Whiskey and a Map: True Stories of Adventure.

Charles William Steele, Jr is a cave explorer and speleologist who has led and participated in expeditions to many of the longest and deepest caves in the United States, Mexico, and China. He has explored hundreds of caves across North America and Asia and has written two books chronicling his expeditions: Yochib: The River Cave , and Huautla: Thirty Years in One of the World's Deepest Caves . TV...

Justin Fornal is an explorer, writer documenting vanishing traditions in some of the world’s most challenging regions. His work focuses on ancient textiles, traditional foodways, and the material culture of ritual.. Justin has led research expeditions across Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Yemen, Ethiopia, Liberia, the West Bank, and Arctic Greenland. A 2025 Society of American Travel Writers Gold Medal Awa...

Jacob “Val” Myers is an Appalachian-born adventure athlete with a growing list of accomplishments stretching across the board from ultramarathons, expeditions, published writings, and community service projects. Getting his start working with public lands as a young man in Gorges State Park, Val has hundreds of hours of volunteer service on trail crews and as a fundraiser supporting conservation p...

Oscar Scafidi is a travel writer, international educator and risk consultant. Originally from the UK and Italy, he has lived, worked and travelled across over thirty African nations. Oscar tends to focus on difficult destinations and post-conflict zones which do not attract many tourists. His work has included everything from interviewing pirates in Somalia to chasing elephants around the forests...

Oscar Scafidi is a travel writer, international educator and risk consultant. Originally from the UK and Italy, he has lived, worked and travelled across over thirty African nations. Oscar tends to focus on difficult destinations and post-conflict zones which do not attract many tourists. His work has included everything from interviewing pirates in Somalia to chasing elephants around the forests...

In 2017, Victor completed the “Explorer’s Grand Slam” which requires climbing the highest peak on all seven of the world’s continents including Mt. Everest and skiing at least 100 kilometers to the North and South Poles. He piloted the first repeated dives to the ocean’s deepest point, Challenger Deep, in the Pacific’s Mariana Trench -- now fifteen times, and in August 2019 became the first person...

George McKenzie Jr. is a National Geographic Explorer, award-winning filmmaker, conservation photographer, and educator whose work sits at the intersection of storytelling, science, and community. Born in Guyana and raised in Brooklyn, George did not grow up in wild places—however found his way to them and now dedicates his career to making conservation accessible to people who may not see themsel...

Send us a text Cited as one of "20 of the world's most influential photographers" by the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Peter Guttman is an acclaimed travel journalist, adventurer, author, photographer, lecturer and television personality, winner of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Exploration and Storytelling, three time recipient of t...

Send us a text Jim Clash covers extreme adventure and classic rock. Over three decades of writing for Forbes, Clash, who holds an MBA from Columbia University, has penned four books, most recently Amazon bestseller “Amplified,” about ‘60s music. His first-person stories include supersonic flights in eight separate aircraft pulling up to 9 Gs and flying to 84,000 ft; driving a Bugatti at 253 mph an...

Send us a text In 2015, Rigby embarked on his epic “Crossing Africa” expedition, traveling from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt entirely by foot and kayak. Over two years, he covered more than 12,000 kilometers across 8 African countries.  Along the way, he learns of its people, languages and customs coming away with a deep understanding of the reach cultural diversity of continent.  He th...

Send us a text Driving across the African continent in an old Land Rover.  Safari guide in the remote Zambezi valley.  Join us for part two as we hear more tales of classic African adventure from Rob Fynn. Rob Fynn's family goes back in Africa six generations.  He was brought up in Rhodesia and then at age 18 he left to join the Royal Navy. He was asked to leave when UDI was declared and all...

Send us a text Driving across the African continent in an old Land Rover.  Safari guide in the remote Zambezi valley.  Join us as we hear tales of classic African adventure from Rob Fynn. Rob Fynn's family goes back in Africa six generations.  He was brought up in Rhodesia and then at age 18 he left to join the Royal Navy. He was asked to leave when UDI was declared and all Rhodesians in the...

Send us a text In this episode of Whiskey and a Map, award winning journalist and author Jacques Leslie recounts his years as a war correspondent covering the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia and the Indira Gandhi crises in India.  At the age of 24, Jacques Leslie became a Los Angeles Times foreign correspondent, and covered the war in Vietnam and Cambodia for two years. For that work he won the Sigma...

Send us a text In this episode, we are joined by Danish adventurer, documentarian and speaker Rasmus Krath.  Rasmus ventures solo into some of the most dangerous places on the planet armed only with camera and the ability to connect with and gain the trust of the people who live there.   His adventures have taken him into active war zones of Afghanistan to meet local warlords and across lawless So...

Send us a text Facing down grizzly bears, charging mountain gorillas and a solo cross country ski crossing of Yellowstone in winter, are just some of the adventures award winning wildlife photographer Tom Murphy shares with us in this episode of Whiskey and a Map. Tom uses his photography to illustrate his passion for the remaining wild places on our earth. Yellowstone National Park’s wildlife and...

Send us a text In this episode, Katie Aune takes on a adventure far off the typical tourist track, from riding the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia and taking a cargo ferry from Ukraine to Georgia, to volunteering in Tajikistan and camping in the desert of Turkmenistan.  Katie is a recovering tax attorney who has worked in nonprofit and higher ed fundraising for more than a decade while also d...

Send us a text Described by some as a never ending green hell and by others as the most beautiful bio diverse place on the planet, the jungles of Panama attract the best and the worst of mankind.  In this episode, conservation photographer Joshua Asel recounts his adventure into the jungles of Panama’s Darian gap to embed with the indigenous tribal rangers and support their efforts to counter larg...

Send us a text The most dangerous exploration is cave diving.  Dive deep into the earth’s underwater caves, see creatures no one has seen before, stories of Mayan sacrifices and explore the oracle that set Alexander the Great on his world conquests with our guest Jill Heinerth. Jill Heinerth is a cave diver, photographer, writer and filmmaker. Jill has explored unmapped, underwater caves deep in t...

Send us a text Luke Smithwick shares stories of his travels and adventures in the Himalayan mountains.  The dangers of climbing remote and unclimbed peaks, witness to ancient mask dances and blood sacrifice, and an encounter with the rare snow leopard. Luke Smithwick is an American professional skier, alpinist and mountain guide in the Himalaya with 98 Himalayan expeditions in the past 13 years. H...

Send us a text  Walking the length of Africa's Zambezi river, explorer Chaz Powell entered a small village and saw something that he will never forget. Witchcraft, the exorcism of a demonic spirit and the heavy presence of evil. A strange but true story as told by one who lived it. Chaz Powell is an Explorer, Expedition Leader and Survival Guide. Recognized as Explorer of the Year 2021 by the...

Send us a text  George Kourounis is an explorer, storm chaser & TV presenter who has spent 25 years documenting extreme forces of nature and natural phenomena worldwide including tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, floods, and the effects of climate change. He holds the title of National Geographic Explorer, Explorer In Residence for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and served the maximu...

Send us a text Brandon Wilson is  Award winning travel writer, long distance trekker and peace pilgrim.   “Travel is like a mirror held up against the world. It gives us a different perspective on life. And if we hold it just right, we might catch a glimmer of our own soul.” Brandon Wilson Brandon Wilson is an award-winning author, explorer and peace pilgrim. Brandon was awarded the prestigious Lo...

Send us a text Are you prepared?  How far would you go and what risks would you accept to accomplish your goal? In this episode, we rejoin join Cyril Derreumaux and his quest to solo kayak from California to Hawaii.   Cyril is French born, American world traveler and adventurer. His exploits include backpacking around the world, setting a Guinness record for crossing the Pacific Ocean from Califor...

Send us a text Are you prepared?  How far would you go and what risks would you accept to accomplish your goal? In this episode, we are joined by Cyril Derreumaux.  Cyril is French born, American world traveler and adventurer. His exploits include backpacking around the world, setting a Guinness record for crossing the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii as part of a four-man rowing team, and...

Send us a text "Best Story of Adventure and Survival in the Jungles of the Amazon." Yossi Ghinsberg is an adventurer.  A wandering soul seeking not the prize of a conquest, but a connection with tribal cultures around the world.  He is a best-selling author, award winning speaker and was featured on the Discovery Channel. After finishing his hitch with the Israeli navy, Yossi traveled to...