Stage 8: Transit
Transit
The Episode
It isn't about the destination, it’s about the journey is one of the most overused, cliche, eye-roll sayings around travel. However, it should be used as a reminder of all the parts that bring us to our destination.
The buses, the planes, the cars, the trains, the conductors and all of the wonderful and weird people you met along the way.
But it is on the move when we see the things we didn’t expect.
the goat trees in morocco,
the base of the Italian alps,
or meet you renew travel buddy for the next week.
There is some kind of magic that happens when we remove ourselves from comforts and willingly throw ourselves out into the abyss.
The more we move the more our bodies minds and time warp. We start to peek outside of the socially constructed routines that we place ourselves in and see what life is like on the other side.
Why are some of us called to the open road and refuse to leave? We have all met those people who have been backpacking for three years out of a tiny backpack and have no plan of returning home ( typically Australians).
On this episode, we are on the move. We will talk to travelers who stayed in motion once they rolled out of their homes and say thank you to what brings us to our destination.
We discuss
What it is like to travel around the world.
One way tickets to around the world.
Living abroad long term.
Traveling for ten years.
Travel photography
National Geographic photography
Van life
What it is like living out of a van.
What it is like living out of a van you built.
What it is like to be a woman who lives out of a van.
What it is like to travel non-stop.
What it is like to live abroad.
What it is like to do road trips across America.
How to keep your body fit when living on the road.
How to take care of your body while traveling.
How to take care of your mind while traveling.
Why we love American road trips.
Why the American road trip is popular.
How to have an amazing American road trip.
How to plan for a long journey home.
What is time?
How does travel adjust your sense of time?
How does travel affect your body?
Why time warps when you travel.
How time is a social construct.
How to plan for long travel days.
What it is like to travel around Christmas time.
Why to never travel around Christmas.
Why to always pack snacks before going to the airport.
As a kid, my grandmother had every edition of national geographic in chronological order sitting on her wall length bookcase. It was like looking at a perfect yellow stripe of a rainbow. I would flip through the stunning travel photography of all these far off places: Fiji, Kazakhstan, and Ecuador. And today when I scroll through the National Geographic website, drooling and pinning all of the stunning photography, I now know that Gary Ardent is the one standing behind the camera.
When Gary left the states in 2007, he lost the concept of home. He sold his house, booked a one-way ticket, and just kept going. After 11 years and too many counties to count, Gary and I reflect on a life spent in constant motion because there are hidden costs to living a life filled with travel that are pricier than visas
When we pass by a van on the Beartooth highway, we don’t often expect to see a woman behind the driver's seat. Laura Hughes loves that. She has been living out of the van she built for the past who knows how many years (because does time matter anymore when you are constantly on the move?). She has created an entire podcast dedicated to this female community of van life lovers. Turtles sleeping their homes on their backs.
Laura and I discuss the psychological aspects to nonstop travel, driving all night, sunsets bleeding into sunrises, the deja-vu. How your mind loses track of time and questions what time and space is all together is all together.
Then there are the times where everything gets in your way of getting to your destination. Delays, canceled flights, rain storms, and no pit stops to stretch your legs and get a coffee. Travel has its ironic moments because the part that we anticipate the most can also rough us up the most. Megan from Why Wait to See the World is an experienced solo female traveler who knows both sides of travel quite well. She has lived and traveled all over the world, which also means that in order to spend beautiful days on the beaches of Thailand, she has to pay her dues in horrific travel mishaps. Megan shares the harrowing tale of a simple travel goal: to get home in time for Christmas.
Strangers Abroad is a travel podcast hosted by solo female traveler and storyteller, Adrien Behn. Strangers Abroad is ‘ This American Life’ for travel. Each show we bring you a theme and multiple perspectives on that theme. Each theme is a stage we experience when we travel and dissect it from every angle to make our listeners travel richer.
