Deviate

“Don’t miss an opportunity to travel, if you have a chance. Decades from now you will always look back and be thankful you did” – Matt Kepnes

In this bonus episode of Deviate, Rolf and Matt discuss 19 lessons Matt has learned from a decade of travel. The entire list is included below. 

 19 Lessons from a Decade of Travel

Matt Kepnes (@nomadicmatt), commonly known as “Nomadic Matt,” is a travel blogger and the New York Times bestselling author of Travel the World on $50 a Day. He is also the founder of TravelCon, a yearly conference to help people learn the skills needed to develop a profitable and sustainable career in the travel industry. His newest book, Ten Years a Nomad, debuted this month. 

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

This episode 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 [email protected].

“It’s the serendipity of travel that makes it so amazing” – Matt Kepnes

In this episode of Deviate, Matt discusses what led him to travel, and adapting to life on the road (3:00); planning his first trip, and the early days of travel (13:00); the impact of travel, and the concept of being “interesting” (21:00); travel friendships and relationships (30:00); travel obstacles (39:00); and his evolution as a traveler over the course of a decade.

Matt Kepnes (@nomadicmatt), commonly known as “Nomadic Matt,” is a travel blogger and the New York Times bestselling author of Travel the World on $50 a Day. He is also the founder of TravelCon, a yearly conference to help people learn the skills needed to develop a profitable and sustainable career in the travel industry. His newest book, Ten Years a Nomad, debuted this month. 

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

This episode 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 [email protected].

“For too long I had thought adventure was life. But, actually, life is the adventure. And that is not the same thing at all.” –Alastair Humphreys

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Alastair Humphreys discuss Alastair’s history as an adventurer, beginning with his four-year bicycle trip around the world (3:00); Alastair’s new book, his fear of performing, and his effort to be vulnerable (10:00); the way the notion of adventure changes as he got older and become a father (16:00); the specifics of walking across Spain with no money and a violin (23:00); the stakes of adventure the 21st century, and the joys to be found the journey (38:00); the task of making the most of the time you’re given in life (44:00); and the definition of microadventures, how they can enhance your life (48:30).

Alastair Humphreys (@Al_Humphreys) is an English adventurer, author and motivational speaker. He is responsible for the rise of the idea of the microadventure – short, local, accessible adventures. Alastair was the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2012, and has written nine books, including Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes (2014), and My Midsummer Morning, which came out in May.

Notable Links:

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

This episode 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 [email protected].

“In the United States, failure is seen as a sin. In New Orleans we treasure our successes but we embrace life on its way down as well. Our failures come back home, and are afforded a respect they wouldn’t get anywhere else.” —John Biguenet

In this episode of Deviate, John Biguenet and Rolf discuss the first three centuries of New Orleans history and how history influences the city today (2:45); how Hurricane Katrina affected the city and its residents in 2005 and the months/years after (9:30); why so many locals decided to stay in New Orleans after Katrina, and what makes the city special (30:30); local and national institutional shortcomings, and lessons learned (and unlearned) after Katrina (38:20); and the social and environmental factors that will put New Orleans at risk in coming years (48:00).

John Biguenet (@JohnBiguenet) is an author, playwright, and social commentator. He is the author of ten books, including the short-story collection The Torturer’s Apprentice, and the novel Oyster. His poems, stories, plays, and essays have been reprinted or cited in The Best American Mystery Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Best American Short Stories, Best Music Writing, and various other anthologies. He is currently the Robert Hunter Distinguished University Professor at Loyola University in New Orleans. Named a New York Times guest columnist after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Biguenet chronicled his return to New Orleans amid efforts to rebuild the city.

Notable Links:

This episode is 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. 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 [email protected].

“What changed in my travels was my own realization of what our impact is as travelers.” – Pegi Vail

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Pegi Vail discuss how art changes the way places are visited (3:00); backpacker culture and what can go wrong with it (14:00); the impact of travel on local people and promotion of responsible tourism (25:00); and how to protect local culture (38:00).

Pegi Vail is an anthropologist and filmmaker who directed the documentary Gringo Trails.  She is also a sustainable-travel consultant whose academic work has focused on visual anthropology, Indigenous media, and the role of storytelling to the political economy of tourism in the developing world. She is the Co-Director of New York University’s Center for Media, Culture, and History. Vail is a founding member, curator, and featured storyteller of the popular not-for-profit storytelling collective, The Moth.

Notable Links:

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

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 [email protected].

“The reason to go to a place is not to have just been to that place…travel is not just a bunch of checklists.” – Seth Kugel 

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Seth Kugel discuss the danger of relying on TripAdvisor and the importance of getting off the beaten path (3:00); travelers versus tourists and the concept of organic travel (16:00); and Bucket Lists and the idea of authenticity (48:00).

Seth Kugel (@sethkugel) is a travel writer, freelance journalist, and host of the Amigo Gringo YouTube channel. He was the Frugal Traveler columnist for the New York Times from 2010 to 2016, and he is most recently the author of the book Rediscovering Travel: A Guide for the Globally Curious. For more on Seth, check out his website http://sethkugel.com/

Notable Links:

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

This episode 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 [email protected].

“Before I do anything else, I ask myself what is the deepest truth about the story that I’m telling.” – Bettina Gilois

Bettina Gilois (@BettinaGilois) is an award-winning screenwriter and author who has been writing in Hollywood for over twenty years. Her screen credits include McFarland, USA and Glory Road.

In this episode of Deviate, Bettina discuss writing about real people (3:00); Bettina’s career path and the importance of perseverance (23:00); the importance of simplicity in storytelling (40:00); why certain stories are worth telling (55:00); and the craft of writing (1:14:00).

Notable Links:

This episode of Deviate is 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 [email protected].

“Art is a human being wanting to express ‘I was,’ that ‘I existed.’” – John E. Roach

John E. Roach is a television and film producer and screenwriter, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Straight Story. He is president of Roach, a video production and film production company.

In this episode of Deviate, John discuss the origins of The Straight Story (3:00); Midwest culture and sensibilities (17:00); age and the World War II generation (33:00); and writing the character of Alvin Straight (38:00).

Notable Links:

This episode of Deviate is 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 [email protected].

“We are all one seat away on the train from meeting the person that could change our lives.” – Kevin Smokler

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Kevin Smokler do a deep-dive on travel movies, starting with a discussion of The Beach (2:00) before delving into what constitutes a travel movie (12:00); and their top travel and road movies, focusing on Into the Wild, Lost in Translation, and Before Sunrise (1:01:00).

Kevin Smokler (@weegee) is a writer, public speaker, critic, and author of Brat Pack America and Practical Classics. He speaks on the future of media and culture and his written work has appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Buzzfeed, and Vulture. He previously appeared as a guest on Episode 33 of Deviate, Why 1980s coming-of-age movies matter.

Notable Links:

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

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 [email protected].

“The movie does feel so dated…and yet, there’s a part of me that can relate to traveling across the world, landing somewhere, finding yourself surrounded by what’s all too familiar, and wanting something more. I think that sort of theme is still probably as relevant as ever.” – Jim Benning

This episode of Deviate focuses on the 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio movie that was based on Alex Garland’s book, The Beach. Rolf begins by reading his essay Storming the Beach (6:00), followed by a discussion with Jim Benning on post-modern travel and the differences between the book and movie (42:00); the impact of social media, and previously, Lonely Planet, on travel (1:08:00); and authenticity of travel in 2019 (1:35:00).

Jim Benning (@jimbenning) is a travel writer and co-founder of the online travel magazine World Hum, which eventually was acquired by the Travel Channel. His work has appeared in such publications as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, BBC.com, and National Geographic Adventure. Jim now serves as editor-in-chief of Texas Journey and as a features editor of Westways for AAA publishing. For more about Jim, check out http://www.jimbenning.net.

Notable Links:

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

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 [email protected].