Check out the latest WanderLearn episodes!
Take a profound and distant journey. Call it:
I will guide you to the intersection of travel, technology, and transformation.
The WanderLearn podcast will compel you to go beyond your comfort zone.
I wander all over the world and I share what I learn with you! In so doing, I hope you'll be inspired to do the same. Travel is the best university.
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I welcome comments and questions for each episode, which are listed below, from the most recent to the first one. I promise to answer any question from one of my Patrons. That's just one way to get rewarded for supporting the show!
Terry Repak has written an expat memoir, Circling Home: What I Learned by Living Elsewhere.
Candid, thoughtful, and instructive, Circling Home explores the notion of “home” and how our bonds with people from other countries and cultures can profoundly change us.
I ask her:
Watch three videos about South Africa's Drakensburg Traverse!
Two of my business school classmates, Brad Graff & Sam Sliman, have a spreadsheet listing the top 40 Global Hikes. On that list is South Africa's 205-km Drakensberg Traverse.
Since Sym Blanchard & I hiked the Grand Traverse, Brad & Sam wanted to pick my brain on the experience.
00:00 Brad & Sam's hiking experience
03:30 Drakensberg Traverse Safety
10:00 When to go
10:40 Trail GPS GPX Tracks
15:00 Section hiking & logistics
If you've hiked the Drakensberg Traverse in the 2020s, comment below!
Brad & Sam return to the WanderLearn Show to report how their 5-day adventure on South Africa's Drakensberg Traverse went.
The short answer: it was a wet, sloppy, cold mess!
Watch the video to get the long answer!
You may wonder, "Why are they complaining about the rain, snow, and sleet when all their photos show good conditions?"
That's because when the weather sucks, nobody wants to take a photo.
Brad Graff & Sam Sliman share advice on the Drakensberg Traverse in South Africa.
We discuss what are some worthy backpacking trips for 2024 and beyond.
00:00 Drakensberg Traverse Advice
06:40 Candidates for the next trek
Eric Gilbertson is attempting to climb every country's high point. He's two-thirds done.
His clone (Matthew Gilbertson) is joining him for most of the mountains. You can follow these twins on Instagram.
Eric uses the United Nations' definition of a country. There are 193 countries. He tosses in Antarctica to make 194.
This page features all my interviews about this extraordinary quest!
Subscribe to my WanderLearn podcast & YouTube channel to get the latest episodes.
Eric's K2 summit documentation
Eric's Kangchenjunga Summit story
Each high point has either a technical/physical challenge (e.g., K2 & Everest) and/or a bureaucratic challenge.
In this episode, Eric discusses three country high points that mainly have a bureaucracy that is stopping him, not the lack of oxygen.
I've climbed Chad's and Libya's high points, so I know what he's talking about.
Listen to discover why I could do it but why Eric has been blocked.
Let me know if you want to join us on a future hike up these two mountains.
He also talks about Bhutan's sacred summit.
Tim Dasey authored the 2023 book Wisdom Factories: AI, Games, and the Making of a Modern Worker.
Our discussion focuses on how AI will impact everything!
00:00 Can AI Be Wise?
01:30 Does Consciousness Matter?
03:00 Can AI Be Wiser Than Humans?
06:00 AI Assistants
09:00 Net Good or Bad?
13:00 Will we need to memorize facts?
20:20 AI in Schools
We discuss the Khan Academy's Khamingo AI Tutor.
My favorite section of the book was when he wrote about the Quest to Learn (Q2L) school, which serves grades 6-12. It is designed around games. It emphasizes 7 principles:
1. Everyone is a participant.
2. Challenge is constant.
3. Learning happens by doing.
4. Feedback is immediate and ongoing.
5. Failure is reframed as "iteration."
6. Everything is interconnected.
7. It kind of feels like play,
This may be the future of instruction.
This is Part 1 of 4 episodes featuring Fabrizio Beverina, an Italian adventurer, scientist, and future ayahuasca shaman.
Fabrizio reminds me of Francois Xavier Paradis-Garneau, who I interviewed last year & will interview again. Both are world travelers who aren't pursuing the narcissistic goal of visiting all the world's countries (I'm guilty of this) but are drawn to areas that are extremely foreign to their upbringing. It's quality vs. quantity—profound travel experiences rather than checking off lists.
I met Fabrizio in Niger, where we stayed with the generous and hospitable Malah Abdou. The Sahara destroyed our trucks. We waited for an incompetent Portuguese mechanic to waste our time and money.
Enjoy this 4-part series & share it!
Fabrizio Beverina has traveled worldwide extensively on motorcycles. He shares his wise advice toward the podcast's end. Before that, you'll get a quick overview of his many (mis)adventures & why he's not a hippie even though he looks like one.
00:00 Truck troubles
01:00 Fabrizio's CV
04:40 Why he dislikes hippies
06:30 Motorcycle advice
This is Part 2 of 4 episodes featuring Fabrizio Beverina, an Italian adventurer, scientist, and future ayahuasca shaman.
He discusses the pros and cons of taking a train across Siberia.
00:00 Trans-Siberian Train
03:00 Tattooing in Africa
05:05 Souvenirs
Learn more about Africa's tattoo history.
This is Part 3 of 4 episodes featuring Fabrizio Beverina, an Italian adventurer, scientist, and future ayahuasca shaman. He shares how he illegally sneaked into Tibet 3 times.
This is Part 4 of 4 episodes featuring Fabrizio Beverina, an Italian adventurer, scientist, and future ayahuasca shaman. He shares how ayahuasca can transform your life & give you insights. Moreover, he explains why you should go to a South American jungle to experience ayahuasca.
Visit his Paojilhuasca Medicine Center or their Facebook page.
Learn about the benefits of meditating while you travel. Kateri Anderson Heymans also describes the Isha Judd meditation system.
Kateri mentions the book Why Walk When You Can Fly?: Soar Beyond Your Fears and Love Yourself and Others Unconditionally.
00:00 Getting into meditation
03:10 Isha Judd
06:20 Mechanics of meditation
09:30 Learn more
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