“Anybody with curiosity and wanderlust can have their own Hippie Trail. They just need to get away from home, embrace the world, and have an adventure.” –Rick Steves

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Rick talk about Rick’s 1990s book Asia Through the Back Door, and how Rick recently rediscovered the old Asia travel journals he kept as a young man (2:30); how Rick prepared for the journey in the era before there were many guidebooks to the regions he was headed (9:30); what the experience of travel was like for Rick and his friend Gene on the Hippie Trail, including spiritual experiences (18:00); how travel can expand your sense of community, and diversify your sense for what wealth and poverty is (28:00); Rick’s first experience of smoking hash on the Hippie Trail, and how it gave him an appreciation for the joy of travel (34:00); and what lessons Rick brought home from the experience (39:00).

Rick Steves (@ricksteveseurope) is a travel expert, author, and TV host who specializes in Europe. His newest book is On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer.

Notable Links:

• Kevin Kelly on the lost world of 1970s Asia (Deviate episode)
• Travel can be a way to see the future, with Kevin Kelly (Deviate episode)
• Vagabonding pioneer Ed Buryn (Deviate episode)
• Hippie trail (Asia travel route in the 1960s and 1970s)
• Asia Through the Back Door, by Rick Steves (book)
• Iranian revolution (1979 overthrow of U.S. backed government)
• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (conflict that started in 1979)
• Van Life before #VanLife (Deviate episode)
• Lonely Planet (guidebook publisher)
• Rick Steves’ Europe (TV show)
• Bucket shop (wholesale of air tickets)
• The Man Who Would be King (1975 film)
• ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
• LCMS (Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod)
• Bread for the World (Christian advocacy organization)
• Herat (city in Afghanistan)
• Freak Street (neighborhood near Durbar Square in Kathmandu)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“In solitude, I often feel closer to the people I care for than when they’re in the same room.” –Pico Iyer

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Pico talk about how the best travels are often counterbalanced with a kind of stillness, in which one can find one’s “best self” (3:00); Pico’s decades-long experiences with monks in a California monastery, the benefits of a “childlike attitude” toward life, and how “fire” can be a metaphor for spiritual life (12:00); how Pico’s solitude is informed by, and in conversation with, nature (22:00); Pico’s engaged relationship with spiritual communities, even though he is not religious (30:00); the “counterculture” spiritual tradition that grew up around Big Sur, California, and the power of longing (39:00); and how solitude can be a gateway to other people (47:00).

Pico Iyer (@PicoIyer) is a novelist, essayist, and author. His newest book is Aflame: Learning from Silence.

Notable Links:

• Pico Iyer on what Japan can teach us about life (Deviate episode 73)
• The Vagabond’s Way, by Rolf Potts (book)
• Henri Nouwen (writer and theologian)
• New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton (book)
• The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual leader)
• The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen (book)
• Richard Powers (novelist)
• Desert Fathers (early Christian hermits and ascetics)
• Sign of Jonas, by Thomas Merton (book)
• Days of Heaven (1978 film)
• 4′33″ by John Cage (musical composition)
• New Camaldoli Hermitage (hermitage in Big Sur, California)
• Rigveda (ancient Indian collection of hymns)
• The Woman Lit by Fireflies, by Jim Harrison (book)
• Sarmoung Brotherhood (esoteric Sufi brotherhood)
• Henry Miller (novelist)
• Esalen Institute (retreat center in Big Sur)
• Bittersweet, by Susan Cain (book)
• Leonard Cohen (songwriter)
• Ludwig Wittgenstein (philosopher)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“When we got into this, we didn’t know how to make videos. That’s a skill we’ve had to learn, because the industry has changed so much, from photos to videos. We are still learning all the time.” —Anne Howard

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf, Mike, Anne and Kiki talk about they got started traveling as a couple, how they made it affordable, and how they made the transition into the world of content creation (2:15); how to navigate recording and sharing travel experiences that go wrong, including relationship dynamics (9:30); how to make travel “sustainable” in the personal and creative sense of the word (17:00); the advantages of having a “niche” as an influencer, and how sponsored travel works (24:30); and what makes travel influencers stand out from others, and the importance of learning new skills (34:00).

Mike & Anne Howard are on The World’s Longest Honeymoon, traveling for the last 13 years through 80 countries across all 7 continents. They have written and photographed a National Geographic book on couples adventure travel, Ultimate Journeys for Two, as well as the glamping guidebook, Comfortably Wild.

Notable Links:

• The 10-Year Honeymoon (video)
• Glamping (upscale camping style)
• DMO (destination marketing organization)
• Brunei (country in SE Asia)
• Timor-Leste (country in SE Asia)
• How to Get Started Housesitting (article)
• Co-living (residential community living model)
• Michelin star (restaurant rating system)
• Favelas (impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil)
• World’s Most Romantic & Sustainable Destinations (article)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“Influencers are forever reinforcing the same images. They’re spending no time in the actual place, other than the requisite time to take the photo. From the local community’s point of view, these kinds of tourists bring very little value.” –Stuart McDonald

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Stuart talk about why Stuart chose to make his office in West Bali, and why South Bali has developed something of a bad reputation in terms of over-tourism (2:30); the mythos of Bali, how it became a “dreamscape” in the Western consciousness, and how it has changed in recent years (6:30); why certain areas in Bali become over-touristed, and how it has recently been affected by “influencers” (18:00); how black magic and ghosts are part of the belief systems of Balinese, yet few travelers ascertain this (24:00); and how much social-media travel content leaves out essential cultural context (31:00).

Stuart McDonald (@travelfishery) is the co-founder of Travelfish.org, a travel planning website covering Southeast Asia, which he launched in 2014. He has been traveling in that part of the world since 1993, and living there since 1997.

Notable Links:

• The Vagabond’s Way, by Rolf Potts (book)
• Bali Hai Immigrant Song (YouTube mashup)
• Dutch presence in Bali (colonialist history)
• Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert (book)
• Canggu (coastal village in Bali)
• Fly-in fly-out [FIFO] (term for temporary laborers)
• Digital nomads (remote workers who travel)
• Lonely Planet (travel guidebook publisher)
• Infinity pool (type of swimming pool)
• National Geographic (magazine)
• GetYourGuide (tour company)
• Gates of Heaven (photogenic temple in Bali)
• Balinese sacred textiles
• Kastom (Melanesian traditional culture)
• Kava (sedative drink in Melanesia)
• Listicle (article structured as a list)
• Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, by Kyle Chayka (book)
• Externality (indirect economic cost)

This episode of Deviate is also brought to you by AirTreks, an industry leader in multi-stop international travel. If you’ve ever planned a trip with multiple stops, you know that finding the right flights can be difficult. Between balancing travel logistics and cost, it often becomes impossible to build an itinerary that matches your travel goals. AirTreks is a distributed travel company with employees working from all corners of the world to help with your flight planning, specializing in complex routes with up to 25 stops. The AirTreks website offers suggested pre-planned travel itineraries to help you get started, but can customize to fit your journey.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“We’re having less enjoyable travel experiences, even as our photos show us having this amazing time, because we’re performing a version of travel for people who aren’t even there.”

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and David talk about the time-honored practice of Americans pretending to be Canadian on the road, and why Americans at times have had a bad reputation abroad (2:30); strategies for avoiding becoming an “Ugly American” on the road (11:00); how a fixation with comfort can get in the way of life-enriching experiences on the road (18:30); how rituals like tipping, interacting with children, or choosing what to wear in public from culture to culture (22:00); how “voluntourism” and charity on the part of travelers is often not as selfless or effective as it pretends to be (30:00); how social media has a way of turning us into superficial, image-obsessed travelers (34:00); and how technology has transformed (and constrained) the way we all travel (39:00).

David Martinez is an Associate Professor of Spanish and the director of the Center for Study Abroad at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.

Notable Links:

• How to study abroad, even if you aren’t a student (Deviate episode 221)
• The Vagabond’s Way, by Rolf Potts (book)
• Flag-jacking (the practice of travelers to be from someplace they’re not)
• Paris Writing Workshop (Rolf’s travel-memoir writing classes)
• The Comfort Crisis, by Michael Easter (book)
• Misogi (Japanese Shinto ritual)
• Voluntourism (short-term charity work for travelers)
• Picturesque (aesthetic ideal)
• The Shallows, by Nicholas G. Carr (book)
• The Scent of Time, by Byung-Chul Han (book)
• George Fox Talks (podcast)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.