Extreme Travel Odysseys

Extreme Travel Odysseys tells the stories of adventurers whose journeys are in some way offbeat, creative, unique, or never-ending. From full-time travel writers to those on sabbatical to those just wandering around, this podcast will inspire, inform, and show you that you don't have to climb Everest or even go to a foreign country to have an odyssey. You might pick up some travel hacks along the way, and you might just learn that even average people can take extraordinary trips. You probably won't hear the term "bucket list" since the subjects in our interviews don't look at world as a finite set of places to see. The journey is itself the goal, and it is never-ending.

Underground life in the weirdest town in Australia (EP.14) 09/19/2018

Underground life in the weirdest town in Australia (EP.14) How do you survive in a desert town that has a record high temperature of 117F? You go into hiding, literally. The mining town of Coober Pedy, Australia uses the dirt for both their livelihood and their lives. CNET Senior Editor Claire Reilly visited recently as part of her web site's "Road Trip 2018" series. She joins the show to discuss her venture into one community's existence in the subterranean Outback! /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/7062502

A 49-year quest to join the elite Highpointers Club (EP.13) 09/05/2018

A 49-year quest to join the elite Highpointers Club (EP.13) Want to be part of something that only a few hundred people have done? Grab a map of the U.S. and get going, visiting the highest elevation of each state. It doesn't matter how you get there, but it's going to take a while for all 50. Today we meet Woody Connette, whose first job as a teenager was right at the summit of Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina. /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/7005867

Getting paid to hike the world's most scenic places (EP.12) 08/29/2018

Getting paid to hike the world's most scenic places (EP.12) From the East Coast to the West Coast to the Rockies to Iceland, Will Wood knows a good trail. Now, he gets paid to hike. He began with the Appalachian Trail, sharing his videos along the way. That led to some gear recommendations, and fidelity to the ultralight products of the revolutionary Zpacks company. After also going northbound on the Pacific Crest Trail, Zpacks came calling and asked Will to join their team. See what it's now like for Will to get paid to follow his passion! /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6978950

Sailing, surfing, and climbing: Recreating a historical journey with the founders of Patagonia and The North Face (EP.11) 08/22/2018

Sailing, surfing, and climbing: Recreating a historical journey with the founders of Patagonia and The North Face (EP.11) This episode chronicles the making of host Mike Klein's favorite travel documentary of all time, "180 Degrees South." Guest Jeff Johnson discusses how me met Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, and how finding some lost tapes of Yvon's early vagabonding led to the making of the film. /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6952227

World Cup 2018 and other Eastern European adventures (EP.10) 08/08/2018

World Cup 2018 and other Eastern European adventures (EP.10) What's bigger than the Olympics and the Super Bowl? The soccer (football) World Cup, which took place this summer in Russia. In this episode meet Manoj Viswanathan, who traveled to his first World Cup alongside podcast host Mike Klein and other friends. Manoj shares his thoughts on St. Petersburg, the Russian people, the experience in general, the rest of his travels in Estonian and Latvia. He also explains what life was like as a person of color in a mostly-white environment. /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6898965

Completing the weirdest ultramarathon and life at the South Pole (EP.09) 08/01/2018

Completing the weirdest ultramarathon and life at the South Pole (EP.09) Just 12 men have walked on the moon, and only three more than that have completed the Barkley Marathons, a fantastically quirky and random endurance test in the rugged mountains of Tennessee. One of those men is John Fegyveresi, a man who didn't even take up competitive running until adulthood, but on that weekend ran for nearly 60 hours into immortality. Oh, and did we mention that he spends most winters in Antarctica studying glaciers and other effects of climate change? /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6867945

A bingo ball decides the next six months of your life (EP.08) 07/18/2018

A bingo ball decides the next six months of your life (EP.08) What happens when you know you want to hit the road, but you don't have a place you need to be? Easy. Invite your friends to a bar, have them write down a place anywhere in the world, and see where you randomly end up. For Mike Legrand, he almost get sent to his mother's house, but fortunately, the last bingo ball remaining sent him somewhere far more exotic. If you like randomness and true adventure, Mike's story is for you.Ep. 8: A bingo ball decides the next six months of your life /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6821890

A one-year honeymoon around the world (EP.07) 07/11/2018

A one-year honeymoon around the world (EP.07) What's your idea of a dream honeymoon? A few weeks on a white-sand beach? A trip to Europe? How about an 11-month trip around to the world to nearly two dozen countries? For Linsey and Jason Honaker, the trip was years in the planning, and was filled with adventures like shark diving, Africa safari, glacier trekking, and hot-air ballooning. For the ultimate "trip of a lifetime" listen to how the Honakers pulled it off, and how they each only carried one medium-sized backpack. /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6795926

Creating a life of art on the road (EP.06) 06/27/2018

Creating a life of art on the road (EP.06) What happens when you leave your comfortable life to follow a bigger calling? Art doesn't just imitate life, in this case, he chases his best life. This episode chronicles Arthur Wei, who left his office job for an unknown road trip to follow his passion. Although only in his 20s, he already knew he wanted to experience life to its fullest. Listen to how he learned photography, videography, and social media skills on the road. /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6705646

A boat down the Ganges and a rickshaw through South America (EP.05) 06/20/2018

A boat down the Ganges and a rickshaw through South America (EP.05) Two Canadian friends and accidental documentarians discuss a pair of quixotic adventures. Canadians Dustin Corkery and Adrian Traquair first rowed a boat 2500km down the Ganges, from India to Bangladesh. They didn't even bring food for the first night. That became the 12-part series "Around the Next Bend." Seven years later, they reunited for a 17,000km journey by rickshaw from Colombia to Southern Patagonia, which will be the upcoming series "Rickshaw South." /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6706256

Freelance travel writing in the Maldives, South Africa, and 45 other countries (EP.04) 06/13/2018

Freelance travel writing in the Maldives, South Africa, and 45 other countries (EP.04) Katherine Alex Beaven didn't know she enjoyed traveling, until she did. Inspired by a trip to Southern Africa a decade ago, she's now making a career as a freelance travel writer. Alex discusses the places she's been like spending 30 days in the Maldives during Ramadan, and accidentally eating dog in China. She also has a lot of tips about the competitive business of travel writing. Alex has been all over, and also gives her thoughts about volunteer tourism, caged wild animals, and the single greatest act of kindness from a local. /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6628989

Long-distance running in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains (EP.03) 06/06/2018

Long-distance running in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains (EP.03) What happens when runner's high meets mountain high? You get Russian-American adventure runner Michael Langer's most recent holiday. No longer able to play football, Michael took up running with a passion and he's now gone to several countries to fuel his new favorite sport. Just back from Morocco, he ran more than 100 miles over nine days over terrain inaccessible to vehicles, also scaling the tallest peak in Northern Africa along the way. These are true vacations, however, as most nights ended with a feast and some wine. /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6628985

Marching across the entire United States during the Cold War (EP.02) 05/30/2018

Marching across the entire United States during the Cold War (EP.02) In 1986, in the heart of the Cold War, a young idealist named Michael Tisserand joined up with a group of more than one thousand people, including Martin Sheen and Madonna, in a walk across the United States. They were protesting nuclear proliferation and spent nine months marching from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Although the walk was supported, it was nearly derailed in the desert of California only a few weeks into the odyssey. Hear how Michael and some brave marchers continued, and if he thinks he made a difference. /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6628981

Cycling from South Korea to England (EP.01) 05/17/2018

Cycling from South Korea to England (EP.01) Paul Lombard was ready to return home after five years of teaching English in South Korea. But he wanted to cover the 9000+ miles at his own pace. Despite not being much of a cyclist at the time, he spent nine months pedaling through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. This episode reveals the fun, tribulations and logistics of how he fared on his epic journey! /episode/index/show/extremetravelodysseys/id/6605598

Extreme Travel Odysseys

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