DON'T CRUSH PEOPLE WITH ROCKS!! 

Also, 

I share my top 5 picks for the best audiobooks to listen to while driving.

We’ll also take listener questions at the end - including: 

• Would you recommend going to Danvers instead of Salem? 

• Do you think something like the witch trials could happen today? 

• Can you do an episode on your van? 

• What’s the legacy of Salem today? 

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

The thrilling conclusion to the Salem Witch Trials is explored... 

At the location where the first accusations of witchcraft were made, Noodles and I tackle popular theories, forgotten history and overlooked locations.

Although,  it’s temping to attribute one cause to the Salam Witch trials - the reality and it’s implications are much more complex.

What happened in Salem Village in 1692 is both strange and familiar, ridiculous and understandable, outlandish and conventional. 

More than anything - the story of the trials, with its showings of fear, courage, cruelty, unpredictability, -  showcase the deepest parts of human nature in us all.

works cited: 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/42909493?read-now=1&seq=13#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/

https://daily.jstor.org/caused-salem-witch-trials/

https://salemwitchmuseum.com/2023/05/17/debunking-the-moldy-bread-theory/

https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Salem-Witch-Trials-Documents/plot-summary/

https://www2.tulane.edu/~salem/Chronology%20of%20Accusations.html

https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n92.html

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-salem-witch-hanging

https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/bridget-bishop-home-and-orchards-site-of/

https://salemwitchmuseum.com/2023/05/17/debunking-the-moldy-bread-theory/

https://www.history.com/news/notable-women-executed-salem-witch-trials

https://www.sausd.us/cms/lib/CA01000471/Centricity/Domain/457/hysteria%20or%20psychedlics.pdf

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

Today we’ll be discussing everything involved with raising a healthy dog on the road. 

(We talk a bit about my dog van-dog Noodles, as well) 

We’ll also take listener questions at the end… 

Including: 

•      Why don’t more people visit the Salem you went to?
•      Have you heard of the ergot theory? 
•      What’s your least favorite town you’ve been to? 
•     What do you use to write? 
•     What was one thing that surprised you when recording the Salem episode?

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

Ever want to visit the real Salem? 

Join Noodles and I as we visit the location responsible for the start of the infamous witch trials.


----

A small shop is filled to the brim with sage, tarot cards and spell books. 

Thick incense obscures eager shoppers and visiting tourists. 

In the bustle, a  small book captures your attention

“The Witches - Salem, 1692” 

The story contained within its pages begins NOT in the bustling modern town of Salem with its shops and attractions, but miles inland in the small house of a pastor. 

The first accusations of witchcraft are made inside its walls, stoking the fire of communal hysteria, religious zealotry and and ultimately the conviction and execution of 20 individuals. 

We visit the dark stone foundation far from the attractions of Salem. 

works cited: 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/42909493?read-now=1&seq=13#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/

https://daily.jstor.org/caused-salem-witch-trials/

https://salemwitchmuseum.com/2023/05/17/debunking-the-moldy-bread-theory/

https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Salem-Witch-Trials-Documents/plot-summary/

https://www2.tulane.edu/~salem/Chronology%20of%20Accusations.html

https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n92.html

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-salem-witch-hanging

https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/bridget-bishop-home-and-orchards-site-of/

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

We discuss my struggle with ADD. 

I don’t share this story lightly - in fact it’s incredibly hard for me - but I hope that, if you’re listening and can relate, you'll benefit. 

We’ll also take listener questions - including: 

• Did the Healing Springs water actually taste good? 
• What's your studio setup? 
• Do you have nicknames for Noodles? 

Grab a drink and let's hang out! 

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

Battles rage throughout the 13 American Colonies … 

In rural South Carolina - on what is now called Slaughter Field - two British soldiers lie dying from their wounds. 

Death is but a certainty …  

Ancestors of the Wassamasaw Tribe carry the soldiers to a spring known for it's healing properties. 

6 months pass, the soldiers - assumed dead - walk back into the barracks in perfect health. 

How?

Noodles and I visit the springs to find out.


Works Cited: 

https://www.gowinlaw.com/blog/2018/6/25/the-deed-to-god

https://www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/sc-news/2020-10-21/the-legend-of-healing-springs-keeps-pilgrims-coming-back-for-more-water

https://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/revolution_slaughter_field.html

https://theclio.com/entry/15013

https://www.scpictureproject.org/barnwell-county/healing-springs.html

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

Today we’ll be discussing three methods I use to find offbeat locations. 

No edits. No Script. 

We’ll  take listener questions at the end… 

p.s.

For whatever reason, I’ve never been interested in what’s the popular thing to do - it might be the crowds, the conformity of it all or just a general lack of interest… 

But because of this, I’ve always searched for what’s off the beaten path - particularly when it comes to traveling. 

Over the years I’ve narrowed down my approach to three methods that are effective in finding interesting locations that people might not actively seek out…

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

The Donner Party gaze upon a path whose crossing grows less likely with each passing day. 

Death by cold or slow starvation is now - very much - a looming reality. 

Less than three miles from the summit, two frightening options become apparent:

• Abandon your remaining supplies and brave the grueling 10 day snow-laden trek across the mountains… 

OR

• Choose to retreat and wait out for a clearing in the weather. 

Neither, encourage optimism. 

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

 Feelings of loneliness can surface anywhere - especially when you’re on the road. 

Is van life glorified on social media? What do you do when loneliness strikes? Have you ever seen a UFO?!

We discuss all of this and more as we unpack what it means to feel lonely while living full time in a van. 

No script. No edits.

Grab a drink and let’s hang out.. 

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/

Hundreds of thousands traveled the roughly 2,500 miles from Missouri to the pacific coast - chasing fertile soil, better fortune and predictable climate. 

Among the thousands to have made this difficult journey westwards, no single group has garnered as much attention, or endured so much, as the roughly 87 people now referred to as the Donner Party …

 Upon reaching their destination, 47 of the 87 remain… what happened? 

Works Cited: 

Stuckey, M. E. (2011). The Donner Party and the Rhetoric of Westward Expansion. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 14(2), 229–260. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41940539

https://discover.hubpages.com/education/Donner-Party-Women-A-Tribute

https://sierranevadageotourism.org/entries/pioneer-monument/ed43023c-be23-4ee6-bbdc-f6b0b6eea706

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41780798?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41940539?searchText=the+donner+party&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dthe%2Bdonner%2Bparty%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Afae995de23f9342fd8c370bad8d6aabf&seq=8

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Donner-party

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/donner-party

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1885479/episodes/new

http://thedonnerlife.weebly.com/characters.html

Noah and Noodles here!

We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.

Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.

Follow each adventure visually at:

https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/