WanderLearn: Travel to Transform Your Mind & Life

Gary Arndt , a famous world-traveler, has been to chaotic places, but this week, chaos came to his hometown, Minneapolis. We talked last night while we heard rioting outside his window. On this recording, you'll hear sirens, honking horns, and helicopters. George Floyd's death sparked riots throughout the USA, but the epicenter is in Gary's backyard. In the second half of the interview, we switch...

Flying to the South Pole and then to the North Pole in a small plane is extremely dangerous.  Robert DeLaurentis, who is known as the  Zen Pilot , is on the brink of pulling this off. I caught up with him when he was grounded in Spain during the Coronapocolypse.  By the time this airs, he should be in Sweden.  He plans to fly over 3 key places around the North Pole in July 2020. Track his journey...

Every four years, there's a US election, the World Cup, and the Olympics. They don't all happen in the same year, but they each have a 4-year cycle. In a few minutes, there's another event that happens once every for years that few talk about: the bitcoin halving. To celebrate, I'll give a simplified explanation of what the halving is and why it's significant. Afterward, I will turn to a more fund...

As of today (May 11, 2020), 80,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. In 2018, 80,000 Americans died of the flu. It was a bad flu year. You can watch this on YouTube too. It's fascinating how we look at death. The Infection Fatality Rate of COVID-19 is about 10 times worse than influenza.  Therefore, if we didn't shelter in place, perhaps we would have lost 10x more Americans than the 2018 flu sea...

Read the article or watch the video about this podcast. It's helpful to see the graphs.  I copied the article and graphs below, but use this link if the images don't pop up in your podcast player. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k4CTL6fowA 8 Flaws in Bitcoin's Stock-to-Flow Model Will Doom It I love Bitcoin. Nothing would make me happier than to see one of  Plan B's optimistic stock-to-flow (S2F/...

When I travel, I love to observe common ground in a sea of diversity. The planet has over 100 currencies, but there's one thing that everyone agrees is money: gold. So far, COVID-19 has killed 200,000, which has added to the 5 million deaths that we suffer from communicable diseases every year. COVID-19 has also killed the global economy. The travel industry has shut down. The stock market is in t...

Last week, I got this email from  Robert Hahn , whom I interviewed a couple of months ago on this podcast. He wrote: Hey Francis! I listened to your most recent podcast with Rejoice. Afterwards I looked into investment in crypto a bit. I was wondering what your thoughts are on platforms for buying and storing the virtual currency. I was also interested in Nano (for its more environmentally conscio...

How do you think we should solve the Coronapocolypse?  Should we keep sheltering in place for another month or two? What metrics would you look at to decide when enough is enough? Rejoice and I debate my solution to the Corona crisis. Rejoice also shares a few stories from Africa during this bizarre time.  Leave your comments and solutions at WanderLearn.com . More info You can post comments, ask...

Is the Coronavirus is overly hyped? Rejoice and I discuss that. I explain why you shouldn't hike your own hike in 2020. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't hike in 2020. I explain how and where to go hiking in 2020. Rejoice shares how COVID-19 is impacting Africa. More info You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at  http://wanderlearn.com . If you like this podcast, su...

Thru-hiking can take social distancing to an extreme. Unless you camp close to random people or you spend lots of time in town when you resupply, you will be safely away from any contagion.  That's why 2020 is the best year ever to thru-hike, especially if you recently lost your job.  Put your stuff in storage (or sell it all). Stop paying rent. And hike for the next 6 months. By the time you fini...

On March 20, 2020, Rejoice and I spontaneously went Live on Facebook to share our thoughts about the Coronavirus pandemic. (Don't worry. The photo of us hugging was taken months before the Coronapocolypse.) In 2014, when the Ebola contagion was raging across West Africa, I was traveling in West Africa. The world was panicking. Some worried that it would kill hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions...

Liz Warner is going to run  30 marathons  before she turns 30 years old in June 2020. However, her real accomplishment is raising nearly $30,000 for 20 charities in the process!   In this podcast, we discuss some of the highlights and lowlights of her first 27 marathons and her Run To Reach experience. She's going to finish on Mt. Everest in late May 2020. Go to her  donation page  and follow her...

On March 14, 2020,  Dan Grec's Kickstarter  will end. If you're listening to this before that date, buy Dan's book on Kickstarter. His book (and website) are called  The Road Chose Me . If you're listening to this after March 14th, buy  Dan Grec's book on Amazon . Why buy his book?  Because for 999 days  Dan Grec  drove through 35 of the 54 African countries. His book recounts his 3-year adventure...

Part 5 of 5 of the "What Can Americans Teach Europeans" series Snobby Europeans love to say that Americans have “no cuisine, no culture, no history.” Let’s refute this belief. We’ll begin with food. First, Americans brought hamburgers and Coca-Cola to the world. The French (and many others) will immediately sniff and say, “That doesn’t count.” Really? And foie gras does? That’s a dish that is prep...

Part 4 of 5 of the "What Americans Can Teach Europeans" series Americans are criticized for being ignorant of geography, languages, and the world in general. Let’s examine geography first. For example, someone from Slovakia often feels smart because he can name at least ten countries near him and explain what’s basically going on there. He says Americans are stupid because they can’t do this. Huma...

Smile for Valentine's Day! Part 3 of 5 of the "What Americans Can Teach Europeans" Series Europeans often criticize the “American smile.” They say that Americans are fake, because they often smile when they are not really happy. Americans pretend to be happy to see you, when they’re not. A customer service representative might greet you with a cheery, “Hi! How can I help you?” when she’s really a...

Part 2 of 5 of the "What Americans Can Teach Europeans" series Several Eastern Europeans thought I worked for the CIA. They asked, “Why else would you be in Albania?” It’s hilarious what Eastern Europeans seriously believe the CIA does: A Slovenian told me that the “weird” weather they were experiencing was due to the CIA testing wacky weather-controlling weapons nearby. If someone semi-famous die...

Part 1 of 5 in the Defending America Series. Throughout  Eastern Europe , I asked, “What can your country teach America?” I’ve documented their excellent suggestions in  The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us . As part of this process, Europeans often told me, quite bluntly, what they think of Americans. The fact that I’m half-European and that I have no American blood in me (I was...

In early 2020, Randy Williams has been to 142 countries. Although this is remarkable, it's especially impressive when you consider that he's been working full-time for most of his life.  It's understandable how someone who has years to travel is able to visit 142 countries, but doing it when you have a real job in the workaholic USA is hard. Randy Williams  describes: His first trip to Africa. He...

The Pilgrim's perspective Many people ask me, “What are you thinking about when you walk from sunrise to sunset in remote wildernesses?” Sometimes I’m just thinking of the next step. Other times I’m thinking about Megan Fox. However, during my pilgrimage, I do go into deep-thoughts mode occasionally. That’s what this article is about. It will lead to my next article which is about  what it means t...

Olaf Ofstad (pictured) was my guest on my 59th WanderLearn episode, which was about how to avoid and survive a kidnapping .  If you haven't listened to it yet, you should listen to it before listening to this episode. One listener wrote me an email asking questions and criticizing some issues about the show. Therefore, in this episode, I air those criticisms and I give Olaf Ofstad a chance to answ...

Before you look at these predictions, you should  see how accurate my 7 predictions for 2019 were . Also, if you want to watch me talk about this, see it on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwI739M9vKU In 2020... 1. Bitcoin will end 2020 above $10,000. Unlike my previous two bitcoin predictions which were perfect (the 80% decline followed by the 100% rise), I'm unsure about 2020. As you c...

Last year, my  podcast with Sym Blanchard  became the 2nd most downloaded WanderLearn episode. It was super popular because he really was a fun guest. You must listen to it before listening to this podcast. Because he attracted so many listeners, I invited him back to the show! I begin the podcast asking Sym the most profound question I've always wanted to ask him. After that, we move onto discuss...

For the 2019 holidays, we're taking a flashback to over a decade ago. I started the WanderLearn podcast in 2008. I'm pulling this episode from the archives because it's one of my favorite episodes of that era.  It was the first time that I met  Julia Trutko , a Russophone Estonian. She had just moved to San Francisco from Florida. Although she was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, she grew up in Tal...

Brittnay and Jayden are  The Travelling Housesitters . In the WanderLearn podcast, I ask them: How did Jay get to look after a cat on a catamaran? What websites do they recommend to use to find housesits?  Why don't they charge to housesit? Did they have a housesit horror story? What housesits do they avoid? What is their long-range plan? Do they have relationship challenges that other couples don...