WanderLearn: Travel to Transform Your Mind & Life

Mark Joseph hiked  El Camino de Santiago  with his father's ashes. The father and son had intended to walk the long trail together, but, like many people, they postponed their dream hike until it was too late. He's filmed a documentary about his walk to Muxia, which is the end of El Camino de Santiago. Between now and August 3, 2019, he is running his  Road to Muxia Kickstarter project , which aim...

The three most popular excuses people have for not traveling? Lack of time Lack of money Lack of children Just kidding about that last one! Today, we'll look at the real excuse #3: I can't go because I have kids! When I was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I interviewed the parents behind  Growing Up Without Borders . For the last few years, they are systematically visiting every country in the world w...

Stephen P. Williams , author of  Blockchain: The Next Everything , talks about bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchains. In this interview, I ask him: What is a blockchain? Is each bitcoin transaction really consuming 30-USA-households worth of electricity? What's the difference between proof-of-work versus proof-of-stake? What's the promise of Etherum vs. Bitcoin? What's blockchain's killer app...

There's a  project that is searching for an Einstein in Africa . I may have found him. His name is Baye Gaspar. He's from the extreme north of Cameroon. He's won countless awards. He's just 26 years old. It's a brutally honest discussion. I am politically incorrect, as usual. We don't sugarcoat the conversation. One thing that few will appreciate is that Baye Gaspar comes from a Francophone region...

Mustapha, Tual, and Usama are three young Egyptians hanging by the Nile in Luxor.  What do tourists miss out on when they zip through Egypt? How important is Allah in Egypt? What do think of Israel, Sudan, and Libya What's the marriage ceremony like? What do you they imagine relationships are like in America? What's the future of Egypt? I apologize that there's the annoying sound of wind during th...

In last week's episode, Brittany Longoria and I talked about her infamous photo featuring a leopard she killed in Namibia in 2018.  A single Facebook post generated 200 heated comments . As a result, I did an AMA video live-stream for my patrons . Only my patrons can playback the video, but I'm releasing the audio here. Last week's podcast opened a can of worms and left many unanswered questions....

In 2018,  Brittany Hosmer Longoria  was swept up in a social media firestorm with these trending hashtags: #disgusting #cuntress #findThisBitch #huntTheHunter #Monstress #immoral #murderHer #KillHer #poacher What had she done to induce such a vicious reaction? The surprising answer is nothing that remarkable. What she had done was to hunt a leopard in Namibia and take a photo of her holding the de...

Christopher Comer has a Ph. D. and is the Director of Conservation in Safari Club International, which is primarily a pro-hunting organization. We talk about: What are some common myths people have about hunting? What does hunting teach you? Is poaching getting better or worse? What is rural sprawl? What can we do to augment the wildlife population in Africa? Should we optimistic or pessimistic ab...

Do you miss your voice assistant when you travel? Do you find yourself in a hotel room and saying, "OK Google, set my alarm for 6 a.m." Or "Alexa, what's the weather forecast?" Or "Siri, tell housekeeping to come here." Soon, you won't miss your voice assistant anymore, at least, if Volara has its way. Volara CEO David Berger shares his vision for context-driven, identity-optional, voice-first exp...

Glen Van Peski is a civil engineer who used his skills to engineer the lightest backpacking gear in the Solar System. He's the Founder of Gossamer Gear . In the 31st WanderLearn episode, Glen and I chat while we're hiking up to the Sweeney Ridge in the San Francisco Bay Area's Peninsula. On the ridge, there's a National Historic Landmark commemorating the historic Gaspar de Portola Expedition. The...

I interviewed Fred Wehrey for this podcast and for my  review of his book, Burning Shores , which I wrote on Forbes. I've copied the article below for those who are too lazy to go to Forbes. Enjoy the podcast! Review of The Burning Shores Barack Obama called Libya a “s**t show” and that it was the “worst mistake” of his presidency. This tidbit is just one of the many facts you'll read about in  Th...

Bahman Keramati is an Iranian who has lived a decade in Africa. He's mostly lived in Nigeria and Tanzania. He's also visited many other countries in Africa. I asked him: What attracted him to Nigeria? What are the differences between Nigeria and Tanzania (or West vs. East Africa)? What shocked him when he first moved to Nigeria? What does he love most about Nigeria? How is it raising a child in Af...

To learn more about Vacasa, listen to WanderLearn  podcast #19  where I interview Thaddeus Hansom Vacasa's Head of Global Partner Programs. In this episode, I spend 15 minutes walking through a Vacasa home in Arizona. This $1 million home has 5 bedrooms and 4 baths. There's also a pool. It would have cost me $2,000 to rent it for 3 nights, but I got to stay for free. Unlike other travel bloggers,...

Anamaria is a Tanzanian who has lived 7 months in South Africa. Since many people think that all African countries are quite similar, I asked her to compare the two countries.  We also delve into: Fidelity The Tanzanian government Witchcraft Racism in South Africa The future of Africa We do a deep dive into witchcraft. My wife, Rejoice Tapon, chimes in occasionally on the show. Sponsored by Health...

Jennifer Peedom is a mountaineer and filmmaker who made my favorite documentary about the mountains. It's simply called Mountain. It's  free for Netflix  subscribers or you can rent it for $4 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2viG9XnS1g The Mountain documentary has four elements and Peedom hits a home run on all of them: Cinematography: Peedom sifted through thousands of hours of mounta...

Most people (including Africans) would love it if Africa no longer needed charity. If Africa was able to economically stand on its own two feet, charities could focus efforts elsewhere. The planet would be better off. Although parts of Africa are rich, most parts are still poor. The question is: how can we help lift Africans out of poverty? China and India lifted over one billion people out of pov...

Nigeria's Election is Tomorrow! On February 16, 2019, Nigeria will pick their new president. Learn more about the Nigerian election on Wikipedia . In the 28th WanderLearn podcast episode, I interview Sharon Georgewill . She's a Nigerian from Port Harcourt. She's traveled to many African countries. When I interviewed her in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I asked her to reflect on her continent and her co...

Vagabonding is a seminal travel book. The author, Rolf Potts, made people realize that they don't need to settle for just two weeks a vacation every year. Rolf shows you how you can travel for two months per year or even travel nonstop for two years! In this podcast, Rolf and I discuss: How we both got drunk at an early age. How did he get into hiking and rock climbing? How does he stay in shape w...

iinside  is obsessed about the last kilometer at the airport.  You may use Google Maps, Maps.me , or some other mapping system to figure out how much congestion there is on your way to the airport.  However, the automobile traffic congestion may not correlate with the congestion inside the airport. Wouldn't it be nice to know what's going on inside the airport? How long are security checkpoint lin...

WanderLearn fans get a special chance to  win a tour for two to Italy, England, Vietnam or California for FREE  by going here: https://www.tourradar.com/wanderlearn   Whether you're into travel tours or not, you should listen to Travis Pittman, the CEO of  TourRadar .  I've always been skeptical and resistant to tours. I've always preferred independent travel. Travis makes a pretty convincing argu...

Sym "Symbiosis" Blanchard has had so many adventures in his 66 years, including: Hiking half of Madagascar Walking El Camino de Santiago Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail (as a section-hiker) Hiked half of the Continental Divide Trail (and plans to do the rest) Hiked the Annapurna Circuit. Swam across a river in Madagascar Hiked to Everest Base Cape Hitchhiked all over the...

There are two types of people who should listen to this podcast: 1. You have a vacation property that you'd like to rent out in a hassle-free way. 2. You're looking to rent a luxurious, professionally-managed home all for yourself (and your friends/family) on your vacation. Vacasa  has 10,000 homes in their portfolio.  You might think their competitor is Airbnb or Booking.com .  Not exactly. A clo...

Kirsteene Phelan, Acting CEO of  Rome2Rio , has a 15-minute conversation with me to discuss her company's new partnership with Lonely Planet and what it means to the average traveler. We hit on other topics, including: How is Rome2Rio different than Google maps and other travel planners? How do they get offline data online? What's the best way to break into the travel industry? What's her long-ter...

At the end of 2017, I made my predictions for 2018. Although I got a couple of things wrong,  I was surprisingly accurate . Since the point of this exercise is to prove how wrong we can all be, I need to do the same exercise for 2019 with the hope that I get more things wrong. I encourage you to make predictions in the comments. It's a humbling experience. Here are seven predictions of what I thin...

JoAnneh Nagler gives tips, ideas, and strategies that help you be an artist and build a life you love, in the real world. This approach inspired her to write three self-help books: Naked Marriage: How to Have a Lifetime of Love, Sex, Joy and Happiness How to Be an Artist Without Losing Your Mind, Your Shirt, or Your Creative Compass The Debt-Free Spending Plan, a five-minute-a-day approach to easy...