Zero To Travel Podcast

Traveling the Equator and Polar Circle (Top 5 Countries to Visit) + How Climate Change Impacts Locals with Gunnar Garfors


Listen Later

What can we actually learn about climate change when we stop reading headlines and start listening to the people living it? 

Gunnar Garfors is the first person to travel to every country in the world not once, but twice. He’s a Norwegian adventurer, journalist, and author whose latest project took him across the equator, the Arctic Circle, and the Antarctic region to explore the lived experiences of climate change. His new book, Mellom Linjene (Between the Lines), captures these human stories behind the headlines, showing us how the changing climate is affecting the lives of fishermen, farmers, city dwellers, and Indigenous peoples from the Amazon rainforest to the ice desert of Greenland. 

Gunnar shares his experience researching and writing his book and recounts the very real ways climate change is reshaping the planet’s most climate-vulnerable zones. We talk through five of his favorite countries along the Arctic Circle and the equator, weaving together adventure, personal stories, and eye-opening conversations with locals on the ground. 

Gunnar’s first-person encounters with reindeer herders, farmers, fishermen, and locals living at the edges of the world help paint a fuller, more human picture of what’s happening. You’ll hear how polar bears are wandering into villages in search of food, why Amazonian ferry rides matter, and what it’s like to get called out on the Congo River for representing the global north.  

How is climate change affecting the places you care about or the way you think about travel? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share by sending me an audio message. 

Premium Passport: 

  • Get ad-free episodes, exclusive content, and access to all episodes for only $3/month. Subscribe now! 
  • Tune In To Learn: 

    • Why Gunnar retraced his steps across 21 countries and Antarctica despite already visiting every country twice 
      • What ticks, shifting seasons, and reindeer behavior are revealing climate changes in Finland 
        • What a screaming fox in Canada had to say about a massive landslide and how melting snow and rising rivers are reshaping northern communities 
          • How the Amazon River’s disappearing waterways are affecting transportation, food access, and entire communities 
            • Why fishermen in São Tomé and Príncipe are traveling farther for fewer fish, and what a disappearing rainy season means for daily life 
              • What it’s like to spend five days on a cargo barge in the Congo (with very little food and a lot of humidity) 
                • How climate change is forcing rural farmers in the DRC to question the cause and confront visitors with unexpected responsibility 
                  • Why telling personal stories might be the most powerful way to talk about climate change 
                    • Advice to travelers who want to get out of the Western bubble and witness these changes firsthand 
                      • And so much more 
                      • Resources: 

                        • Join Zero To Travel Premium Passport 
                          • Sign up for our FREE newsletter 
                            • Visit Gunnar’s website 
                              • Follow on Instagram 
                              • Want More? 

                                • Top 7 Up-And-Coming Destinations to Visit (Before They Get Crowded) With Gunnar Garfors 

                                  • Visiting Every County In The World…TWICE! With Gunnar Garfors 

                                    • World Tour for Climate Change: Hitchhiking, Biking, and Low-Carbon Travel With Megan Routbort 

                                      Thanks To Our Sponsors 

                                      • Booking.com - Book your next stay and find exactly what you’re looking for on booking.com 

                                        Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

                                        ...more
                                        View all episodesView all episodes
                                        Download on the App Store

                                        Zero To Travel PodcastBy Jason Moore

                                        • 4.6
                                        • 4.6
                                        • 4.6
                                        • 4.6
                                        • 4.6

                                        4.6

                                        794 ratings


                                        More shows like Zero To Travel Podcast

                                        View all
                                        Travel with Rick Steves by Rick Steves

                                        Travel with Rick Steves

                                        2,499 Listeners

                                        Travel with Amateur Traveler Podcast by Chris Christensen

                                        Travel with Amateur Traveler Podcast

                                        34 Listeners

                                        Join Us in France Travel Podcast by Annie Sargent

                                        Join Us in France Travel Podcast

                                        1,035 Listeners

                                        The Frommer's Travel Show by Pauline Frommer

                                        The Frommer's Travel Show

                                        165 Listeners

                                        The Earful Tower: Paris by Oliver Gee

                                        The Earful Tower: Paris

                                        747 Listeners

                                        Frequent Miler on the Air by Frequent Miler

                                        Frequent Miler on the Air

                                        639 Listeners

                                        The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

                                        The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

                                        14,256 Listeners

                                        Untold Italy travel podcast by Katy Clarke

                                        Untold Italy travel podcast

                                        651 Listeners

                                        Chasing Life by CNN Podcasts

                                        Chasing Life

                                        8,187 Listeners

                                        Where to Go by DK Travel

                                        Where to Go

                                        30 Listeners

                                        Geobreeze Travel by Julia Menez

                                        Geobreeze Travel

                                        409 Listeners

                                        All the Hacks: Money, Points & Life by Chris Hutchins

                                        All the Hacks: Money, Points & Life

                                        1,608 Listeners

                                        Points Talk®: Your Travel Dreams, Made Possible by Points by Points Talk Squad

                                        Points Talk®: Your Travel Dreams, Made Possible by Points

                                        980 Listeners

                                        Points for Normal People by Katie's Travel Tricks by Katie's Travel Tricks

                                        Points for Normal People by Katie's Travel Tricks

                                        384 Listeners

                                        The Thrifty Traveler Podcast by Thrifty Traveler

                                        The Thrifty Traveler Podcast

                                        135 Listeners