Deviate with Rolf Potts

“The boundaries of life are responsible for the beauty of life.” – Pico Iyer

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Pico discuss the people we become when we travel (4:00); what led Pico to travel (10:00); travel in the age of technology (20:00); finding the remarkable in the unremarkable (32:00); ping pong as a metaphor for life (40:00); the importance of impermanence (50:00); and the idea of being versus becoming (1:01:00).

Pico Iyer (@PicoIyer) is a novelist, essayist, and one of the most influential travel writers of his generation. He is known for such books as Video Night in Kathmandu and The Lady and the Monk, with many of his works receiving significant critical acclaim. He has also written for such publications as The New York Times, Time, and Harper’s. For more about Pico, check out http://picoiyerjourneys.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].

In this special, destination-oriented episode of Deviate, Rolf talks to his 2019 students at the Paris Writing Workshop about ways to experience Paris in a slow and counterintuitive way.

This episode is designed to be used in tandem with TripScout, a travel app designed to help people dream about – and plan, in a concrete way – journeys to destinations worldwide. The app provides a portal for visual discovery by featuring the best articles and videos from top publishers and local experts for each destination. Every restaurant, café, shop, or site featured within the content is mapped to one of TripScout’s 100 million+, constantly updated points of interest. With one tap, travelers can save anything they discover, allowing them to stitch together their perfect trip into a full, personalized itinerary that is connected to a downloadable offline map. More information at Deviate‘s TripScout link.

Paris attractions mentioned:

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“If you think your thing is to write for an audience, write for yourself first and see what comes up.” – Lavinia Spalding

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Lavinia discuss the benefits of keeping a journal, and doing it by hand (3:00); the importance of writing what you feel rather than what you do (16:00); the beauty of spending time with your journal as a way of hearing yourself (24:00); and practical strategies for starting and keeping a journal (34:00).

Lavinia Spalding (@laviniaspalding) is a travel writer and series editor of The Best Women’s Travel Writing. She has author of Writing Away, and co-author of With a Measure of Grace and This Immeasurable Place. For more about Lavinia, check out http://laviniaspalding.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].

“It’s incumbent upon any screenwriter, who is adapting anything, to extract the moments and characters and events for a thematic purpose first and then for plot.” – Kathy DeMarco Van Cleve

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Kathy discuss the reason for the popularity of The Shawshank Redemption, including the script (3:00); the importance of good acting within the film (14:00); the skilled directing of Frank Darabont (26:00); Stephen King and the story behind the movie (32:00); and how watching movies has changed and whether this film will stand the test of time (45:00).

Kathy DeMarco Van Cleve is a novelist, screenwriter, film producer, and teacher at the University of Pennsylvania in their Cinema Studies department. Her most recent book, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, came out in January. For more about Kathy, check out http://www.kathyvancleve.com/

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. 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 a recurring theme within the movie – the idea of taking these heightened, dramatic moments and mining humor out of the ordinariness of them.” – Jason Bailey

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Jason discuss the 1990s and the early influence of Pulp Fiction (3:45); set the context for the plot of the movie (15:30); deconstruct the first third of the plot (28:00); explore the idea of fate and one of the most disturbingly iconic scenes of the 1990s (55:00); and answer the big picture questions and major themes of the movie (1:15:00).

Jason Bailey (@jasondashbailey) is an author and film critic, whose writing has appeared in such publications as the New York Times, Vice, and Rolling Stone. He is also the author of four books, including Pulp Fiction: The Complete Story of Quentin Tarantino’s Masterpiece. He is a former regional independent film director, whose work includes My Day in the Barrel.   

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. 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.

This episode of Deviate is also 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.

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].

“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].