Matt and I met under extreme circumstances on evening when we were trapped inside of the chocolate shop due to aggressive protests in the streets of Arequipa, Peru. We were stuck in the cafe for a few hours, and being the only Americans, it was an opportunity for Matt and I to reflect upon our culture and country. We continued the conversation once it was safe to leave the cafe, and Matt and I found a restaurant still open and our conversation floated between our country, traveling to less developed countries, and why he was in Peru in the first place. He was doing a motorcycle trip around the “Gringo trail”, which is a path in Peru in the shape of a triangle from Arequipa, Cusco, and Lima, which hits all the big tourist attractions of the country but allows him to ride along the often unseen corners of the country. Matt uses motorcycling not as a way to see all of the landscape quickly but to explore the topography of himself. 

He casually mentioned that he works in Hollywood and has worked on several blockbuster films and TV shows. We discussed how traveling has helped him find a balance and maintain a humbling perspective about the world when he is working with the upper crust of Hollywood.

E23-Be Like Water

On the morning of my father's 58th birthday, I woke up at 4 in the morning on a full bed next to an Austrian boy I had met 16 hours ago in the middle of the Andes. Thomas hopping into the bus within the first few moments of beginning my trek to Machu Picchu. Thomas hoped into the bus and I were the first on a bus from Cusco to Hydroelectric. He was young and present, one of the most mindful people I had met. We kept each other company while enduring a 6 hour whiplash of a ride throughout the Andes. That ride was one of the most diverse of rides I had ever taken as I witnessed how the temperature can so quickly contradict itself, constantly switching between elevation and landscape. At some points, you are surrounded by snow, and then 30 minutes later you could be in a lush forest crossing over a waterfall.  Once we got off the bus, we walked for two hours along the train tracks that would bring us to Aguascalientes or the entrance to Machu Picchu. He was someone I quickly felt comfortable walking in silence with, not needing to fill the in the patches of history that happened before we had met, but we allowed ourselves to meditate amongst the wild pyramids sculpted from tectonic shifts, water, and wind. I was relieved once we got to Aguas and wanted nothing more than a place to stretch my sore back and shoulders from my bags digging into my body for the past two hours ( I didn’t pack well). We found a cheap hotel to house us for the night with only a full bed. Our relationship had clearly been established as platonic and neither of us blinked at the idea of sharing a bed with a stranger.

E23.5-The Lost City & The Last Soul

Blanca, from Spain, and I met at the top of a mountain overlooking Machu Picchu. I know how that sounds. As we walked around the town of Machu Picchu, I was immediately captivated with her storytelling of the ancient man mad feat and with stories from her adventures around the world. At the time, her and her partner, Heiko, from Germany were traveling for a year, dividing their time between Latin America and Asia. She tells us all the areas that surprised her, aspects she has learned about herself and relationship with her partner, and how the world still has lessons to teach her.

E24- I Find Home in Weird Places

I met Doron at the beginning of his journey and in my last days of traveling. Although we were at the opposite ends of travel, we still shared one striking commonality: home. Where he had been walking around just hours earlier, was a place I hadn’t stood on in months and while he was ready to jump out into the big wide world, I was ready to cozy up in a familiar bed.

 Our conversation happens when we are back in New York and we discuss the relationship between home and the world and how leaving home can helps you discover who you are when it isn’t coddling you. In this episode, we reflect on the benefits of long term backpacking, why he feels connected when he is alone in nature, and why home tastes sweeter when you have been gone for a while.

E25-Home is Where You Recharge for the World

Three years ago, I was sitting on an uninspired carpet on my living room floor in Portland,OR and was planning my trip for Latin America. I was living in a sterol apartment with a partner who didn’t understand me, a job that was exhausting my passions, and a parasitic feelings of having no direction, which would leave me crying on that irksome carpet. I had always used travel to run away from my problems and knew I needed to leave. 

So I as was sitting on my plasticy couch and I started off at the uninterested walls of my apartment, I thought about how could I document what was about to happen, and I had been listening to podcasts non-stop at my baking job and thought “maybe I could start one?” 

Listen to our season finally to see if we have learned what we set out to find.

E26-In Defense of Strangers

Strangers Abroad_Gimlet

One solo female backpacker interviews and narrates the stories and conversations she has with all the strangers she meets on her journey and turned it into a travel podcast. Stories of adventure traveling like National Geographic, interview style like Fresh Air, and diverse/alternative storytelling like This American Life and Snap Judgement.

Strangers Abroad Podcast