The Voyages of Tim Vetter

Greetings from The Bronx, Amira is a dancer who practices Raqs Sharqi, an Egyptian dancing style popularized during the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema. The dance is done at haflas (parties), weddings, restaurants, and there is even a version performed as a form of resistance. We spoke about Amira's entry into the world of Raqs Sharqi, the history of the dance, her experiences performing in Egypt, a...

David Sharps is the owner of the Lehigh Valley No. 79 Barge and the president of the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook, Brooklyn. David has lived on the barge since the 1980s when it first docked in Red Hook. The ship itself has a long history that we explore in this episode. It currently serves as a museum, performance space, and David's home. David led a previous life of adventure as a juggler on cr...

Eymund Diegel is an urban planner specialized in the mapping and analysis of changing urban, rural, and natural habitat systems. Over the past several years he has been mapping Brooklyn's "ghost streams" - sites where streams and waterways existed in Brooklyn's original ecological zones and now live under asphalt and development. His work is centered around making the city's future more sustainabl...

Greetings from Southold, New York! Amy Kasuga Folk is a writer, researcher, Southold town historian, and the manager of collections for the Oysterponds Historical Society, as well as the manager of collections for the Southold Historical Society. We spoke about her many research topics: Plum Island, Rumrunning on Long Island during Prohibition, menhaden (bunker fish), an historical account of a vi...

Elke Reva Sudin is an artist living in Brooklyn, New York. She garnered much attention from her Hipsters and Hassids series in which she juxtaposed two seemingly different cultures in Williamsburg, Brooklyn but in turn showed their similarities. We spoke about not only this project, but the full breadth of her work, her business Drawing Booth, her beautifully designed headscarves, and much more. W...

Travis Tanay is a photographer from Farmingville, New Jersey. His subjects include beautiful portraiture, unique and unusual characters, and scenes from around his hometown in New Jersey. Travis recently published his first photo zine, The Land of Dirt and Dreams, which features the array of interesting characters and wares found at the Collingwood Auction and Flea Market in Farmingville. We talke...

Greetings from Samaipata, Bolivia! I met Sara Tara at a night market in Samaipata, Bolivia, where she was selling her artwork. Sara is a long-term solo traveler who is trained in multiple therapeutic practices. We had a great talk at Cafe 1900 where we discussed her experiences while traveling, the joys and struggles of being a nomad, different therapies and plant medicines she has experienced, an...

Greetings from Sucre, Bolivia! Juan Pablo Gumiel Castro is the head chef and founder of Proyecto Nativa, a gastronomy restaurant in Sucre, Bolivia. He is joined by chef Kevin Caballero Ananda who helps to provide English translation, and my partner, Leslie, who also provides translations. In this episode we talk about growing up in Bolivia, food culture, their unique restaurant experience at Proye...

Greetings from Uyuni, Bolivia! Elvis Bolivar Viluyo is a guide and mountaineer from Tarija, Bolivia. I met Elvis while I was exploring the Southwest of Bolivia by Jeep. The Bolivian Southwest is home to the Bolivian Salt Flats, several lagoons, mountains, desert landscapes, natural hot springs, geysers, and unearthly rock formations. In this conversation, Elvis shared his experiences growing up in...

Greetings from Bolivia! I'm on the road in Bolivia for the first six weeks of the summer. This is a mini-episode about my experiences on both the Peruvian and Bolivian sides of Lake Titicaca. Follow along this summer for some solo episodes about the places I visit within Bolivia. More from TVTV: https://linktr.ee/thevoyagesoftimvetter

Greetings from St. Marks Place! Phillip Giambri has lived one hundred lives. Known as the "Ancient Mariner," Phillip is a product of the streets of South Philadelphia, he obtained his deviant perspective on life listening to Jean Shepherd on WOR radio back in the '50s. Fleeing Philly at seventeen, he served in the US Navy Submarine Force, has been an actor, hairstylist, stoner, janitor, writer, dr...

Greetings from Tallinn, Estonia! Joseph Dunnigan is the founder of the Banned Books Museum in Tallinn. The museum preserves banned, censored, and burned books from around the world. Visitors can pick up and read the physical copies of the books and learn about each book's history. Joseph and I met at his museum to talk about the museum's history, Joseph's life and relationship to books, censorship...

Greetings from Tallinn, Estonia! Tommyboy is a legend in the Estonian hiphop scene. Born in Parnu, Estonia, he has been living and performing in Tallinn for the past three decades. We spoke about his career in music, the rap scene in Tallinn, culture in Estonia, and much more. Check out Tommyboy: https://www.facebook.com/TommyboyEST/ https://tommyboy2.bandcamp.com/album/meele-lahutus More from TVT...

Greetings from Tallinn, Estonia! Flo Kasearu is an artist who lives and works in Tallinn, Estonia at the Flo Kasearu House Museum. Flo transformed her home into an interactive monument to her body of work. Though trained as a painter, she often uses performative arts and video as her artistic mediums. I met Flo at her fascinating home museum to talk about her life in the museum, her years of creat...

Greetings from Helsinki, Finland! Mia Keurulainen is a singer from Helsinki, Finland. In the 90s, Mia sang for the band The Pansies, who went on to find national and international success. Mia currently sings for the indie band Treemer, as well as her solo project Waver. We spoke about her early days of playing music in the Pansies, music culture in Finland, Treemer's comeback in 2023, her new pro...

Greetings from snowy Helsinki, Finland! Chef Sasu Laukkonen is one of Finland's most talented and accomplished chefs. We met at his restaurant, Ora, during a snowstorm, to talk about his career as a chef, food culture in Finland, his kinship with incredible chefs from around the world, and much more. Check out Sasu Laukkonen: https://www.instagram.com/sasulaukkonen/ http://sasulaukkonen.com/ More...

Greetings from Maspeth! Sampson Dahl lives in a former laundromat in Maspeth, Queens. In addition to living there, Sampson uses his space for art projects and community hangouts - as he has a largely open door policy. He has made a splash in the media lately by having his apartment and his story shared across the country. We spoke about his many artistic endeavors, living in a former laundromat, l...

Greetings from Centreville, Maryland! Since 1994, Vicco von Voss has been living and working on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, using locally salvaged trees to produce one-of-a-kind, contemporary furniture designs. He is a master craftsman who makes beautiful, artistic designs for people around the world. We spoke about his inspiration, growing up in cities around the world, his days of living in a...

Greetings from Brooklyn! Frieda Vizel is a New York City tour guide specializing in the Hasidic world of her roots. Frieda was born into a Hasidic family and community in New York. She has a fantastic Youtube channel where she documents Brooklyn's Hasidic communities. I live in one of those communities, and Frieda was kind enough to field my questions, clear up my misconceptions, and to educate me...

Greetings from New York City! Calvin Sun is a doctor, world traveler and the author of The Monsoon Diaries: A Doctor's Journey of Hope and Healing from the ER Frontlines to the Far Reaches of the World. Calvin has traveled to over 190 countries in ten years while maintaining a professional career and gaining widespread acclaim for his work and coverage of the covid-19 pandemic in New York City. Ca...

Thomas Holton is a photographer and educator from New York City. In his ongoing series, “The Lams of Ludlow Street,” Thomas has documented the daily life of a family in Chinatown for almost twenty years. We spoke about this series and Thomas's father's work as a travel photographer, which took him to incredible destinations around the world. Check out Thomas Holton: https://www.instagram.com/thoma...

Greetings from New York City! Krysten Peck is an actress currently starring in the hit play Straight Line Crazy as well as Season 2 of the tv drama Traces. We met at The Shed in the Hudson Yards to talk about Krysten's career in acting, her perspectives on life and art, her role in Straight Line Crazy, and much more. Tim's Note: The playwright of The Censor is Hannah Khalil. The author of The Devi...

Greetings from the Lower East Side! Clayton Patterson has been documenting, filming, and photographing the Lower East Side since the 1980s. His archive contains tens of thousands of photos of residents, events, and New York City history. Clayton is well known for filming the police brutality in response to the Tompkins Square Park protests. We spoke about his introduction to the hardcore music sce...

Greetings from Brooklyn, New York! Timothy Eastman is a photographer who has covered subcultures and areas of conflict for the past decade. Timothy's new book, All The Past We Leave Behind, features photos and interviewers with Workampers, nomads who travel and live in the places of their seasonal work. We spoke about his new book, his photos and experiences from Ukraine, and much more. Check out...

Grace Cordsen is an explorer, researcher, and entrepreneur with a passion for the polar regions. Her exploration journey started in 2018 when she completed a research project and book that focused on the cultural and culinary traditions of the small communities throughout the North Atlantic Ocean. We spoke about her research, travels, and experiences in the polar regions and beyond. Check out Grac...