Places I Remember with Lea Lane

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Patricia Schultz, author/editor of the best-selling series 1,000 Places To See Before You Die, is  a terrific guest. On this super-size 25th episode, she and Lea share stories, experiences and info about favorite places around the world.

-- Patricia first tells when she started traveling, and how the "1,000 Places" brand came to be, about 20 years ago.

-- Then she and Lea alternate with some of their very favorite places -- continents, countries, man-made and natural sites -- adding their own experiences to each other's. 

-- Favorite places include Antarctica; Antelope Canyon in Arizona; Beacon, New York; Bali,Indonesia; Italy, focused on Florence; Barcelona, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; Galapagos Islands, Ecuador;  Cuba; the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE; Iran; Iguacu Falls; Laos; Namibia; the  "stans," especially Uzbekestan; Paris and New York;and the upland gorillas in Uganda.

-- Patricia ends with a touching memory about the most important travel aspect of all.
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Patricia Schultz is a veteran travel journalist who has written travel guides, magazine and newspaper articles as well as authoring her best-selling 1.000 Places series, with millions of copies in print.  Contact her at [email protected]
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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Morocco has all the elements travelers love: historic interests, great cities, friendly people; mild climate, scenic beauty, good food and lodging, and great shopping. Expert guide Ahmed Taoumi leads us through the country.

-- Ahmed tells of the Imperial Cities: Marrakech, Fez, Meknes, Rabat, with their casbahs. We also discuss the Roman ruins at Volubulus.

-- He talks of cities and the beauty in the Sahara, and of The Blue City in the Rif mountains, a couple of hours from Tangier.

--  We discuss architecture of the medina, the marketplace, and lodgings called riads, once homes to wealthy Moroccan families.

We talk of traditional foods like tagines, which are stews, and sugared-pigeon called bistila. Lea and Ahmed also discuss the wide variety and beauty of Moroccan handiwork.

Ahmed offers us shopping and bargaining tips . He ends with a favorite memory of a boy and a camel.

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 Ahmed Toumi has been touring travelers throughout Morocco for over 40 years. Former president of the Guide Association of Tangier, he is currently a private guide. Ahmed's photos  and descriptions of Morocco, are especially beautiful.  Instagram/tour_with_taoumi;  and here on Facebook. www.visitangier.com .

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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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 "Life is short and the world is wide. The sooner you start exploring it the better" is a popular quote from Simon Raven. Family trips,  backpacking, gap year, exchange programs, international schools -- all are wonderful for young travelers, say guests Bob Gogel, CEO  of WorldStrides, and student traveler Sabrina Lane.
-- Bob covers the first section of the podcast, explaining why it's important for young people to travel outside of the classroom. "It's all about learnable moments." He describes his own early travels as an exchange student in Nicaragua.
-- When traveling with family, he gives three suggestions, and shares some of his favorite destinations. He discusses exchange programs, backpacking, the gap year and the need for people to start traveling again.
-- Bob ends with his favorite personal memory of an archeological dig in France.
-- In the second part of the episode, Sabrina Lane describes her young travels with stories of family trips, traveling to Paris with her grandmother, living with a volunteer group in Peru, and plans for her senior year in high school -- in an international school in Bosnia.
-- Sabrina's stories are vivid, and she ends with a memorable tale in the Golan Heights of Israel.
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Bob Gogel is  President and CEO of WorldStrides, the global  leader in educational learning and experiential learning. It runs programs in over 100 countries for more than half a million students in over 5,000 schools and universities.
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Sabrina Lane will be experiencing her high school senior year and a following gap year at an international school in Bosnia. She's  already traveled  to over 20 countries, through family trips and volunteer experiences. She is an activist for peace and  climate awareness.
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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Liz Georges, and Joan and Julia Haskins, all long-time D.C. residents, share secret places and special D.C. moments. Lea asked each of them to share their five favorite things about Washington, and each, their favorite memory.

-- After Lea offers a brief history of the city (did you know that George Washington, who founded it, never got to live there?) the ladies offered their personal choices of what to see and do, and what they appreciate most about their hometown.

-- Favorites included familiar choices such as the free museums, Embassy Row and Kennedy Center. But also surprises such as Go-Go music-- "the answer to when you're feeling down," The Funk Parade, the staircase from the movie The Exorcist, and Mambo Sauce!

-- After some free-wheeling discussion, Liz, Joan and Julia offered their favorite memories (and one includes a famous cabinet member).
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Liz Georges is a former attorney and  currently leads the communications strategy for The Nature Conservancy’s climate policy work in the United States.
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Joan Haskins is a writer and a children's yoga teacher in the D.C. public schools. (But she insists that her best and favorite gig was raising her daughter, Julia.)
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Julia Haskins is a writer, editor, and communications professional.
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to many guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; PlacesIRememberLeaLane on Instagram; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this bi-weekly travel podcast!

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Jim Davidson's story is hard to believe, but all too true. He survived mountain avalanches that took the life of his climbing partner and best friend. And later, while climbing Mt. Everest in Nepal, the highest mountain in the world, a severe earthquake hit.

--Many lost their lives, and Jim helped rescue many others.  He eventually returned to summit Everest.

-- Jim is the personification of resilience. He tells his story from the beginning, when as a child he used to climb on roofs! He is not only strong and brave, he's a really great guy. You'll love listening to his inspiring life, and learning about the thrills and realities of an adventurous life.
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Jim Davidson is an accomplished high-altitude climber, motivational speaker, and  the author of The Next Everest, Surviving the Mountain's Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again. He is also co-author of the New York Times best-seller The Ledge. He has been commended by the U.S. National Park Service for volunteering on risky and remote mountain rescues.
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs at forbes.com 
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Between Lezlie Bishop and her son, actor Stephen Bishop, we cover the realities of traveling as a person of color around the world, from the Jim Crow era to the George Floyd reckoning.   

-- Lezlie and Lea remember the indignities of Jim Crow in the U.S. south.  Lezlie tells of when she was the only black student on a field trip to Jackson, Mississippi; and of The Great Migration, and the attitude of black people in the north,  and discrimination in Chicago.
-- Stephen expresses what it sometimes feels like as he travels: "The trees are talking to you  .... "The walls are closing in."
-- Lezlie mentions why she worries more when Stephen travels in the U.S. than when he travels abroad, and describes a run-in with police as he waited at the airport.
--We discuss travel destinations that illuminate the black experience, including the Martin Luther King Historic Site in Atlanta; the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis; the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in D.C.; the Harriet Tubman byway in Maryland; and the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.
-- After a discussion of the value of historic sites in relation to teaching history, Lezlie and Stephen discuss their most vivid memories of traveling while black.
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Lezlie Bishop attended Ripon College on academic scholarships.  A teacher and public relations professional,  she retired from AT&T in Atlanta in 2000. Her travels include Mexico and Great Britain, as well as many U.S. states.
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Stephen Bishop, a former baseball player and baseball scout, is an actor currently starring in the TV series, 'Run the World.' He has traveled throughout the states and world.
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

 

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Lea takes on the world's weirdest, oddest summer festivals around the world.

-- In the USA, there's underwater music in Key West,  hat contests in Connecticut, and all things Elvis in Memphis.  In Canada, she remembers participating in a noisy celebration of survival.

-- Bayonne, France celebrates Basque culture; and Italians high in the Dolomites swing on hammocks. In Portugal it's the festival of trays, in Austria, body painting, for the Finns it's celebrating beer, and there's baby jumping in Spain. And Romania has a maidens fair for fair maidens.
-- Going east, South Korea has a mudfest, and a watergun festival. Kenya celebrates dromedaries. There's a big Mongolian celebration, and a belly-button Festival in Japan. Sri Lanka adorns its elephants.

-- Blondes have more fun in Latvia, and other kinds of blondes, Golden Retrievers, compete in Scotland.

-- And then there are the throwing, crushing and hauling events -- tomatoes and wine in Spain, grapes in Australia, and girlfriends in Finland!

-- Lea ends with a special memory -- of a duct-tape parade in Ohio!
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this award-winning travel podcast!

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Husband Bill and I invited my son Cary and his partner Zhanna on a travels through the major European World War battlefields, in Belgium and France, ending 10 days later in Paris -- a road trip of charm and history.
First, we hear tips on road tripping, then we describe our trip. Right away we missed The Compiègne Wagon, the train carriage in which both the Armistices of both World Wars were signed. We also misdirected the GPS and wound up back at the airport! But we visited pretty  Laon, and then drove up to Lille, “Capital des Flandre."
-- Next day, to Ypres in western Belgium. The Great War Museum in a former medieval cloth factory near the cathedral gives perspective. We followed the now serene battlefield circuit, once scenes of bloody warfare. At Ypres we attended the Last Post Ceremony, held every evening at the Menin Gate.
-- In  Bruges,  fairy-tale city in northwest Belgium, we stayed for dinner when crowds thinned. Next day to Amiens, in France. Nearby, the Battle of the Somme in 1916, was one of the largest of World War I, among the bloodiest in history.  In Peronne, an excellent Museum of the Great War illustrated nearby battles.
-- In Rouen, where Joan D’Arc was burned at the stake, we lunched across the street at La Couronne, oldest inn in France, where Julia Child had her first French meal.
-- We strolled Honfleur harbor  then drove to Bayeaux, near the Channel coast, famed for  the 11th-century tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman invasion of England.
-- We spent a day experiencing the more recent invasion: moving sites of Omaha Beach, the American cemetery, the war museum, and surrounding gun batteries and remnants of D-Day.
--  We arrived at our favorite hotel after a crazy drive, and ended the trip in Paris.
-- And Cary adds a beautiful, meaningful, final memory!
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Cary Lane is a professor, author, artist, museum curator and history buff.
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Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Her website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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Delightful award-winning guide Eskerne Falcon talks with us from  San Sebastian (also called Donostia) in Northern Spain, near the French border. We discuss the best pintxo bars and take a super tour in this beautiful Basque city and environs, between mountains and the Bay of Biscay.

-- Eskerne tells of the city's culture and history, developing from a fishing village early-on to royals favorite, from the 19th century.

-- She focuses on the beaches, one mainly for surfing, one with an island -- when there's a full moon "it seems you can walk there." And the mountains, with museums and a vintage amusement park near the top, with panoramic views.

-- She takes us on a perfect day: a walk around historic areas, including the 19th-century theatre and the Maria Cristina Hotel. And city hall, which used to be a casino.

-- We talk of the San Sebastian Film Festival, and the many international stars who have attended over the years.

-- And then we get to food, in this greatest food city per capita in the world, especially. We talk of pintxos (like tapas),  local wine and cider, and the way to pour the cider, and delish local cheesecake. 

-- We talk of pintxo bars in the old town, including Anthony Bourdain's favorite.

-- And then we talk of the nearby Basque fishing villages along the coast, all the way past the French border, including Biarritz. 

-- Bilbao, with the Guggenheim museum, is less than an hour away. And Rioja wine country is also an easy drive nearby.

-- As we do on all episodes, Eskerne ends with a favorite memory of her beloved area.
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Eskerne Falcon is director of Discover San Sebastion: discoversansebastian, Instagram; Discover San Sebastian, Facebook; www.discoversansebastian.com
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter, Travelea on Instagram, and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com.
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Please follow  Places I Remember with Lea Lane wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you enjoy, leave a 5-star a review on Apple! New travel episodes every Tuesday.

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Fran Golden and Midgi Moore, authors of 100 Places To Do in Alaska Before You Die, talk with Lea about the travel superlatives of the biggest, most northern and most spectacular state.

-- We start with cruising. Does size matter when it comes to seeing glaciers, up close? (Not that much, as in other things.) We name glaciers and describe some of the best excursions off the ship, including food tours, whale watching, flight seeing to a salmon bake, sports fishing, the Skagway train -- and dive bars, of course.

-- Fran loves snorkeling in the cold Alaska waters, among the "surprisingly colorful purple, orange and red starfish," and even an octopus. And she wants to try standup paddle boarding among the icebergs.

-- Midgi suggests you "get into the sky" to see Alaska, land on glaciers, dogsled, hike and flightsee.  Lea tells of flying from Ketchikan to the Tongass National Park to see bears, and helicoptering to a glacier that had never been walked on before -- maybe.

-- We talk of Alaskan coastal cities including Juneau, Haines, Ketchikan, Skagway and Sitka.

-- Then we turn to the land. Denali National Park "wild, like the Serengeti.  And Fairbanks, with its spectacular northern lights.

-- Fran and Midgi each talk of five of their favorites of the 100 Things they write about.

-- Then they each end with their favorite memories of Alaska. (And Lea adds hers!)

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Fran Golden is a  long-time Alaskaphile and author of numerous books and articles about Alaska.   An award-winning travel writer and specialist in cruises, she has explored Alaska by land and sea. Fran lives in Cleveland with her travel-writer husband, David Molyneaux. Midgi Moore, who lives in Juneau, is a culinary travel professional who owns Juneau Food Tours and Global Tours Connect, an online marketplace.
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter, Travelea on Instagram, and  blogs about travel at forbes.com . Contact her on her Facebook page, Places I Remember by Lea Lane, or her website,  placesirememberlealane.com.
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Follow  Places I Remember with Lea Lane wherever you listen to podcasts. New travel episodes every Tuesday. And please review it on Apple!