Outside Podcast

Here’s the often forgotten truth about road trips: the best moments are usually when everything goes sideways. We might dream of cruising open roads, rolling into authentic eateries, and blissing out to the perfect playlist, yet the magical experiences that really stick with us tend to involve blown head gaskets and getting very, very lost. More often than not, we depend on strangers to save our adventure from total disaster. But for the modern nomad, reaching out for help can be very different from flagging down a passing car or knocking on the door of a rural farmhouse. In this kickoff episode of a four-part road-trips special, we present two delightful case studies that show us how aid can arrive from the most unexpected places.

This episode is brought to you by GoRVing. Don’t just go on a trip, go on a real vacation. To find out more about the incredible adventures waiting for you out on the road, visit gorving.com.

When Army captain Luke Bushatz returned home from the war in Afghanistan, he was seemingly in one piece. Yet he was struggling far more than either he or his wife, Amy, realized. The first signs of a problem were lapses in his short-term memory. Soon, though, he found it impossible to connect with other humans, especially those closest to him. He tried to numb himself with alcohol and sex, and ended up struggling with addiction. Then, at his lowest point, he sought out the one place where he could be himself again: the natural world. In this episode, Luke and Amy share the story of how their marriage crumbled, and how venturing into the wilderness together set them on a path to recovery.

This episode of the Outside Podcast is brought to you by Tracksmith, a proudly independent running brand that makes high-performance products for amateur athletes striving to be their best. Learn more at tracksmith.com.

Elite runner Hillary Allen was at the top of her sport when she fell 150 feet down a mountain slope during a race. She was lucky to survive but suffered numerous serious injuries, and in the aftermath of the accident found herself struggling to get through the simple challenges of daily life. Even worse, she was now defined by a moment that she had almost no memory of experiencing. In this episode from our friends at the podcast DNF, from Trail Runner magazine, Allen recounts her long, winding journey back to competition—and how she ultimately found strength and purpose in the scars that she’ll have forever.

This episode is brought to you by Stillhouse, the official spirit of adventure. Stillhouse’s award-winning spirits come in unbreakable stainless steel cans, so they can go places where glass can’t. Check out all their offerings at stillhouse.com.

Learning how to love to someone who is constantly pushing the edge of their physical abilities can be one of the strangest challenges to overcome in a romantic relationship. What does it take to stick with a partner who runs or rides dozens of hours a week? Who forgets to close the bathroom door before applying full-body sports lubricant? Who always leaves you in the dust? This week, Paddy O’Connell takes us deep inside his relationship with an endurance runner, and talks to partners of other elite athletes, to show us how to love someone who lives to sweat.

This episode of the Outside Podcast is brought to you by Tracksmith, a proudly independent running brand that makes high-performance products for amateur athletes striving to be their best. Learn more at tracksmith.com.

When we head into wild places, we accept a certain amount of risk. Often, we don’t think much about it, because we’re excited to be in an extraordinary place. But then something happens, and we are forced to reckon with the potential costs of our quest for adventure. So it went for Kyle Dickman, whose life had been defined by a strong exploratory spirit until he was bitten by a rattlesnake in a remote section of Yosemite National Park during a trip with his wife and infant son. In this harrowing episode from our archives, Dickman recounts his desperate survival tale and the lingering questions he struggled with in the aftermath.

This episode is brought to you by Stillhouse, the official spirit of adventure. Stillhouse’s award-winning spirits come in unbreakable stainless steel cans, so they can go places where glass can’t. Check out all their offerings at stillhouse.com.

Sweating is evolution’s most efficient cooling strategy, allowing humans to stay on the move far longer than most fur-covered animals. But how much sweat is too much? Where should we be perspiring the most? (Our armpits? The backs of our knees?) And why does some sweat smell so much? These are among the questions that journalist, amateur athlete, and heavy sweater Tom Vanderbilt has pondered for years. In this episode, he finally gets them answered by Canadian chemist Sarah Everts, author of the new book, The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration.

This episode is brought to you by Sonos, maker of the Sonos Roam, the portable smart speaker for all of your listening adventures. Check out the Roam for yourself and discover sound made easy at sonos.com.

Today, Melinda Spooner is the founder and CEO of the SheTravels Adventure Company, which designs trips and experiences for women of color. It's the most meaningful work she could imagine—but getting here was a long journey. After growing up in subsidized housing in Chicago, Spooner committed herself to earning as much money as possible as a management consultant. She was successful, but also miserable and at a crisis point with her physical health. It took a series of powerful outdoor experiences for her to find what she really wanted in life.

This episode is brought to you by Travel Texas, which invites you to visit a place where you can find authentic adventures at every turn. Learn more about the many unique adventures you can find all across Texas at traveltexas.com.

Every so often, Outside magazine publishes a collection of stories that fit into what we call a “zero to hero” package. The idea is to send our contributors out into the world to try something new that pushes them far outside their comfort zone. They might be asked to learn a new skill, break a bad habit, or even confront a long-held fear. For our most recent version of the package, our hope was to inspire our readers to set some ambitious goals for themselves after the long months of COVID-19 shutdowns. In this episode, six of our brave correspondents talk about their efforts to take on big challenges and why it’s pretty much always worth going for it even if you don’t succeed.

This episode is brought to you by Eureka Springs, a one-of-a-kind destination nestled in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. People say the most curious things when they visit Eureka Springs. Come for yourself and find out why. Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Curious, indeed.

When we watch an elite endurance competition like the Tour de France, it’s easy to get caught up in the drama of moments that generate headlines—particularly the gnarly crashes that send riders slamming into the pavement. But while a crash is undeniably painful, the most agonizing part of professional biking is almost always the pedaling. If don’t believe that, talk to any racer who has dared to pursue the hour record—the longest distance cycled in an hour. In this favorite from our archives, we bring you the story of Italian cyclist Vittoria Bussi's excruciating quest to make history, and how the ordeal forced her to transform her relationship with pain.

This episode is brought to you by Sonos, maker of the Sonos Roam, the portable smart speaker for all of your listening adventures. Check out the Roam for yourself and discover sound made easy at Sonos.com.

All too often, life gets in the way of the things we really care about. So it was for Thomas Rhett, one of the biggest names in country music, whose rise to superstardom meant that he no longer had time for the outdoor experiences that had been such a formative part of his childhood. But then the pandemic struck, and suddenly he had time to play in the mud with his kids and return to adventuring. The result was a creative catalyst that gave birth to his latest album, Country Again: Side A, which captures the feeling of finding your way back to yourself after being lost in a world of obligations and distractions. Now, as Thomas Rhett prepares to take up the summer tour he had to cancel in 2020, he talks about how getting into the woods or on a river inspires him to tell the kinds of honest stories through song that really mean something.

This episode is brought to you by Sonos, maker of the Sonos Roam, the portable smart speaker for all of your listening adventures. Check out the Roam for yourself and discover sound made easy at Sonos.com.