WanderLearn: Travel to Transform Your Mind & Life

The next 4 episodes will feature Rufina Garay, the host of the new FoodLove podcast! We hadn't talked to each other since we casually played volleyball at Amherst College in 1992! Therefore, 30 years later, we had a lot of catching up to do! We talked for over 2 hours! Instead of airing it as one mega-long podcast, I've broken it up into 4 segments of about 30 minutes each. Here are the timestamps...

I answer 3 listener questions. You can also watch it on YouTube . 1. What are my book recommendations? I mention: Any book by Bill Bryson. I enjoyed his latest,  The Body . Robert Zubrin,  A Case for Space Gates of Fire :: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae 2. How do you train for your mountain climbing? 3. Why did Eswatini change its name? BTW, I will be doing more and more short episodes...

After reviewing the 10 reasons why you should consider backpacking with an umbrella, I tackle... 10 frequently asked questions about carrying an umbrella while hiking or backpacking In summary, I address the top 10 reasons to use an umbrella in the wild as well as the 10 questions people have about backpacking with an umbrella. I'm reading my umbrella article that has been viewed 200,000 times.  ...

Nate Ritter, the CEO of  Roomsteals , reveals the unseen underbelly of the travel industry. We discuss: Will mistake fares increase in the future AI vs. Machine Learning - and how it affects you Hotel vs. airline margins Wholesale vs. retail pricing in travel OTAs How discount airlines make money Should you buy tickets on the weekend or Tuesday? (Surprising answer!) Why Nate started Room Steals Wa...

Adrien Behn  (pronounced "Bane") has been a nomad for 12 years and has visited 35 countries and 20 US States. She is the host of the  Strangers Abroad Podcast . We talk about: What do you have to do to claim that you have been to a state? How can you travel safely as a solo female traveler? How is it like to be a comedian in a politically correct age? Do women get more hangry than men? Referencing...

Dan Coplan  is a filmmaker and  drone operator . We talk about: How he got started with drones and filmmaking Is helicopter footage going to go extinct with the advent of drones? Filming in vertical vs. horizontal Image stabilization vs. gimbals Digital vs. optical zoom Are all 4K cameras equal? Question of the Week What are NFTs? Why are they valuable? Dan mentioned " Right Up Our Alley" on YouTu...

Today marks the 1-year anniversary of bitcoin's 3rd halving &  my critique of Plan B's stock-to-flow model . Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa3sWnDvIl0   I reflect on: How the stock-to-flow model is holding up. Misunderstandings about my first S2F video. Who is right/wrong about the S2F model. A potential Bitcoin supercycle. Bitcoin's Achilles' Heel. What I think will happen in b...

I interview Teouta Luri, a Kosovar & ethnic Albanian who was born in Yugoslavia in 1976. She is the daughter of a prominent Yugoslav politician. We discuss: Why Tito was the most popular dictator ever. Why Milosovic's policies inadvertently brought on civil war. Why she thought getting married and having a baby in the middle of a war was a brilliant idea. Why Albanians love the USA more than anyon...

El Camino de Santiago has 10 benefits, 4 things that are either good or bad depending on your perspective, and 10 sucky things about it. In this episode, I read my most popular article and interject commentary. The article has over 3 million views because it appears in the Top 10 results whenever you Google "El Camino Santiago." Sorry for the 1-month hiatus. I'll be pumping out more episodes to ma...

Aaron Millar's  Armchair Explorer Podcast  will delight Radiolab fans who love to travel! (Millar is pronounced like Americans pronounce "Miller.") In this podcast, you'll learn: Aaron Millar's origins How Millar took the leap of faith of becoming a writer and then a podcaster Why and how Millar integrates music in his podcast  Why Steven Dubner, the host of the Freakanomics podcast, heavily edits...

Would you like to get sponsors for your activities? I'll paraphrase JFK... Ask not what sponsors can do for you, ask what you can do for your sponsors The CEO of GoLite said that I was the first person to ever send him a sponsorship proposal with the section called "ROI" (Return On Investment). That shows that oftentimes people don't consider that companies want to get something out of the experie...

I tackle more listener feedback. Here's what they wrote: DC Qranky wrote One thing I find very appealing about your show is how insightful you are and the way you both remain open to ideas while expressing your own opinion even if it’s totally contrary to a guest, for example. How about if at the end of every show you had a short segment in which you take one reader question or topic suggestion an...

I tackle my critics head-on thanks to an audience suggestion. DC Qranky wrote: You only read 5-star reviews on your show? C’mon man…don’t you want to encourage authentic dialogue? I think you should read ALL reviews! Not only will that encourage engagement, it will give you feed for your podcast. Let’s say some douche bag like, oh I don’t know, DC Qranky gives you a 1-star review and says you don’...

There are a dozen words and expressions that irk me when people misuse them. Share this episode to educate the world about these 12 misused words or phrases. You can also watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-nVI_v5m4s The 12 problematic words/phrases are:  Nonplussed Mad Biweekly, bimonthly, and biannually Full of chemicals Backpacking Only a fraction Don't judge Proud Giving mo...

I received this email that asks me a question I get asked all the time: Greetings Mr. Tapon,We share the same dream of traveling the world. This is exactly what I want to do. My question is: how do you afford it? Truly, you must be wealthy to be able to do this. Any advice on how I may follow in suit?-Jonathan, 22 I answer that question in this episode! It's from my article about " How Can You Aff...

What's the difference between changing and transforming? Dr. Rosie Kuhn discusses this and many other topics in the #126 episode of the WanderLearn podcast! Listen to this if you're looking for ways to create a paradigm shift in your mentality and the way you perceive your life. Check out  Rosie Kuhn's books ! Sponsors This episode is sponsored by  Athletic Brewing ! Use promo code WANDERLEARN20 t...

Rejoice Tapon describes her exploration of the four most popular military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. This one is worth watching on YouTube ! Trust me. Rejoice dreams of being a nurse in the 2020s. Therefore, she was mainly interested in the medical field. Still, this video will be helpful for those who are interested in non-medical careers. You'll learn: What's awesome about the...

Elly Roupcheva's family is from Turkincha, Bulgaria. In this podcast, we reminisce on the unexpected way we met there.  You can see the photos from our first meeting in my  article about Turkincha .  After some initial laughs, we dive into the real meat of the conversation: how has Bulgaria evolved in the last 10 years?  In  The Hidden Europe , I quoted Elly extensively in the chapter about Bulgar...

Is Hungary becoming a dictatorship? How is Eastern Europe evolving? How did Viktor Orbán, Hungary's leader, come to power? Is he popular and loved? Alex Kuli is a "recovering journalist" in Hungary.  We went to Amherst College together. He's been living in Hungary for a few decades, reporting on the state of affairs. I quoted him extensively in  The Hidden Europe .  With the 10th anniversary comin...

Watch it on YouTube ! Everyone loves to say, "I told you so." But few are willing to admit, "I told you something wrong." Even though every human makes mistakes every day, it's surprisingly hard to find humans who regularly say, "I was wrong." I make annual predictions not to say "I told you so," but rather to teach myself some humility. I predict events so I can publicly humiliate myself. It's my...

For this Xmas, here's a special present - a podcast like no other! Sym Blanchard's first podcast with me in #3 in my all-time downloaded podcasts . My second one with him was also super popular. To make his third podcast even more interesting, Sym is joined by his girlfriend, Patty Montgomery. Together, they share: Why it took them 60 years to finally become a couple. How they manage their relatio...

Nick Jankel has written several books, including Spiritual Atheism. We discuss his book and other topics. Nick Jankel helps you take the pain out of transformation. He helps you blast through the barriers that block creativity and innovation and unleash conscious changes in leadership and life that bring less suffering and more thriving into the spaces we touch. You can also watch the interview on...

On March 27, 2020, we had 60,000 COVID deaths worldwide.  I asked several physicians at my brother's virtual birthday party (on March 27) to predict how many deaths we would suffer in 2020. They said 100-250k. Rejoice said 1 million. I said 1.5 million. In December 2020, we hit the grim 1.5 million number, which is triple the annual number of worldwide flu deaths. I also discuss my 2021 travel pla...

Ten years ago, I was tired of Europeans unfairly bashing the USA, so I wrote a 5-part series called " Defending America ." Throughout  Eastern Europe , I’ve 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 American...

Get out of your echo chamber! Have conversations with people you disagree with! In that spirit, I am once again talking with  Derek Loudermilk . We discuss: Lucid dreaming Listening to your subconscious/gut Channeling Aliens UFOs Harmonic Convergence Unified Field Intention Experiment Why be a skeptic? You can watch this episode on YouTube . If you missed my first episode with Derek, listen or wat...