here’s an interview she did on the Global Travel Channel podcast.
(Music used in this episode includes Desert City, Balzan Groove - Vadodara, and Darkening Developments by Kevin MacLeod, which are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. (source: http://incompetech.com/), as well as Filastine – Judas Goat (feat. Hichman Enouiti), which was licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivs 3.0 license.)
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
COVID-19 has closed borders and made travel difficult if not impossible for many of us over the past year-and-a-half. But radio signals don't need passports or plane tickets. They circle the earth, bouncing off the atmosphere. So even if you’re confined to your home, it’s possible — with a good antenna — to listen to voices from the other side of the world. On this episode of Far From Home, award-winning radio producer, audio archivist, and shortwave / pirate radio aficionado David Goren joins me to share recorded highlights from his decades monitoring the airwaves.
If you enjoy this interview, I highly recommend checking out David’s interactive Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map as well as his Soundcloud page where he’s posted dozens more shortwave radio recordings from his archives.
You can follow Far From Home on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and join my club on the Clubhouse app (please drop me a line at info@farfromhomepodcast.org if you need an invitation).
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
On this episode of Far From Home, I continue my series where I’m checking in with friends and colleagues around the world to get a sense of the many ways COVID-19 is affecting people and how their governments are handling the pandemic. This time we hear voices from Tunisia, Switzerland, Cameroon, Antigua and Barbuda, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. If you’ve missed the previous two installments of my COVID Stories series, you can check them out in my season 3 archive.
As mentioned in this episode, if you’re a Swiss German speaker and want to listen to This Wachter’s botany podcast, you can find it here. Morgan Childs recently produced Foreign Insiders, a 10-part series about foreigners and other outsiders in the Czech Republic. And you can follow Sam Kimball (who gave us the update from Tunisia) on Twitter.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
April 26, 2021 marks the 35th anniversary of the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the former USSR — which remains the worst nuclear accident in history — so I’m re-releasing an episode from my second season where my friend Donna and I visited the site of the explosion and toured abandoned buildings in nearby villages. You can read more about my trip and see photos and videos on my website.
If you’re a new listener to my show and you enjoy this episode, I recommend you go back and delve into my archives, since I’ve got tons more interesting documentaries I’ve produced from my travels over the years!
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Each year on April 19th, residents of Oklahoma City commemorate the anniversary of the 1995 bombing in their city, which prior to September 11th bore the distinction of being the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil. On this episode of Far From Home, I dig into my archives to share two stories I produced about the bombing from back when I was a reporter at a small public radio station in Oklahoma.
First I look back at how Muslim Americans were falsely blamed in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Then I share the story of former Oklahoma City police officer Jim Ramsey, who won his department’s Medal of Valor for his role on the day of the bombing, before guilt and depression got the best of him.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Over the past week, violence has once again broken out in Northern Ireland. During one skirmish in Belfast last Wednesday, rioters threw Molotov cocktails, several police officers were injured, and a double decker bus was hijacked and burnt to the ground. It was the latest flare-up in long-simmering tensions between Catholic nationalists — who are calling for a united Ireland — and Protestant loyalists and unionists, who remain dedicated to the British Crown.
To get some context on the latest developments, I’m joined this episode by my colleague Don Duncan, who’s a journalist and a lecturer at Queen’s University in Belfast. Then we listen back to a documentary I produced several years ago for the podcast 99% Invisible about the dozens of fences and walls that still separate many Catholic nationalist and Protestant loyalist communities in Northern Ireland, even though it’s been more than two decades since a peace agreement was signed that officially ended the era of armed conflict.
Visit my website to see photos and an interactive map of the peace walls in Northern Ireland. And visit 99% Invisible’s website for more background information about this story and to hear an extended conversation between me and host Roman Mars (starting around 28:30 into episode 367) about the connection between the peace walls and Brexit, the ongoing divisions between Catholics and Protestants, and a very funny television show that’s helping to bring them together.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Over the past year, COVID-19 has had all sorts of ripple effects that most of us never imagined: Air pollution plummeted as people stopped flying. Companies closed their office buildings for good as working from home became the new norm. And here’s another change you might not have thought much about: The pandemic has radically altered how the world sounds.
On this episode, I’m joined by Berlin-based science journalist and multimedia producer Andreas von Bubnoff. He’s one of the creators of the Pandemic Silence Project. Together, we listen to recordings people around the world have submitted to his website, documenting how things now sound different where they live. If you’d like to submit a recording from where you live, you can do so here.
Have you joined Far From Home’s fan discussion group yet on Clubhouse, the new audio-only social media app? I’m planning some cool events for the coming weeks and would love to have you participate! You can download the app here (unfortunately only for iPhone users for the time being), and if you need help getting in, drop me a line at info@farfromhomepodcast.org, and I’ll send you an invitation!
On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Having hiked the Appalachian Trail, Justin and Patrice La Vigne thought they knew what they were getting into when they decided to embark on Te Araroa, a 2000 mile path across New Zealand. But they ended up being blown away by the kindness and incredible hospitality of the people they met along the way. If you’re interested in learning more about their journey, you can visit their website to read their blog and get Patrice’s book, Between Each Step – A Married Couple’s Thru Hike on New Zealand’s Te Araroa.
On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
I’m taking a break between seasons right now, but I’m popping back into your feed with a special bonus episode I’m sharing from a really great podcast called Foreign Correspondence. It’s hosted by Jake Spring, who’s a journalist for Reuters based in Brazil. On his program, Jake does fascinating interviews with other journalists around the world, and on his latest episode, Jake interviewed me about how I got into journalism, my previous work in public radio, and some of the stories I’ve worked on for Far From Home.
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
HowSound podcast by Rob Rosenthal
WNYC’s Peabody award winning coverage of NJ Governor Chris Christie and the response to Superstorm Sandy
My story on Antigua and Barbuda that I co-produced with NPR’s Planet Money
Vox podcast Today, Explained
An Arm and a Leg podcast
In the Dark podcast Season 2
Chef Yotam Ottolenghi
Milk Street cooking website
Bill Buford’s book Among the Thugs
NPR’s Throughline history podcast
WNYC’s On the Media radio show and podcast
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
On this final episode of Season 3, I return to where I began 2020 in Puerto Rico, on the last trip I took prior to the pandemic. I join my friend Rob at a parranda — the Puerto Rican version of Christmas caroling — except this parranda has a unique twist.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
COVID-19 may have forced most of us to take a break from traveling for the foreseeable future, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some really cool places to discover right in our own neighborhoods. On this episode, I join about a dozen suburban adventurers on an exploration of Toney’s Brook, a local stream that flows through — and under — the town of Montclair, New Jersey, close to where I live.
See photos and videos from my trip on my website. And — if you’re not already doing so — make sure to follow Far From Home on Instagram or Facebook.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
While Americans were celebrating Halloween and heading to the polls, Peruvians were busy commemorating El Dia de los Defuntos, the day at the beginning of November each year when they remember their deceased relatives. On this episode of Far From Home, I visit one of the world’s largest cemeteries on the outskirts of Lima, Peru as thousands of people flock to their loved ones’ graves to eat, drink, and listen to music.
Read more and see some photos and videos from my trip on my website. And — if you’re not already doing so — make sure to follow Far From Home on Instagram.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
On this episode of Far From Home, I continue my series where I’m checking in with friends and colleagues around the world to get a sense of the many ways COVID-19 is affecting people and how their governments are handling the pandemic. This time we hear voices from Lithuania, South Africa, India, Ghana, and Guam.
If you have a unique perspective or experience on COVID-19 from your part of the world, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop me a line at info@farfromhomepodcast.org. And if you’ve missed the other installments of my COVID Stories series, you can check them out in my season 3 archive.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
You probably missed it amid everything else going on in the world recently, but last week was the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, so on this episode, we’re staying within the U.S. for a change and going to New Orleans, revisiting what the storm was like for residents of the city and looking at parallels with the current situation with COVID-19.
Katrina left lasting footprints on New Orleans that may never be erased, but for many people who don’t live on the Gulf Coast of the United States, it’s now largely faded into history. The thing is, this is something we need to remember. From the federal government’s botched response, to the lessons about the ongoing threats of climate change, to simply honoring the memories of the thousands of people who died, it’s a historical event we should never forget.
So this time on Far From Home, I’m going back in time to August of 2007 when I visited New Orleans and had conversations with several people who were struggling to rebuild their lives and reclaim this once great American city as their home.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
On this episode of Far From Home, I’m beginning an occasional series where I’m checking in with friends and colleagues around the world to get a sense of the many ways COVID-19 is affecting people and how their governments are handling the pandemic. This time we hear voices from France, Haiti, Brazil, the UK, Peru, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan.
I’m hoping to do more shows like this, and I’d love to hear from listeners in far flung places! If you’re living somewhere outside of the continental U.S. or Canada and you have a unique perspective, story, or experience you want to share about what’s going on where you are or in your life, please drop me a line at info@farfromhomepodcast.org, and I’ll send you some instructions on what I’m looking for and how to send me a recording from your cell phone.
Thanks to radio producer Neil Sandell, who generously allowed me to share his confinement diary recordings with my listeners. Check out his Soundcloud page if you’d like to hear more of his work.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
If you want to build a house on the Caribbean island of Barbuda, you can just put up a fence wherever you want, and have it. You don’t pay for it. You don’t sign for anything. You just have to be Barbudan. Barbudans have held their pink sand paradise “in common” since the 1800s. No titles. No paperwork.
But on the heels of a major disaster, the Prime Minister has come up with a new plan. He wants to sell Barbudans the plot of land they’ve been living on for one Eastern Caribbean dollar and give them legally binding property titles they can take to a bank, to help rebuild. A lot of Barbudans don’t want the deal, though. I team up with reporter Sarah Gonzalez from NPR’s Planet Money podcast to tell the story.
Visit my website to see some photos from our trip to Barbuda.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
From the 1930s to the 1960s, Black motorists driving across the United States and Canada often brought along a copy of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, which was a sort of AAA guide that told them which gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses were safe for them to stop at, and which areas they should avoid. Publication eventually ended after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, when things seemed to be improving. But now two Colorado women are trying to revive it in digital form. Parker McMullen-Bushman and Crystal Egli join me to talk about their GoFundMe campaign and explain why they think we need a new Green Book. You can read more about their project at inclusivejourneys.com.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
If you were forced to quarantine as a result of COVID-19 and could only hang out with members of one other household, who would you choose? On the latest episode of Far From Home, writer and filmmaker Mike Hickey tells me how a government experiment that limited the number of people he and his fellow residents of Newfoundland, Canada could interact with forced many people to make difficult and stressful choices. I also play some excerpts from Mike’s Double Your Bubble podcast, where he speaks to his friends about how they made their decisions.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
In light of the recent protests for racial justice across the United States and around the world, I chat with two African American friends about what it’s like to travel as a Black person, both in their own country and abroad. The stories they tell are sometimes funny and sometimes sad, but always eye-opening, and they shed light on what it’s like to constantly stick out from the crowd, even when you’re just trying your best to fit in.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, I speak with Istanbul-based author and journalist Fariba Nawa about what the situation is like where she lives in Turkey. Then I play a recent episode of her podcast, On Spec, where she tells the story of her photographer friend Hilaneh Mahmoudi’s personal experience battling the virus.
If you enjoy this episode, check out Hilaneh’s photo essay of what she went through. And listen to other shows in the On Spec archive wherever you get your podcasts.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
As the world is consumed by COVID-19, I check in with author and American expat Tiffany Parks, who lives on the outskirts of Rome, to get a sense of what things are like in Italy right now. Then, in my quest to find positive stories to share in this dispiriting time, I play an episode of The Bittersweet Life — the travel podcast Tiffany co-hosts with her friend Katy Sewall — about so-called travel angels, the unsung, everyday heroes who assist in small and not-so-small ways when we’re in a foreign place and need a helping hand.
This episode includes the song “Impromptu in Blue,” which was licensed from composer Kevin MacLeod under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
With a global pandemic, canceled flights, and closed borders, many travelers suddenly found themselves trapped in foreign countries, trying to figure out how to get home, even if they thought they were taking all the necessary precautions. I share the story of one of them. And I tell what happened when the virus recently came to my own household.
Select music in this episode was licensed from composer Anthony Kozar under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
While Far From Home is on a break between seasons, I’m popping into your feed from time to time to share segments from other shows I’ve enjoyed that I think all of you might like as well. Today I’m featuring an episode from The Radio Vagabond podcast, where Danish radio producer Palle Bo tells stories from his travels, kind of like I do. This time he goes to a place I’m not quite brave enough to go myself, at least not right now, and not as a journalist: North Korea. You can read more about Palle’s journey and see some picture he took on his website.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
In light of the recent political developments that briefly brought the US and Iran to the brink of war, I’m re-releasing an excerpt of a story I produced for the first season of Far From Home. It’s about the time a few years ago when I drove through Iran with my brother Drew and our friends Jane and Rosi as part of an 11,000 mile road trip we took across Europe and Asia, raising money for charity. Along the way, we had enlightening conversations with average Iranians that made us see their country in a totally new light.
You can read more and see photos that accompany this episode on my website. To listen to this complete story, as well as my other stories from Iran and the rest of my road trip, go back and check out the first season of this podcast. Note that it’s a series, so it’s best to start at the very beginning and listen to all the episodes in order for the story to make the most sense.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
The historical accounts are a bit fuzzy, but the way the story is commonly told, Caribbean slaves in the 18th century gained a day of freedom two times a year, on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and New Year’s Day. They made costumes and played music to celebrate, and over the centuries, that tradition evolved into what’s now know as the annual Junkanoo festival, an all-night parade through the streets that’s been compared to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnival in Brazil.
On this episode of Far From Home, I visit Nassau in The Bahamas, which is home to the largest and most well-known of the celebrations. I speak with several participants to learn more about the festival and why they look forward to it each year around this time.
Visit my website to see some photos and videos my brother took when we attended the Junkanoo Festival a number of years ago.
The Bahamas are still recovering from the awful devastation of Hurricane Dorian a few months ago. If you’d like to make a donation to help, I suggest contacting Sol Relief or World Hope International.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
While driving across Russia on my way home from the Mongol Rally (the story I documented on the first season of this podcast), I had several conversations and interactions with people in Russia and Kazakhstan that surprised and even baffled me. So on this episode, I call up Charles Maynes, an American public radio journalist based in Moscow, to help me interpret and understand Russian culture. If you want to hear some of Charles’s reporting, I highly recommend the Spacebridge documentary series he co-produced that ran on PRX’s Showcase podcast.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
This week’s episode is a bit different from what I normally do on the show. I’ve been getting a lot of questions and comments from listeners recently, so I thought I’d spend some time today answering some of them and sharing a bit of the feedback I’ve received. Some of you were also curious about my background and how I created Far From Home, so in the second half of the program, I’m featuring a recent interview I did with Corey Cambridge on his show, OPP (Other People’s Podcast), where I talk a little more about the path that led me into podcasting and the thinking that goes into my show.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
This upcoming January marks the tenth anniversary of the massive earthquake in Haiti. It came on a Tuesday afternoon, 12 days into the new year, and destroyed or severely damaged a quarter of a million homes, killing more than 100,000 people. Eight months later, in September of 2010, I traveled to Haiti with several journalist colleagues to document the country’s slow recovery process. On today’s episode, I revisit my journey and some of the reporting I did, and I check in with Haitian freelance journalist Etant Dupain to see where things stand in Haiti today.
Visit my website to see some photos and videos I took during my trip and for a list of worthwhile organizations if you’d like to make a donation to help the Haitian people.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
When he was growing up in Southern California, Addi Somekh wasn't quite sure what to do with his life. But he knew from a young age that he wanted to "spread warmth" and make other people happy. On this week’s episode, the unusual story of how Addi’s quest to do just that set him off on a worldwide mission to make people laugh. Addi and his friend Charlie hatch a plan to travel around the globe making balloon hats for people, but what at first sounds like a fun and quirky adventure turns out to be far more meaningful than they ever could have imagined!
Visit my website to see some of Charlie’s amazing photos of people around the world wearing Addi’s balloon hats, and for links to his balloon art, his balloon bass music, his reality TV show, and the documentary that was made about his travels.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
I feel like several of the trips I’ve taken in recent years have been to places people have urged me to go while I still can, or at least before things change. On today’s show, I visit Cambodia, which is one such place that’s changed dramatically, where the present no longer looks like the past. First I go to Angkor Wat, which had just 8000 tourists in 1993, but 2.5 million by 2018. Then I take a ride on Battambang’s famous bamboo railway, which was moved to a new location the year after my trip.
Visit my website to see photos of the crowd watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat and a video of my brother and me riding the bamboo railway.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
As a follow-up to my last episode, I present the story of my friend Dennis, who also tried ayahuasca in Peru and seemed to be immune to its effects.
Select music in this episode was licensed from composer Anthony Kozar under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
In the previous episode of Far From Home, I visited Lima, Peru, where I met a traditional medicine man named Lucho. This time, I accompany him to a healing ceremony where he uses a hallucinogenic brew called ayahuasca. I also speak with an anthropologist to learn more about the history of shamanism. Visit my website to see some photos from the ceremony.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Lucho is a traditional medicine man who describes himself as a "curandero," or someone who heals. Using medicinal herbs, archeological relics, and hallucinogenic plants (as well as some special powers), he claims to have rid himself of diabetes and his father of cancer. He regularly travels around Peru treating people with all sorts of ailments. On this episode of Far From Home, I travel to Lima and join Lucho as he goes on a journey, searching for a star-shaped stone with supposed magical powers that he saw in a vision.
Visit my website to see photos from my trip to the traditional medicine market in the northern Peruvian city of Chiclayo.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
In 1998, political leaders in Northern Ireland signed a peace agreement they hoped would end the Troubles, a 30 year period of armed conflict between Catholic nationalists and Protestant loyalists. Decades later, the situation has improved, but cities like Belfast remain divided by dozens of fences and walls separating the two communities. And removing them isn’t going to be easy. On this episode of Far From Home, I visit Northern Ireland to learn about the history and speak to residents about why the walls are still standing.
This documentary was produced in collaboration with my friends at the excellent podcast 99% Invisible, which you should definitely check out if you aren’t already a listener. Visit their website for more background information about this story and to hear an extended conversation between host Roman Mars and me (starting around 28:30 into episode 367) about the connection between the peace walls and Brexit, the ongoing divisions between Catholics and Protestants, and a very funny television show that’s helping to bring them together.
Also, visit my website to see photos and an interactive map of the peace walls in Northern Ireland.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
Throat singing is one of the world’s oldest forms of music. It’s practiced by indigenous groups in several parts of the world, including South Africa and the Canadian Arctic. But mostly when people talk about throat singing, they’re referring to the style performed in the remote Russian republic of Tuva, which the local people call khoomei. It’s an ancient practice created by the nomadic people of Central Asia who were trying to mimic sounds of nature like the songs of birds, a babbling brook, or even the growls of a camel. On this episode of Far From Home, I visit the city of Kyzyl in the Republic of Tuva to learn about traditional music and instruments, and to try to learn to throat sing myself.
Read more about my visit and see photos and videos of the Tuvan National Orchestra on my website.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
For more than 80 years, Tokyo, Japan’s Tsukiji fish market had a reputation for supplying some of the freshest and best quality seafood anywhere. But over the decades, it had become overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe. After years of planning, the city decided to move the market last fall to a larger and more modern facility about a mile-and-a-half away. Despite the obvious benefits, there were also plenty of complaints that the new location was harder to get to, felt sterile and soulless, and simply lacked the charm of the old Tsukiji. I had the opportunity to visit Tsukiji for one last time and witness one of its famous early morning tuna auctions.
Read more about my visit and see photos and videos on my website.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
If you’ve seen or heard about the recent HBO dramatic miniseries about Chernobyl, you might have wondered what it’s really like there today. I take a trip to the abandoned villages surrounding the reactor to find out for myself. Read more about my visit and see photos and videos on my website.
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On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian documents fascinating stories from far-flung places like Iran, Chernobyl, and Mongolia. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org
People often say it’s a small world, but there are giant parts of the planet that most people never think about and billions of stories they’ve never heard. On Far From Home, award-winning public radio journalist Scott Gurian visits some of those places, documenting his unexpected adventures and chance encounters with interesting people wherever he goes. For more info, visit farfromhomepodcast.org.
After driving 11,000 miles over the course of seven weeks, we finally reached the finish line of the Mongol Rally, and everything was suddenly over. There was no more waking up early to hit the road, driving 12 hours to make up for lost time, and arriving at our destination long after dark. No more tow trucks or tow ropes, restaurants serving meat from another strange animal, or sleeping in uncomfortable beds in sketchy hotel rooms that desperately needed a remodel. No more use for Google Translate or need to hand over bottles of vodka to police officers as bribes. And you know what? As crazy as it sounds, we kind of missed it! On this final episode of Far From Home season one, I take a look back at our journey, give some updates, and talk about what it was like finishing this adventure and returning to normal, everyday life.
Read more a see a video of some highlights from our journey on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
We’d spent 7 weeks driving nearly 11,000 miles across Europe and Asia, and although we were nearing the end of our journey, we still had a series of challenges ahead. Our route in the coming days would take us across some of the roughest terrain we’d encounter our entire trip, and our car problems would continue, but after hearing stories from some of the other rally teams, we realized our situation could have been far worse. Plus the hardships along the way only make getting to the end all the more rewarding! Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
After a series of bad decisions, my brother and I had ended up stranded with our friends at the bottom of an incredibly steep and rocky hill in a really remote part of Mongolia. We’d sent a text by satellite to the American embassy in Mongolia’s capital who dispatched a rescue team, and when that team couldn’t find us, they sent a second team. Help finally arrived after dark, but this would be no simple rescue. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
After getting stuck driving across a shallow river in Mongolia, my brother and I make the fateful decision to veer off the main path onto another trail that seems like it might be easier. Unfortunately, it’s not long before we realize we’ve made a terrible mistake. Now we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no other signs of life for miles in any direction. Having exhausted all our options, we seek shelter in an abandoned-looking building and contact the American embassy for help. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
Mongolia is a place of wide open spaces and little vegetation. It’s the the land of Genghis Khan, nomadic culture. and yodeling dance music. It’s a country that’s twice the size of Texas, but with only 3 million people, it has the lowest population density of any nation on earth. It’s also a place with notoriously bad roads, where the main east-west routes are often little more than tracks through the dirt. Maps and satellite GPS are of little navigational help, and signs are few and far between. Throw in some river crossings for added entertainment, and – as we found out – traversing the country can be quite an adventure! Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
When my brother and I told friends we’d be driving across Kazakhstan, we got plenty of jokes about Borat, but we were about to find out that the real-life nation of Kazakhstan was almost nothing like what was portrayed on the screen. Far from being backwards and uncivilized, the country we experienced was fascinating, friendly, and full of surprises. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
We were in an extremely remote section of eastern Tajikistan, and we’d just received news that our car’s engine might not last much longer. Left with few options, the best we could do was to keep going, keeping our fingers crossed that our luck would hold out. In the midst of it all, our route was about to take us over a mountain pass that was nearly 3 miles high. Then we end up getting horribly lost in Kyrgyzstan on a rocky dirt road with dozens of switchbacks, and we have no idea where we’ll spend the night! Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
The mountainous Pamir Highway in Tajikistan was precisely the type of terrain that our 1-liter Nissan Micra hatchback was not suited to handle. One of our friends had described it as a car “that you would expect a 60-year-old woman to drive to the supermarket twice a week,” and now we were pushing it to ever-greater extremes, keeping our fingers crossed that it would somehow persevere. So we weren’t totally surprised when our luck eventually ran out. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
Our car was running once again, but now we faced a handful of new mechanical issues, just as we were about to embark on the roughest part of our journey yet: a 600 mile stretch of mostly unpaved and mountainous road along the Tajikistan - Afghanistan border that’s considered one of the most spectacular and potentially dangerous routes in the world. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
When we first learned that it would take a week for our car to get repaired, we figured we’d have some time to relax and explore the historic city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. But instead we’re hit with a variety of unforeseen challenges: our friends Rosi and Jane’s visas are about to expire, the four of us contract some sort of nasty stomach bug, and we learn that we might not be able to enter Mongolia after all. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
In the three weeks since we started our journey, we’d broken down about 4 times, been to half a dozen mechanics, and tried all sorts of stop-gap measures to solve our car issues, but there was still some sort of big underlying problem whose name we didn’t yet know. Now at another mechanic in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, we were about to find out. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
When it comes to welcoming foreign tourists, Turkmenistan is close to the bottom of the list. It was hard enough to get visas in the first place, and when we did, they were only good for 5 days. Now broken down with serious car problems, we had to try to convince officials to give us more time. Alternately, we could throw in the towel and tow the car all the way to the border to try to get it fixed on the Uzbekistan side, but would the border guards even let us in with a car that wouldn’t start? Suddenly, our little road trip had turned into an international bureaucratic dilemma, and the next 24 hours were sure to be interesting as we sorted this one out. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
Driving a small, crappy car was a prerequisite for anyone participating in the Mongol Rally. The point was to make the journey more exciting and adventurous. We liked the idea at first, but now we’d broken down yet again, and our mechanical issues this time were worse than ever. After getting a hole in our radiator while driving across eastern Turkmenistan, we get towed to a garage where they repair the leak, but things take a turn for the worse. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
While I continue to work on the next regular show, here’s a short bonus episode of some conversations I had with some other Mongol Rally teams during our stopover at Turkmenistan’s Door to Hell. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
We visit the hermit kingdom of Turkmenistan — one of the most reclusive and authoritarian nations in the world — and we see why some visitors describe its capital city of Ashgabat as a cross between Las Vegas and Pyongyang. Paranoia sets in as we get the feeling we’re constantly being watched. And we take a side trip to a giant fire pit in the desert that’s been burning for 40 years! Read more and see photos, as well as a video of the Darvaza Gas Crater on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
“Honestly, most Americans — when they think of Iran — probably think of 3 things,” my brother said. “Desert, oil, and nuclear capabilities.” And it was true. Before our road trip across Europe and Asia last summer, we didn’t really have much of an idea what to expect. But now as we drive across Iran, we realize it’s a place where things are rarely black and white. Everywhere we turn, we see a tension between sticking to the old way of doing things and forging a new path. Listen in as we visit the country’s holiest site and have more car trouble in the middle of the desert. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
Our eighteen country road trip across Europe and Asia last summer left us with a wealth of memorable stories and experiences. But if you asked me to name the single most fascinating and thought-provoking place we visited, the answer would clearly be Iran. On this episode, we have enlightening conversations with average Iranians that make us see the country in a new light. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
First there were a series of terrorist attacks in Istanbul and Ankara and a threat from Kurdish separatists vowing to target Turkey’s tourism industry to inflict economic harm. Then an attempted military coup followed by a government crackdown on dissent. As we followed the news in the months leading up to our planned drive across Turkey, it was easy to feel nervous and uncertain about just what we would encounter. After all the anticipation and hand-wringing, we finally cross the border and are surprised by what we see. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
The first few days of our trip across Europe were mostly smooth sailing and uneventful, but things were about to change. On this episode, as we cross into Romania and Bulgaria, the roads get rougher, the journey becomes more interesting, and we experience our first mechanical difficulties as we continue our drive east. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
We leave southern England and set out on our road trip to Mongolia, overcoming some of our fears and throwing our plans out the window while we drive across Europe on the first leg of our journey. As we head towards the Turkish border, we continue to follow the news closely and weigh the risks of driving through the country just days after an attempted coup. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
After nearly a year of planning, we descend upon the Goodwood Raceway in southern England to begin our road trip to Mongolia as part of the Mongol Rally. I chat with other teams from around the world to hear their stories, and we discuss our concerns about traveling through Turkey in the aftermath of the recent political unrest. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
Our road trip from London to Mongolia is sure to be a fun and crazy adventure, but we’re also doing it for a good cause. On this episode of the podcast, we visit Port-au-Prince, Haiti to learn about the main charity my brother and I are supporting on our journey. Read more on my website.
UPDATE: We are no longer accepting donations as part of the rally, but you can give directly to our charities by visiting the support page on our team website: teamdonundestan.com/support
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
I fly to London to make final preparations before our road trip to Mongolia and find myself dealing with one logistical and bureaucratic nightmare after another. We also take a basic car repair class and pick up some essential supplies for our trip. Plus, things heat up in Turkey at the last minute, leaving us scrambling to figure out our route. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
After reading a hilarious, cringe-worthy article about the “culinary horrors of Mongolia,” we were curious what us two pescatarians would eat in the meat-loving countries of Central Asia, so my brother and I take a field trip to Cheburechnaya – an Uzbeki restaurant in Queens, NY – to find out. We also give updates on some of the many things we’ve been up to since the last episode, like getting more vaccinations and visas and taking a class to learn emergency first aid. Read more and see photos on my website.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
When my brother and I told our friends and family that we were planning an 11,000 mile road trip across Europe and Asia, one of the first questions they often asked was, “What kind of car?” In this episode, we seek advice on what kind of vehicle to buy, we go car shopping in London, and we learn to drive stick.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
Another full episode is coming out next week, but in the meantime, here’s an excerpt of a recent interview I did about my trip on my friend and colleague Paul Brubaker’s show, The Backgrounder podcast. Our conversation was recorded live on stage in Montclair, NJ, and is being used here with the permission of The Backgrounder and Direct Audio Media. To listen to the full interview, go to BackgrounderPod.com and search for episode 68.
Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
My friend Rosi from Australia contacts my brother and me to invite us to join her on an 11,000 mile road trip this summer across Europe and Asia, and we weigh the risks, challenges, and rewards of driving to Mongolia in a tiny car that’s totally not built for such a journey.
Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!
I introduce the show and describe the first season, which involved an epic, 7 week road trip from the UK to Mongolia. For more info, visit teamdonundestan.com and farfromhomepodcast.org.