Around the World with Dan Perry: Recent Episodes
Dan Perry
This podcast is about travel. I'll interview interesting characters to get their stories, learn how they travel, discover what motivates them. Hopefully in the process, I'll motivate you as well. You're going to learn that there's no right or wrong way to travel. You can do whatever you want on your trip, so what's stopping you?
Sim and Nathan are Couchsurfers who stayed with Katie and me in Hong Kong. This was their final stop on a journey of more than a year. We had an awesome discussion about a variety of topics, ranging from traveling for free to exploding Pinto gas tanks.
Miljana Zutic, AKA “Serbian Traveler”, has been traveling around the world for the last four years with no money. Seriously, she left her home with two euros and has kept the adventure going for all this time. How, you wonder? Listen to this podcast to find out.
Miljana’s social media can be found at the following links:
- Serbian Traveler on Youtube (educational videos from her travels)
- Serbian Traveler on Facebook
- Serbian Traveler on Instagram
If you enjoy this podcast and Miljana’s social media pages, she would really appreciate it if you would kick a few bucks her way on PayPal. Here’s her address:
pierrestatue@gmail.com.
Alec Hill is a world traveler who is just getting started on an open-ended trip. In fact, Hong Kong was his first international stop, and I was his second Couchsurfing host. We chatted about how he got here and what lies on the road ahead for him.
Katie and I met Alison Price many years ago at the Twin Ports invasion, dubbed “The World's Coldest Couchsurfing Invasion”, a claim that I do no dispute. Alison is an amazing artist based in Minneapolis.
My guest today is Ryan Sinn. He's a digital nomad who's into travel and cycle touring, and he has a unique and interesting worldview. I had a great time chatting with him, and I hope you'll enjoy our conversation.
A few months ago, Katie and I met Pradeepika Saraswat while traveling in Hampi, southern India. We hit it off and she later invited us to visit her in Delhi, where we recorded this podcast. Pradeepika is a journalist who has spent much time living in Kashmir, a region over which India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars. I also visited Kashmir a few years back and became very interested in the region, so naturally, this was the main focus of our discussion.
With only a few days left in our ten-month trip, Katie and I recapped our time in India and discussed how travel has changed us. Lots of good philosophical advice in this one.
Katie and I had an amazing month of trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. Along with the gorgeous scenery and the extreme physical challenge of hiking to the 5416-meter Thorung Pass, the people were the highlight of our trek. Those who lived along the trail were extremely friendly, as were the other trekkers we met. And among them were today's guests, Martijn and Manon. We made some time a few days after finishing our trek to record a podcast and reminisce our month in the mountains.
In this episode, Katie and I sat on the roof of our hotel in Negombo and discussed our month in Sri Lanka.
Ruwan Perera hosted Katie and me at his home near Colombo, Sri Lanka. While we were there, Ruwan was also hosting a couple of tattoo artists from Ukraine. They asked Ruwan if he would like a tattoo in exchange for hosting them, and he said yes. In our podcast, Ruwan discusses getting his first tattoo, as well as some of the history of his country, and the importance of Couchsurfing and similar networks in this age of modern travel.
I met Ondrej and Nina at a guesthouse near the southernmost point of Sri Lanka. They both have become obsessed with surfing, so that factored into a large part of our discussion. And, I must admit, the beach we were staying on was perfect for beginner surfers.
I met Chris Hunter in a hostel dorm room in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Chris has lived in Berlin for most of his life, though he also spent five years in India and several years in San Francisco during his youth. Needless to say, he's an experienced traveler, full of knowledge. We discussed some of the places he knows well, and some of the ways in which travel has changed during his life.
In this episode, Katie and I talk about our six weeks (or so) in the Philippines, with a bonus of traveling to Bangkok for a job fair.
Last week at a job fair in Bangkok, Thailand, I met a number of interesting characters. Among them was Patrick Robert Scott, a travel writer who is journeying across southeast Asia for the first time. We talked about his recent adventures, as well as some interesting experiences in other parts of the world.
I met Jerome Hulin in the small town of Jagna, on Bohol Island in the Philippines. He's a freediving instructor, and he was gracious enough to sit down with me and talk about his passion in great detail. Whether you're an avid freediver or simply interested in learning more, this will be a really interesting podcast.
On this episode, my wife Katie and I talk about our time bicycling in Taiwan. We go over all of the highs and lows of our trip, as well as the unique cultural aspects we discovered on this small island.
My guest for today is David Shand, from South Africa. We met in his adopted home of Chishang, Taiwan and chatted ceaselessly for two days. This podcast contains a bit of our conversation.
On this episode, my wife Katie and I continue our talk about bicycling in Japan. We give you all of the ups and downs of our trip.
I met Philippe Hanin on a ferry from Osaka, Japan to Shanghai, China. He recently finished a nearly two-month pilgrimage, during which he walked to all 88 of Shikoku's temples that are associated with the Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi.
On this episode, my wife Katie and I talk about our journey thus far bicycling around Japan. We give you all of the highs and lows of our trips.
My guests today are Ross and Theresa. They met several years ago in Beijing, China. They fell in love, traveled the world for two and a half years, got married, and had two kids. Pretty much in that order. During the show we discussed all of this, as well as their love of yoga, and the "Yoganda" project, which teaches widowed women in Uganda to make yoga mat bags.
Theresa is the founder of Taozi Tree Yoga. If you are interested in attending one of her yoga classes in Beijing, there is a link to her Wechat account at the bottom of her website.
Theresa also has set up a fundraiser for The Yoganda Project. Thanks for checking it out!
My guest today is Brittany Dunn. She's a great storyteller, and on this episode she did not disappoint. She told me the craziest "welcome to China" story I've ever heard.
In this episode I sat on the roof of a Beijing bookstore to talk with Alice Chen. She's from Weifang, in Shandong province, China. Right now she's specializing in cross-cultural communication; she gave me many great tips to improve my skills.
My guest today is Ruby Tsai from Taiwan. We recorded our conversation from the top of a sand dune in the Gobi desert in Mongolia.
My guest this week is Tsenddavaa Nasanjargal, AKA Davaa. She and her husband own an amazing guesthouse called the Mongol Ujin Tourist Camp in the village of Khatgal, Mongolia. Davaa is passionate about the nomadic lifestyle that is still so prevalent in Mongolia, and she was generous enough to talk about it with me on the show.
I met Maria on the train to Ulan-Ude, Russia. She is an amazing leader in the Buryat community. She talked about her culture during the show.
Katie and I (especially Katie) have been dreaming of coming to Lake Baikal for quite some time. Now we are here! How did we arrive? Listen to this week's episode to find out.
Here is an update on our last week. Katie and I have been traveling across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Train. We started the last week in Suzdal, a little village near Moscow. We ended it in Krasnoyarsk, around 4000 KM to the east.
Natalya works for a company called United Tours, giving free walking tours of St. Petersburg. We talked about life in Russia, her time living in Egypt, and travel in Cuba.
Bonus: I discussed my attempt to visit Vladimir Lenin's mausoleum in Moscow.
While staying in Helsinki, Finland, Katie and I met Jari and Nadezhda. They used to live in Beijing, so we had a lot in common. We swapped many China stories, and I found out that they had taken the Trans-Siberian train from Vladivostok to Helsinki.
Katie and I are at the beginning of our own Trans-Siberian experience. Currently we are in St. Petersburg and plan to head east to Lake Baikal, then south to Mongolia. On this podcast, Jari and Nadezhda gave me some great tips on riding this famous train across Russia
In this episode, I go over our hike in Iceland and I give a few tips if you're interested in traveling there. Katie also gives some advice on food preparation.
Morgan and I did a follow-up podcast, where she discusses her continued weight loss and skin removal surgery.
On this week's show, I talked with Paddy Robertson about our two-day bicycle trip from Beijing to the Iron Wall Silver Mountain, AKA the Silver Mountain Pagoda Forest. This is officially recognized by the national government as a AAAA scenic spot, and it was one of the 28 designated tourist destinations during the 2008 Olympics. It's a sacred site of Buddhism, originally built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The current incarnation was built during the Liao Dynasty (907-1125).
Officially, the Silver Pagodas have been closed since 2014, but, as you'll hear during the show, Paddy and I found it easy to get into the park anyway.
Nina Krafft is a friend who lives and works in Beijing, China. We talked extensively about life in Beijing, as well as travel around China in general.
Nitai works at The Hutong, a cultural exchange center based in Beijing, China. We discussed the types of trips he runs through the Hutong, ranging from Great Wall excursions to bicycling around Yunnan province.
My guest today is Debbie Ma. She's from Taiwan and has lived for a long time in Beijing. She's an acupuncturist and home brewer. She taught me the basics of how acupuncture works and we discussed the home-brewing scene here in Beijing, as well as travel in Japan.
My guest today is Lisa Gay. She has lived in China and Japan for a number of years. We talked about her upcoming trip around China, and of course we told a few travel stories.
My guest today is Mich Albor, from the Philippines. Katie and I plan to visit her country at the end of this year, so I got a lot of great advice from her.
Carlos VillaWolf and Leah Ittner are good friends of Katie's and mine. They lived in Beijing for four years and moved to Ho Chi Minh City about ten months ago. They were back in Beijing to visit friends over a long weekend, and we managed to squeeze in some time to record this podcast.
This one is full of sage wisdom; I hope you enjoy it!
Tensions have been rising on the Korean peninsula. What are our options?
My guest Jeremiah Jenne is a historian living in Beijing. He has been to North Korea multiple times, including just a few weeks ago (I have been there as well). Jeremiah laid out three potential military strategies for the US to intervene in North Korea; unfortunately, all of these options are various shades of terrible. He also talked about diplomatic strategies, which also are controversial and risky.
Jeremiah has several other projects in Beijing. He runs a small company called Beijing by Foot, which gives walking tours of historical sites in Beijing. I went on one of these tours to the Summer Palace and thoroughly enjoyed it; highly recommended for anyone who wants a taste of old Peking.
Jeremiah's blog is Jottings from the Granite Studio. This includes the writing he does for other publications, as well as his Podcast, “Barbarians at the Gate.”
My guest today is Gigi Wong. Originally from Hong Kong, she currently lives in New York, where she works with first-tier Chinese real estate developers. We spent most of our time talking about a trip Gigi took a few years back. Starting from Beijing, she rode the Trans-Siberian railway to Moscow. From there she headed into Finland, Estonia, Germany, Austria and Turkey. She still wanted more adventure, so after Turkey, she traveled to the little-visited countries of Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan.
My guest MCK runs a program called Bounce. Basically, it's a twenty-minute conversation in which he listens to you and asks you the right questions to work through whatever's on your mind. He and I did a Bounce session at the beginning of this podcast and it was very helpful. We also touched on many other travel related topics.
Special Offer!
For one week after this podcast is released, MCK will give you a twenty-minute Bounce session, and you can pay whatever you think it's worth. Head on over to http://mck123.com/1000t for more info.
Matthew Clausen and I recorded this podcast on a dark and breezy night, while sitting atop the Great Wall of China. We had just finished a long day of trekking on the wall, starting at the popular restored section of Mutianyu, and ending at “wild” Jiankou. We had a fantastic time reminiscing his week-long visit to Beijing, culminating in this outdoor adventure. We also discussed rock climbing, our views on what it means to travel, and much more.
My guest today is Tamara Gil, a multimedia journalist based in Beijing, China. Tamara and I had a long and interesting conversation, during which we covered quite a large number of topics. There's a lot more info available on my website.
My guest today is Sean Kelly. He's an art teacher in Beijing, China. He has also lived in Shanghai and Costa Rica. We talked about life here, living on campus, travel and a few interesting movies that remind us of China.
Thanks for your support!
My guest today is Moisés Santiago. We touched on a variety of topics, including being a teacher in China, spaying your cat (not for the faint of heart), staying calm in stressful situations, and the importance of maintaining possession of your passport while traveling abroad. It turns out that both of us have had the pleasure of losing our passport, though his experience had significantly worse consequences than mine.
Moisés was an awesome guest and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.
Mirco Tranchina has lived in China for several years. Since coming here, he has become fluent in Chinese, and he is now on a TV show. He also has a full-time job, and he's finishing his master's degree. Fun fact: So far, Mirco has lived in ten different apartments in Beijing. Luckily, he was able to take some time out of his busy schedule to record this podcast. We had an awesome conversation; I hope you enjoy it.
My guests today are Erin Draycott and Connor Grill. They have both been living in Beijing for several years. I sat with Erin and Connor on the roof of their hutong apartment for a conversation about travel. We touched on many subjects, including their recent trip to Israel.
My guest today is Li Song Mei. I met her through Arthur, her former teacher, who was on episodes 30 and 31 of the podcast. Li Song Mei is from a small village in Guizhou Province, China. She's currently in grad school in Beijing.
Li Song Mei is a member of the Hmong (Miao) ethnic minority group. We discussed a lot about her culture, including the largest traditional Hmong festivals.
My guest today is Morgan McKinnon. She has been living in Beijing for over four years. We talked a lot about expectations versus reality in moving to China, and some of the great and not-so-great aspects of living here. One of Morgan's many messages is that you have to keep challenging yourself. Following her own advice, she'll move to Morocco next school year, where she'll start the next chapter of her life.
In this episode of the podcast, I talk about my bicycle trip with Katie through Yunnan Province in China. We bought folding bikes for the Chinese New Year, loaded them with gear and took off for a two-week adventure. At least that was the plan.
While the trip was basically a disaster, we did learn some valuable lessons (or at least some of our previously-learned valuable lessons were reinforced):
- Most people are good. They'll encourage you and look out for you. Especially when things are going badly. I think people can feel it when you're down on your luck, and they'll do their best to help. That's the nature of humanity.
- Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
- When things aren't working, don't be afraid to change your plans. That's how we stumbled upon the Jingpo festival, as discussed in the podcast
This is my continued discussion with Arthur and Xiao Ni. Xiao Ni continued to impress me with her stories. Unfortunately, as she sojourned through Turkey and Lebanon, she was plagued by misfortune and people of ill repute. Maybe the theme for this show should be “That which does not kill you makes you stronger.”
My guests for the next two podcasts are Arthur and Xiao Ni. After a long career in Seattle, Arthur came to China to volunteer with the Peace Corps. Nowadays, he spends large portions of his time volunteering at a university in Guiyang, a “small city” of 3 million in Guizhou province. Xiao Ni is Arthur's former student. She didn't want her whole life to be planned for her, so after college, she decided to go on a long journey around Tibet, India, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt. All she needed was a way to pay for it.
My guest for this episode is Rimvydas Markevicius from Lithuania. We had a great time discussing his country, my country, and China, where we both currently live. We also got a bit philosophical at the end, when we went over our motivations for traveling, and the question every traveler needs to ask him/herself every now and then: is the reward of travel worth all of the trouble?
Listen to find out our answers.
My guest for this episode is Fei Fei Huo (霍婉菲). She grew up in Chengdu, China and has traveled to many parts of Europe. We recorded this podcast while sitting by the river in Shaxi, China at the end of yet another picture-perfect day. Our discussion was mostly about cultural differences between East and West, and she taught me a lot. You can even hear my moment of epiphany when I learned why Chinese people sometimes say things that don't make any sense to my Western brain.
If you enjoy this discussion even half as much as I did, then we're off to a good start.
My guest for this episode is Carol Woo (胡宝娟). She grew up in both Guangdong province (China) and Hong Kong. She's quite artistic – she organizes theater performances for international audiences. For now, she's helping to run the Horse Pen 46 hostel in Shaxi, Yunnan Province, which is where I met her. We had a fun and lighthearted conversation in the hostel's coffee shop.
My guest today is Kathy McGowan. When I met her, she had just finished a three-year stint of living in a “small” city in China (population 3 million), and was relaxing in Shaxi for a few days before heading to New Zealand. The thing that struck me about Kathy was her willingness to just pick up everything and move. She's lived in over fifty houses, and counting. We talked about a few of her former homes (including India and Malta), as well as what's up next for her.
We have a different format for this episode of the podcast. I was sitting in the market square of Shaxi China, drinking coffee and having a chit-chat with four new friends. We decided to record our conversation, which I'll call our “Coffeecast”. Joining me were Kathy, an English woman staying at my hostel, Hugh and Pauline, cycle-tourists from England, and Liam, who you met during the last podcast. I hope you enjoy our talk. I might do more Coffeecasts I the future.
My guest for this episode is Liam DelMain. I met Liam at the Horse Pen 46 Hostel in Shaxi (沙溪), Yunnan Province, China. He calls Minnesota home, though when he was still a toddler, he lived in Beijing for two years with his family. He has returned to China almost every summer since. Having been raised between two different cultures, Liam has a lot of insight into these disparate worlds.
In this episode, I talk with Jun, owner of the Tavern 47 Hostel in Shangri-la, China. Jun's story is very interesting. He grew up in Seoul, South Korea and was a real go-getter. As a young adult, he was making a handsome salary and living the high life. How did Jun transition from a fast lifestyle in a big city to running a youth hostel in a remote town? Listen to our conversation to find out.
My guests for this episode of The Around the World Podcast are Kroy and Shalon Nernberger. Kroy is a world-class curler who was invited to play in a tournament in remote Xining, Qinghai Province. His wife Shalon joined Katie and me in Beijing, and together we traveled to meet up with Kroy. We recorded this podcast from Xi'An, just before we split up. Shalon and Kroy recounted all of their adventures in China. Hopefully you'll gain some inspiration to plan your next trip!
My guest for this episode of the podcast is Sam Dreiman. His first trip to China was just before the 2008 Olympics. He has been living in the country, on and off, for the last six years. Other than China, we talked about his upbringing in Africa, my trip to Antarctica, his time biking down the World's Most Dangerous Road, and North Korea. Sam is a fascinating character who has spent much of his life traveling around the world; I had a great time talking with him.
My guest for today is Paddy Robertson. He and I met on his first night in Beijing, about a year and a half ago. At the time, he was just beginning to study Chinese, and now he speaks the language far better than most foreigners, even among those who have been here for much longer than him. How has Paddy managed to learn Chinese so quickly? One big reason is that he works for Smart Air, which sells affordable air purifiers. His co-workers are Chinese, so he gets to practice the language on a daily basis.
Paddy was a very interesting guest. He has accumulated a broad array of knowledge about China and much of the world. Our hour together flew by.
My guest for this episode is Monica Tooki. We talked about her upbringing in two very different worlds – Singapore and Mississippi. We also discussed the Peace Corps and her time living in Kiribati. Monica is an experienced traveler and an expat, with lots of good stories to tell.
My guest today is Wang Ye. Last time he was on the podcast, he was about to begin a long journey around Asia. Now, he's back in Beijing (at least he was; he just took off for Russia), and we decided to catch up on old times.
Wang Ye and I talked about his love of Starbucks coffee and co-working spaces, as well as his latest trip. He paid his respects to the Dear Leader in North Korea, decided to leave Istanbul after a terrorist bombing and hitched a ride on an Iranian bus to the border with Georgia, among other things. What's he up to next? Listen to the podcast to find out.
For this episode, I talked with Jeroen from the Netherlands and Linda from Germany. They started hitchhiking from their home in Berlin several months ago, and plan to make a giant loop around Asia. I met them in my apartment in Beijing, when they were about halfway through their trip. Hitching has given them a unique perspective on the world, in which they place their complete trust in other people. During the show, we talked about their amazing journey, and told many stories along the way.
My guest this week is Ryan Campeau. We sat on my balcony in Beijing for a lengthy discussion about travel, specifically in China, Europe, and the good old US of A. Along the way, we did quite a bit of story-telling. I hope you enjoy our chat.
My guest for this episode is Honey Sherma, from Jaipur in Rajasthan, India. He has traveled to every continent except Antarctica on cargo vessels. We discussed his life, both on the high seas, and in small towns in India. A large part of our conversation was focused on dhabas, those wonderful shops/guesthouses that always seem to pop up in the middle of nowhere in India. I like the concept of the dhaba, and the conversations that take place in them, so much that I even considered changing the name of this podcast to “Chai and Chat with Dan”.
For this episode of the podcast, I sat down to talk with Ben Ochner from Germany. We were huddled in a tarp-covered shelter called a dhaba on a cold and rainy day in the remote outpost of Chhatru, India, population 120. Just to mix things up, Ben decided to interview me for this podcast, so we get a little more insight into my life and why I chose to travel.
Fei (菲) is from China. Tapani is from Finland. They met in New Zealand. They almost lived together in England. How did they end up in getting married and moving to Beijing? I got their story for this podcast.
For this episode of the podcast, I talked with Kade Mascarella. He and his wife Stacie have lived in Beijing for the last eight years. They traveled extensively before they had kids, and they made a conscious decision to continue traveling after their kids were born. Kade and I talked about many parts of the world, but the focus of our discussion was on traveling with children. I learned that not only is it possible to travel to exotic places with your kids, but in some cases, you'll actually open doors to more genuine interactions.
Kade's advice is simple: plan more, go slower.
In this episode of the Around The World Podcast, I talk with Wang Ye. Originally from Xian, China, Wang Ye moved to California and went to school at Berkeley, before dropping everything to take on the life of a digital nomad. We sat on my balcony in Beijing to discuss his life story and his future plans.
My guest for this episode is Matt Sheehan. Matt has lived in China for five years. He speaks Chinese fluently and works as a journalist for the Huffington Post. He also has a number of side projects, including a video series where he teaches Chinese people about ultimate Frisbee, a game he loves. Our discussion drifted into all of these topics, as well as Beijing's pollution, the state of the Chinese economy, the education system in China, Matt's walk across Beijing and much more.
Josh Klemons is my guest for this episode of the podcast. Having lived in Isreal, Josh has a deep understanding of Israeli-Palestinian relations, as well as those of the rest of the Middle East.
Josh is also the voice behind Reverbal Communications, which manages social media for companies with a variety of budgets. I can attest to his expertise – he has helped me to grow my presence exponentially.
Finally, Josh is the editor of my first book, 1000 Days Between. He did a great job of bringing my book from draft to final copy. If you want a sample, you can read the first twelve chapters for free, at 1000daysbetween.com.
My conversation with Josh was great. We talked about travel in a number of different places, as well as what's happening in our respective lives on opposite sides of the planet.
Carson Leong is my guest for this episode of the podcast. Carson and I met on top of 黄山 (Huang Shan, or Yellow Mountain) in central China. He and his girlfriend had been hiking around the park, and they were staying in the same hostel as me. We hit it off when we learned that we both had the same camera. We even did a short hike together, posing in each others' pictures for dramatic effect.
Carson currently lives in Hong Kong, so when I made my way to his city, we met again for some hiking and chatting about travel. On a Saturday night in a lively park in the middle of the city, we spontaneously sat down to record one of our conversations. We touched on a variety of subjects, from travel in Vietnam and China, to designing comfortable clothing, to podcasting and photography. Special thanks to Carson for coming on the show.
I'm going to try something different for this podcast. I met Jesús and Elisa in Yangshuo, China. Because both of them were from Spanish-speaking countries, I decided to record a podcast in their native tongue. I hadn't spoken much Spanish in the last five years, but it still came back to me, more or less. If you don't speak Spanish, you might want to skip this one. Otherwise, enjoy!
Este podcast estaba grabado en español. Lo siento, no había usado mi español en mucho tiempo, pero no se preocupen. Jesús de España y Elisa de Chile hicieron la mayoría del hablando. En el podcast hablamos sobre varios paises, incluyendo China e India. También hablamos sobre la alerta roja de contaminación en Beijing y porque es tan importante viajar por el mundo. Espero que ustedes desfruten nuestro conversación. Dígame lo que piensas.
I met Roni Rodrigues and his wife Hester on top of Zhangjiajie National Park in southern China. The park is renowned for its hundreds of karst pillars, which make for some fabulous scenery. In fact, James Cameron was supposedly inspired by Zhangjiajie when he made the movie Avatar. One of the mountains was even officially renamed to Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.
Still at the beginning of an open-ended trip around the world, Roni and Hester were busy filming hour upon hour of footage with their quadcopter drone. I sat down with Roni outside of his hotel in the famous town of Yangshuo to record this podcast. Roni was an inspirational character who always kept a positive attitude about the world. What do you think?
I have a special podcast for you today. Liese Alsen is a high school history teacher from Berlin, Germany. We sat down in her kitchen for a long chat. She starts with a great summary of Germany's separation after World War II and the Berlin Wall's construction 1961. Then she tells the story of where she was when the wall fell. Later, we discuss how she spent part of her childhood in Lesotho, her years living in the United States and her recent teaching stint in Guatemala. I learned a lot during our talk. Let me know what you think.
I met Kevin Lamb a few years ago in Madison, Wisconsin. We've reconnected several times since then, usually at some random time and place. Thus, our last meeting was typical: by coincidence, we were both in Berlin, Germany at the same time. Since I last had seen Kevin, he had ridden his bicycle across the United States, using his curly mustache as his map. We sat down in Victoria Park to discuss “Mustache Across America,” as well as his future ambitions and philosophy on travel.
Martin and I know each other through the Hoofer Outing and Mountaineering clubs in Madison, WI. After earning his masters degree in 2014, Martin took off on an adventure, traveling around the US, South Africa, Australia and Southeast Asia. Recently, we met up in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and we rode a tuk tuk to the famous Angkor Wat temple. It was a typical hot day, so we took some time off from our sightseeing to record this interview.
I met Chris Jackson on the Indian Pacific train, which runs across Australia, from Sydney to Perth. Chris was on his way home from a three-month motorcycle trip around the country. I stayed with his family in Perth for my last few days in Australia, and I was grateful for their hospitality. For this podcast, Chris and I discussed his trip in detail. He never ceased to impress me with his vast knowledge of the terrain in his native country.
My very first guest on this podcast is a special one. Craig Martin is from Australia, and we have known each other since 2005, when we met in Ushuaia, Argentina. Not only did we travel to Antarctica together, but we spent six months traveling around South America.
Craig has a unique life goal: to travel for three years on each continent. He's done well so far, having spent three years (or more) traveling in Australia, Asia, South America and Europe. He'll begin his three-year trip to North America this fall.
During my recent trip to Australia, I got a chance to catch up with Craig on his family's farm. We had a nice discussion about his past and future travels. I hope you enjoy it.