WanderLearn: Travel to Transform Your Mind & Life

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...

Matt Favero  is the Director of Marketing at  Zpacks , one of my top two favorite backpacking gear companies (Gossamer Gear is the other).  I ask him: How did he get involved in Zpacks? What backpacking opportunities exist in Florida? What’s the dumbest backpacking mistake he ever made? What Zpack product is he most proud of? What is his funkiest item? What makes Zpacks special? What will the 2020...

After graduating from Harvard Business School and working a bit, DJ Didonna embarked on an improbable quest: helping people take months or even years off work. There's nothing wrong with working nonstop for 40 years.  However, paradoxically, taking a sabbatical may be the best thing for your career. DJ wants to help you do what most Harvard Business School graduates don’t know how to do: get off t...

This is one of my favorite podcasts this year. I admire  Mike Spencer Bown . He's been traveling for the last 25 years. He's been to every country. He's the author of  The World's Most Travelled Man . Does he deserve that title? He didn't even pick that title. His publisher did. We discuss whether that topic as well as these topics: How many Canadian provinces are there? He didn't know, even thoug...

Lauren Kahn  has done 72 home exchanges! One way to immerse yourself in a foreign environment is to do a home exchange.  Lauren's blog offers plenty of advice on how to do a home exchange. This podcast comes in two parts. Due to a technical snafu, Lauren thought she lost our first interview. So I interviewed her twice, thinking that we lost the original recording. We managed to recover it. I took...

Over 2.5 million people have read my article, " 10 Reasons Why El Camino de Santiago Sucks ." One of those people is Susan Alcorn, who has hiked to Santiago, Spain 16 different times over 9 different routes. Instead of taking offense to the article, she took it as constructive criticism of the article. We've had a civil discussion about El Camino ever since.  One of my central points is that the m...

Boyd Varty's TED talk about "What I Learned From Nelson Mandela"  made Varty famous. His talk has nearly two million views. His newest book came out this week. It's called  The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life . Varty is a fourth-generation custodian of the  Londolozi Game Reserve . Unlike his ancestors, he's never hunted a lion. Now he just tracks them for eco-tourism. I ask him: What would his lion-...

Few people expect to get kidnapped, but it's good to have some education on how to avoid kidnapping and what to do if you are kidnapped. In this episode 59 of the WanderLearn podcast, I interview Olav Ostad, who wrote  Surviving Kidnappers: Precautions, Influence, Strategic Tools , which I reviewed on my website. You can buy it on Amazon . I ask Olav to share: A kidnapping story with a happy endin...

Donna Colson is one of the five City Council members in Burlingame, California. Currently, she's serving as Burlingame's Mayor. Burlingame is an affluent city with 30,000 residents near the San Francisco Airport. I grew up next to Burlingame. Mayor Colson is running for re-election to the City Council on November 5, 2019. We chatted for 30 minutes about a variety of topics, including: What does a...

Jack Kennedy got malaria in Sumbawa, Indonesia.  After that tough experience, a lightbulb went off in his head. He wondered if, at the cost of a few thousand dollars, he could eliminate malaria in Sumbawa. He founded  Health Access Sumbawa  to eradicate malaria in Sumbawa and far beyond. Can we eliminate malaria plasmodium? What's the best bang for the buck? Bed nets? Spraying?  Is there a malaria...

What would you do if you were caught in an avalanche? How do you minimize your risk when you're traveling in the snowy mountains? Robert Hahn has studied avalanches and still managed to get caught in one.  He works for the  Northwest Avalanche Center .  He shares his personal avalanche survival story. He also shares tips on how you can avoid repeating his fate. After 50 mins, we shift away from ta...

WanderLearn fans get a special chance to  win $1000 in travel credits on TourRadar  by going here: https://www.tourradar.com/wanderlearn About this episode: Jessica Husson was one of two people (out of thousands who applied) who won a round-the-world trip sponsored by TourRadar and Intrepid travel. Jessica and Joan (a Spaniard) starred in some superbly produced videos about their travels. I watche...

Elias Papaioannou is a Professor of Economics at the London School of Business (at the start of the podcast, I incorrectly say that he's at the London School of Economics). Professor Papaioannou has authored the following academic papers on Africa: The long-run effects of the scramble for Africa The scramble for Africa and its legacy Pre-colonial ethnic institutions and contemporary African develo...

You might think that you're a responsible and ethical traveler, but are you really? I talk with  Alexandra Pastollnigg , who is the Founder of  FairVoyage . She climbed Kilimanjaro. She's biked from Cairo to Cape Town. She's gone a few days without a shower. I ask her: Why did your Kilimanjaro trek change your life? Why is earning $2 a day bad if your costs are only $1.80? Is a shitty job better t...