{"id":173340,"date":"2022-10-05T09:51:17","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T14:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=173340"},"modified":"2026-09-07T16:44:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T21:44:44","slug":"podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/entertainment\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #839: The Vagabond Travel Ethos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Travel can often be approached as just another consumer good; travelers quickly dive in and out of a place, check off the things they want to see, harvest the requisite pictures to prove they were there, and wear their trip as a status symbol.<\/p>\n<p>My guest, Rolf Potts, thinks there&#8217;s a better way to approach travel. After exploring the world for years, he wrote a book called <em>Vagabonding<\/em>, which laid out the practicalities of how to execute long-term travel.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty years later, he&#8217;s back with a new book \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3ykrW8N\"><em>The Vagabond&#8217;s Way<\/em><\/a> \u2014 with reflections on the more philosophical side of that kind of travel which you can take on any type of trip. Today on the show, Rolf explains the vagabonding ethos, which involves slowing down, being open to surprises, and really paying attention to your experiences. He first discusses how taking an overly romantic view of travel can actually diminish your enjoyment of traveling. We then turn to the idea that seeking to take a more authentic approach to travel shouldn&#8217;t mean trying too hard to differentiate yourself from &#8220;typical&#8221; tourists, and how to approach stereotypical tourist stuff with a nuanced view. We discuss how to use the idea of pilgrimage beyond its religious connotations as a pretext for choosing which places to visit. We also delve into how to deal with the culture shock that can come both from visiting a new place, and returning home from a long trip. We end our conversation with how the attentive, adventurous attitude which underlies the vagabond&#8217;s way can also be applied to exploring your own backyard.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Travel can often be approached as just another consumer good; travelers quickly dive in and out of a place, check off the things they want to see, harvest the requisite pictures to prove they were there, and wear their trip as a status symbol. My guest, Rolf Potts, thinks there&#8217;s a better way to approach [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42376,42274,156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-entertainment","category-podcast"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/839-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/839-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/839-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/839-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/839-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Podcast #839: The Vagabond Travel Ethos | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/entertainment\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #839: The Vagabond Travel Ethos | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Travel can often be approached as just another consumer good; travelers quickly dive in and out of a place, check off the things they want to see, harvest the requisite pictures to prove they were there, and wear their trip as a status symbol. My guest, Rolf Potts, thinks there&#8217;s a better way to approach [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/entertainment\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-05T14:51:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-07T21:44:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/839.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #839: The Vagabond Travel Ethos\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-05T14:51:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T21:44:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":276,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/839.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\",\"Entertainment\",\"Podcast\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2022\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/\",\"name\":\"Podcast #839: The Vagabond Travel Ethos | The Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/839.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-05T14:51:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T21:44:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/839.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/839.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/entertainment\\\/podcast-839-the-vagabond-travel-ethos\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast #839: The Vagabond Travel Ethos\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men&#039;s Interest and Lifestyle\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\",\"name\":\"Brett &amp; 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