WanderLearn: Travel to Transform Your Mind & Life

What's it like to trek across some of the wildest parts of Africa? Tim Butcher has done two epic journeys that follow the footsteps of two 19th-century explorers:  

Graham Greene (West Africa)

Henry Morton Stanley (Congo)

Tim Butcher is a British-born author who lives in South Africa. He's written extensively about the continent and knows it well. 

In episode #15 of the WanderLearn podcast, Tim and I discuss his three books:

Chasing the Devil: On Foot Through Africa's Killing Fields

Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through The World's Most Dangerous Country

Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War

This episode is packed with stories of adventure in the sketchiest parts of Africa.

The best reason to listen is that you get to hear Tim's delightful British accent. 

More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share! 

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

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Snapchat

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Rewards start at just $1/month!

This is first Ask Me Anything (AMA) episode! I answer three questions.

I always answer any question that one of my Patrons ask me. You can become a patron for just $1 per month and get to bombard me with questions! I love it!

Tamy asks

1. Over-tourism - What's your take on how to be a good tourist and how can we, as travelers, repair the schism between locals and tourists?

2. Conversely, where are some places that could use a dose of tourism to help boost their economy?

Dalia Asks

Hay Francis!
Love your posts and news.
I am actually thinking of starting my blog in Arabic as I’ve been traveling a lot lately.
Any advice?

I answer her on the episode, but this is what I wrote to her:

"Hi Dalia!
My best advice: do it because you LOVE/WANT to do it and that you are happy if NOBODY reads it.
Some people start blogs and hope to quickly capture a big audience.
They underestimate how hard it is to do.
They quickly quit.
So only do it if you just love to write/blog.
Think of it as a public diary."

More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share! 

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

• http://facebook.com/ftapon


• http://twitter.com/ftapon


• http://youtube.com/user/ftapon


• http://pinterest.com/ftapon


• http://tumblr.com/ftapon


• Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

Get full access to Francis Tapon at ftapon.substack.com/subscribe

This is first Ask Me Anything (AMA) episode! I answer three questions.

I always answer any question that one of my Patrons ask me. You can become a patron for just $1 per month and get to bombard me with questions! I love it!

Tamy asks

1. Over-tourism - What's your take on how to be a good tourist and how can we, as travelers, repair the schism between locals and tourists?

2. Conversely, where are some places that could use a dose of tourism to help boost their economy?

Dalia Asks

Hay Francis!Love your posts and news.I am actually thinking of starting my blog in Arabic as I’ve been traveling a lot lately.Any advice?

I answer her on the episode, but this is what I wrote to her:

"Hi Dalia! My best advice: do it because you LOVE/WANT to do it and that you are happy if NOBODY reads it. Some people start blogs and hope to quickly capture a big audience. They underestimate how hard it is to do. They quickly quit. So only do it if you just love to write/blog. Think of it as a public diary."

More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share! 

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

http://facebook.com/ftapon

http://twitter.com/ftapon

http://youtube.com/user/ftapon

http://pinterest.com/ftapon

http://tumblr.com/ftapon

Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

Chris Christensen hosts one of the top 5 travel podcasts, The Amateur Traveler. This is the 13th episode of the WanderLearn podcast.

Chris Christensen discusses

• How he manages 5 podcasts!


• What are FAM trips? Are they worth it?


• What should a beginning podcaster do?


• How does he monetize it? 


• What's the best social media for 2019? Pinterest? 


• What's his CPM?


• How do become a better interviewer?

 


It's about a one-hour podcast.

More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share! 

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

• http://facebook.com/ftapon


• http://twitter.com/ftapon


• http://youtube.com/user/ftapon


• http://pinterest.com/ftapon


• http://tumblr.com/ftapon


• Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

Get full access to Francis Tapon at ftapon.substack.com/subscribe

Chris Christensen hosts one of the top 5 travel podcasts, The Amateur Traveler. This is the 13th episode of the WanderLearn podcast.

Chris Christensen discusses

How he manages 5 podcasts!

What are FAM trips? Are they worth it?

What should a beginning podcaster do?

How does he monetize it? 

What's the best social media for 2019? Pinterest? 

What's his CPM?

How do become a better interviewer?

 

It's about a one-hour podcast.

More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share! 

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

http://facebook.com/ftapon

http://twitter.com/ftapon

http://youtube.com/user/ftapon

http://pinterest.com/ftapon

http://tumblr.com/ftapon

Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

Are promoters of blockchain technology snake oil salesmen?

One of my listeners (named Colin) thinks so. Colin posted a blistering critique of Winding Tree on my website (see it below).

Meanwhile, Gary Arndt, who appeared on the WanderLearn podcast, wrote on my Facebook page, "I'm willing to bet money that Winding Tree and blockchain technology will not disrupt the travel industry or any other industry for that matter.

The two co-founders of Winding Tree appear on this episode to respond.

If you prefer seeing them, watch this YouTube video of the conversation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9h6W7vjbrc). 

I apologize for the audio quality of the conversation. I wasn't planning to make it an episode, but the content was interesting enough (for those who care about how blockchain technology may impact travel) to merit the upload.

If you haven't heard it already, you should listen to the original Winding Tree episode on the WanderLearn podcast. If you don't, this episode may not make much sense. You can also search for "Winding Tree" on your podcast app to find that particular Winding Tree episode.

Here's what Colin wrote:

"Been following The Unseen Africa since your Kickstarter, and started on this podcast. This episode was absurd. The guest was poor at explaining Winding Tree, and the content (a backend for the travel industry) is so far removed traveling, living in the moment (or at least next five years), or through-hiking that you might as well have attempted to talk about AWS or GCS. I don’t understand why you posted it. Half of the podcast felt like an advertisement. The other half was awkward where you ask simple questions like "how does this benefit anyone" and we get snake oil answers like "everyone benefits! Collaboration and innovation!". Oh, and how do you take part? Give them money / etherum. 

If travelers are going to pay with these tokens, what's in it for me as a traveler? Why would I use tokens instead of cash? Or credit cards? Why do I care that the token carries data around? It's my data. I don't want others to have it. In this day of privacy concerns and the lash-back against Facebook, it's stupidly out of touch to complain that airlines don't get all your data if you book through an intermediary. 

And then real on the ground matters: how does this simplify technology matters for the little guy -- the folks on the ground trying to give tours around their country? Google lets them sell adwords to the WORLD. Airbnb lets them host their houses to a worldwide market. And yet Winding Tree's busy crapping on Google? Give me a break. 

This guy thinks the travel industry has small teams of “a few software engineers and a designer and a manager?” Are you kidding? Come on Francis. You live in Africa. Call him out on this BS. Google is helping folks around you get the word out. This guy? Selling snake oil."
 

More info

Go to Winding Tree's website to learn more about it.

Max mentioned Conway's Game of Life.

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share! 

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

• http://facebook.com/ftapon


• http://twitter.com/ftapon


• http://youtube.com/user/ftapon


• http://pinterest.com/ftapon


• http://tumblr.com/ftapon


• Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

Get full access to Francis Tapon at ftapon.substack.com/subscribe

Are promoters of blockchain technology snake oil salesmen?

One of my listeners (named Colin) thinks so. Colin posted a blistering critique of Winding Tree on my website (see it below).

Meanwhile, Gary Arndt, who appeared on the WanderLearn podcast, wrote on my Facebook page, "I'm willing to bet money that Winding Tree and blockchain technology will not disrupt the travel industry or any other industry for that matter.

The two co-founders of Winding Tree appear on this episode to respond.

If you prefer seeing them, watch this YouTube video of the conversation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9h6W7vjbrc). 

I apologize for the audio quality of the conversation. I wasn't planning to make it an episode, but the content was interesting enough (for those who care about how blockchain technology may impact travel) to merit the upload.

If you haven't heard it already, you should listen to the original Winding Tree episode on the WanderLearn podcast. If you don't, this episode may not make much sense. You can also search for "Winding Tree" on your podcast app to find that particular Winding Tree episode.

Here's what Colin wrote:

"Been following The Unseen Africa since your Kickstarter, and started on this podcast. This episode was absurd. The guest was poor at explaining Winding Tree, and the content (a backend for the travel industry) is so far removed traveling, living in the moment (or at least next five years), or through-hiking that you might as well have attempted to talk about AWS or GCS. I don’t understand why you posted it. Half of the podcast felt like an advertisement. The other half was awkward where you ask simple questions like "how does this benefit anyone" and we get snake oil answers like "everyone benefits! Collaboration and innovation!". Oh, and how do you take part? Give them money / etherum. 

If travelers are going to pay with these tokens, what's in it for me as a traveler? Why would I use tokens instead of cash? Or credit cards? Why do I care that the token carries data around? It's my data. I don't want others to have it. In this day of privacy concerns and the lash-back against Facebook, it's stupidly out of touch to complain that airlines don't get all your data if you book through an intermediary. And then real on the ground matters: how does this simplify technology matters for the little guy -- the folks on the ground trying to give tours around their country? Google lets them sell adwords to the WORLD. Airbnb lets them host their houses to a worldwide market. And yet Winding Tree's busy crapping on Google? Give me a break. This guy thinks the travel industry has small teams of “a few software engineers and a designer and a manager?” Are you kidding? Come on Francis. You live in Africa. Call him out on this BS. Google is helping folks around you get the word out. This guy? Selling snake oil."

 

More info

Go to Winding Tree's website to learn more about it.

Max mentioned Conway's Game of Life.

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share! 

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

http://facebook.com/ftapon

http://twitter.com/ftapon

http://youtube.com/user/ftapon

http://pinterest.com/ftapon

http://tumblr.com/ftapon

Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

Officially, Couchsurfing is free, but it's really only free for inconsiderate guests. 

Polite guests and anyone with common sense will give back to their host. 

When I wrote "How To Be A Good Couchsurfing Guest and Host," the response was overwhelming:

• It hit the Top 2 in Google when you search for "Couchsurfing guest" - it's even above Couchsurfing's own website!


• Dozens of Couchsurfing hosts linked to the article in their profile saying, "Please follow this Francis Tapon's advice."


• Couchsurfing.com itself syndicated the article on their website.

So I struck a nerve. 

In this podcast, I hit some of the same points I hit in the article. I recommend that anyone who wants to use Couchsurfing listen to this podcast and read the article. 

I love Couchsurfing because it's helped me gain cultural insights for my books. I highly recommend Couchsurfing, as long as you follow my advice. 

More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this, subscribe and share! I made this as a YouTube episode too.

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

• http://facebook.com/ftapon


• http://twitter.com/ftapon


• http://youtube.com/user/ftapon


• http://pinterest.com/ftapon


• http://tumblr.com/ftapon


• Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

Get full access to Francis Tapon at ftapon.substack.com/subscribe

Officially, Couchsurfing is free, but it's really only free for inconsiderate guests. 

Polite guests and anyone with common sense will give back to their host. 

When I wrote "How To Be A Good Couchsurfing Guest and Host," the response was overwhelming:

It hit the Top 2 in Google when you search for "Couchsurfing guest" - it's even above Couchsurfing's own website!

Dozens of Couchsurfing hosts linked to the article in their profile saying, "Please follow this Francis Tapon's advice."

Couchsurfing.com itself syndicated the article on their website.

So I struck a nerve. 

In this podcast, I hit some of the same points I hit in the article. I recommend that anyone who wants to use Couchsurfing listen to this podcast and read the article. 

I love Couchsurfing because it's helped me gain cultural insights for my books. I highly recommend Couchsurfing, as long as you follow my advice. 

More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this, subscribe and share! I made this as a YouTube episode too.

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

http://facebook.com/ftapon

http://twitter.com/ftapon

http://youtube.com/user/ftapon

http://pinterest.com/ftapon

http://tumblr.com/ftapon

Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

I interviewed Marc Magliari, who is Amtrak's spokesperson for 23 states, to talk about what's going on with Amtrak. To watch the full interview, watch the YouTube video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vsehcdJBW8).

Highlights of Episode 10

I've edited the questions and answers for brevity and clarity.

Francis Tapon: What's a common misconception about train travel in America?

Marc Magliari, Media Relations Manager at Amtrak: It's usually best to buy your tickets as far in advance as possible. But we have Flash Sales that pop up and last for two or three days and then disappear. Check the Deals tab on Amtrak.com. Sometimes they have blackouts, sometimes they don't.

I bet I can outrun this train.

Tapon: When is the best time of year to get a good deal?

Magliari: The softer seasons for us are usually after the middle of January until early March. Also, the end of the summer after Labor Day. This is especially true for leisure trains. It's less true for business-oriented trains. The more flexibility that you have, the better.

Tapon: I expected that taking Amtrak across America would be uncomfortable, especially in coach, but it wasn't.

Magliari: Yes, plenty of people go across America in coach. I need to be horizontal when I sleep. So if you're like me, you'll want to book a roomette or a bedroom for any long distance travel.

Tapon: Are airlines your biggest competitor?

Magliari: No, it's cars. If you compare our cost to driving, we're pretty competitive. We'll feed you and we'll give you a place to sleep. And you'll be able to see your country instead of worrying about the 18-wheeler on one side and the person shaving or putting makeup next to you.

Tapon: The business traveler wants Wi-Fi. I didn't get it for much of my journey.

Magliari: About 90% of Amtrak passengers have access to Wi-Fi. When you don't, most business travelers tether to their phone's data plan. We depend on the cellular networks. We amalgamate various cellular networks. It's not everywhere, especially in Alleghenies and the Sierra Nevada.

Tapon: Are there any long-term solutions to solving the Wi-Fi issue?

Magliari: 5G is coming. But still, with 300 people on a train, it will probably remain an issue.

Tapon: What's the appeal of Amtrak for the business traveler?

Magliari: To stay productive. When you go to the airport, you lose a lot of time going through security and just getting to the airport.

Tapon: Is it ever more efficient to take an overnight train over a plane?

Magliari: In Chicago, we have a train called the Texas Eagle. It leaves Chicago at 1:45 p.m. By noon the next day, it's in downtown Dallas. If I've got an afternoon meeting in Dallas, I will have to get up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the airport. I'll sleep poorly. In contrast, I can let the train be my hotel. I can finish my presentation on the train. I'll be rested. One of the big advantages is that most of our stops are in downtown areas. Airports tend to be far from a city's downtown. If you've flown to Denver, Cincinnati, or New Orleans, you know how far the airports are from the downtown.

Tapon: Are Fortune 500 companies getting this productivity argument?

Magliari: A lot of companies get it. A lot of sports teams get it. In fact, in the northeast corridor, we transport some sports teams overnight.

Tapon: What are the upgrades to the infrastructure in the pipeline?

Magliari: In the next three to five years, all the business class seats will be replaced with an even nicer business class.

Tapon: How can passengers ride across America on Amtrak?

Magliari: There are many routes, you either have to go through Chicago or New Orleans.

Tapon: Any advice to train travelers?

Magliari: Don't always count on having Wi-Fi or cellular. Bring reading material.

The Prince says, "But can I play polo with this?"

Tapon: Is Amtrak looking into the Hyperloop?

Magliari: The way we get to where the next generation is with incremental steps. That's how they did it in Europe. Right now we're developing the Chicago hub to achieve a maximum speed of 110 miles per hour, which is near the limit of what you can do with the existing infrastructure. If you want faster, like 220 miles per hour, you need all new infrastructure. It's like building a brand new highway.

Tapon: What's happening in the 2020s?

Magliari: We're partnered with Texas Central, who is looking to do a high-speed network between Fort-Worth/Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. But that will be all-new construction. But we have property rights and environmental checks. That slows us down. China doesn't have those limitations.

Tapon: Is Amtrak losing sleep about the advent of self-driving cars?

Magliari: No. If everyone has a self-driving car, you still have to get all those cars through a funnel. Trains have an exclusive lane. Cars must share the road. 

More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.

If you like this, subscribe and share! I made this as a YouTube episode too.

On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:

• http://facebook.com/ftapon


• http://twitter.com/ftapon


• http://youtube.com/user/ftapon


• http://pinterest.com/ftapon


• http://tumblr.com/ftapon


• Snapchat

Claim your reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon

Rewards start at just $1/month!

Get full access to Francis Tapon at ftapon.substack.com/subscribe