Far From Home

I introduce the show and describe the first season, which involved an epic, 7 week road trip from the UK to Mongolia. For more info, visit teamdonundestan.com and farfromhomepodcast.org.

My friend Rosi from Australia contacts my brother and me to invite us to join her on an 11,000 mile road trip this summer across Europe and Asia, and we weigh the risks, challenges, and rewards of driving to Mongolia in a tiny car that’s totally not built for such a journey. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

Another full episode is coming out next week, but in the meantime, here’s an excerpt of a recent interview I did about my trip on my friend and colleague Paul Brubaker’s show, The Backgrounder podcast. Our conversation was recorded live on stage in Montclair, NJ, and is being used here with the permission of The Backgrounder and Direct Audio Media. To listen to the full interview, go to BackgrounderPod.com and search for episode 68. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

When my brother and I told our friends and family that we were planning an 11,000 mile road trip across Europe and Asia, one of the first questions they often asked was, “What kind of car?” In this episode, we seek advice on what kind of vehicle to buy, we go car shopping in London, and we learn to drive stick. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

After reading a hilarious, cringe-worthy article about the “culinary horrors of Mongolia,” we were curious what us two pescatarians would eat in the meat-loving countries of Central Asia, so my brother and I take a field trip to Cheburechnaya – an Uzbeki restaurant in Queens, NY – to find out. We also give updates on some of the many things we’ve been up to since the last episode, like getting more vaccinations and visas and taking a class to learn emergency first aid. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

I fly to London to make final preparations before our road trip to Mongolia and find myself dealing with one logistical and bureaucratic nightmare after another. We also take a basic car repair class and pick up some essential supplies for our trip. Plus, things heat up in Turkey at the last minute, leaving us scrambling to figure out our route. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

Our road trip from London to Mongolia is sure to be a fun and crazy adventure, but we’re also doing it for a good cause. On this episode of the podcast, we visit Port-au-Prince, Haiti to learn about the main charity my brother and I are supporting on our journey. Read more on my website. UPDATE: We are no longer accepting donations as part of the rally, but you can give directly to our charities by visiting the support page on our team website: teamdonundestan.com/support Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

After nearly a year of planning, we descend upon the Goodwood Raceway in southern England to begin our road trip to Mongolia as part of the Mongol Rally. I chat with other teams from around the world to hear their stories, and we discuss our concerns about traveling through Turkey in the aftermath of the recent political unrest. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

We leave southern England and set out on our road trip to Mongolia, overcoming some of our fears and throwing our plans out the window while we drive across Europe on the first leg of our journey. As we head towards the Turkish border, we continue to follow the news closely and weigh the risks of driving through the country just days after an attempted coup. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

The first few days of our trip across Europe were mostly smooth sailing and uneventful, but things were about to change. On this episode, as we cross into Romania and Bulgaria, the roads get rougher, the journey becomes more interesting, and we experience our first mechanical difficulties as we continue our drive east. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

First there were a series of terrorist attacks in Istanbul and Ankara and a threat from Kurdish separatists vowing to target Turkey’s tourism industry to inflict economic harm. Then an attempted military coup followed by a government crackdown on dissent. As we followed the news in the months leading up to our planned drive across Turkey, it was easy to feel nervous and uncertain about just what we would encounter. After all the anticipation and hand-wringing, we finally cross the border and are surprised by what we see. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

Our eighteen country road trip across Europe and Asia last summer left us with a wealth of memorable stories and experiences. But if you asked me to name the single most fascinating and thought-provoking place we visited, the answer would clearly be Iran. On this episode, we have enlightening conversations with average Iranians that make us see the country in a new light. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

“Honestly, most Americans — when they think of Iran — probably think of 3 things,” my brother said. “Desert, oil, and nuclear capabilities.” And it was true. Before our road trip across Europe and Asia last summer, we didn’t really have much of an idea what to expect. But now as we drive across Iran, we realize it’s a place where things are rarely black and white. Everywhere we turn, we see a tension between sticking to the old way of doing things and forging a new path. Listen in as we visit the country’s holiest site and have more car trouble in the middle of the desert. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

We visit the hermit kingdom of Turkmenistan — one of the most reclusive and authoritarian nations in the world — and we see why some visitors describe its capital city of Ashgabat as a cross between Las Vegas and Pyongyang. Paranoia sets in as we get the feeling we’re constantly being watched. And we take a side trip to a giant fire pit in the desert that’s been burning for 40 years! Read more and see photos, as well as a video of the Darvaza Gas Crater on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

While I continue to work on the next regular show, here’s a short bonus episode of some conversations I had with some other Mongol Rally teams during our stopover at Turkmenistan’s Door to Hell. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

Driving a small, crappy car was a prerequisite for anyone participating in the Mongol Rally. The point was to make the journey more exciting and adventurous. We liked the idea at first, but now we’d broken down yet again, and our mechanical issues this time were worse than ever. After getting a hole in our radiator while driving across eastern Turkmenistan, we get towed to a garage where they repair the leak, but things take a turn for the worse. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

When it comes to welcoming foreign tourists, Turkmenistan is close to the bottom of the list. It was hard enough to get visas in the first place, and when we did, they were only good for 5 days. Now broken down with serious car problems, we had to try to convince officials to give us more time. Alternately, we could throw in the towel and tow the car all the way to the border to try to get it fixed on the Uzbekistan side, but would the border guards even let us in with a car that wouldn’t start? Suddenly, our little road trip had turned into an international bureaucratic dilemma, and the next 24 hours were sure to be interesting as we sorted this one out. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

In the three weeks since we started our journey, we’d broken down about 4 times, been to half a dozen mechanics, and tried all sorts of stop-gap measures to solve our car issues, but there was still some sort of big underlying problem whose name we didn’t yet know. Now at another mechanic in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, we were about to find out. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

When we first learned that it would take a week for our car to get repaired, we figured we’d have some time to relax and explore the historic city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. But instead we’re hit with a variety of unforeseen challenges: our friends Rosi and Jane’s visas are about to expire, the four of us contract some sort of nasty stomach bug, and we learn that we might not be able to enter Mongolia after all. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

Our car was running once again, but now we faced a handful of new mechanical issues, just as we were about to embark on the roughest part of our journey yet: a 600 mile stretch of mostly unpaved and mountainous road along the Tajikistan - Afghanistan border that’s considered one of the most spectacular and potentially dangerous routes in the world. Read more and see photos on my website. Far From Home is a series, so it’s best to listen to all the episodes in order from the beginning for the story to make the most sense. Learn more about our trip and follow our adventures at farfromhomepodcast.org and teamdonundestan.com. And if you like what you hear, please do me a favor and leave a quick rating or review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!