Uncertainty makes for the truest adventures (aka Tim Cahill’s Travel 101)

Deviate with Rolf Potts

“Eat what is put in front of you. They are not making fun of you. The rooster’s head floating in the soup really is given to the honored guest. If you insist on being a picky eater, stay home.” –Tim Cahill

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Tim talk about the premise of Tim’s classic essay “Professor Cahill’s Travel 101” (1:30); the importance of having a “quest” on a journey (8:00); how boredom can enhance the experience of travel, and why rest-days are important to a journey (15:00); why one should avoid whining (and compulsively talking about bowel movements) on group journeys (21:00); why packing too much gear — and obsessively trying to save money on the road — can be counterproductive to engaged travel (25:00); why it’s important to be daring with trying new food on the road (40:00); and why bad travel experiences make for better stories than pleasant ones (45:00).

Tim Cahill is a journalist, author, and pioneering travel writer. For more from Tim, check out his Rolling Stone and Outside archives, or his 2004 Q&A with Rolf.

Notable Links:

• The Vagabond’s Way, by Rolf Potts (travel book)
• Outside (magazine)
• Hold the Enlightenment, by Tim Cahill (book)
• Stoicism (ancient philosophy)
• Royal Commentaries of the Incas, by Garcilaso de la Vega (book)
• Francisco Pizarro (Spanish conquistador)
• Book Passage Travel Writers Conference
• The Old Patagonian Express, by Paul Theroux (book)
• Uinta Mountains (mountain range in Utah)
• 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
• Fish River Canyon (canyon in Namibia)
• Richard Bangs (travel-TV host and author)
• Leimebamba (province in Peru)
• Skua (predatory seabirds common in Antarctic regions)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

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