Ryan Murdock is the author of A Sunny Place for Shady People and Vagabond Dreams: Road Wisdom from Central America.
As Editor-at-Large (Europe) for Outpost he writes feature articles and columns for Canada’s travel magazine, and he is a regular contributor to The Shift, a Maltese investigative news outlet.
Ryan is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and is based in Berlin, where he hosts the Personal Landscapes podcast.
As a three decades long permanent resident of Japan I found the interview fascinating. Alex Kerr came on my radar with his breakout book Lost Japan but I've yet to read the later two. (A German photographer, Mathias Ley, who I worked with as in photographer and journalist roaming widely throughout Asia for ANA's inflight magazine Wingspan spoke highly of his friend Alex.) The interviewer, Ryan Murdock, did an excellent job of asking pithy questions then deeper probing follow up questions and Alex's answers always showed his erudition. All in all a scintillating interview that will have me coming back for more of both Ryan and Alex in their respective genres.
Thank you for such a detailed review Eric. I enjoyed talking with Alex and would love to do another conversation. I highly recommend any / all of his books. I've learned so much from them.
Thank you. If you like One People, check out his new book Good Scammer (published December 2023). It's set in the same communities. I'll have a review up on my blog around the publication date.
@@RyanMurdockRoadWisdom Thanks Ryan. Funnily enough, Guy also mentioned his new book when I commented on one of his FB posts recently. I'll look forward to your review 👍
David Thompson was who John Wesley Powell wanted to be when he grew up. His great map is still the greatest achievement in cartography by a single person.
Can't believe so few have checked in on this wonderful interview. Caroline's writing is stellar and what a researcher-so diligent. Well written work about a timely for today woman-close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt while she lived in the White House.
Thank you for listening, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I loved Caroline's biography. I've just picked up Gellhorn's letters, looking forward to digging in. (on a semi-related note, Personal Landscapes podcast is on iTunes, Spotify and all the usual places, so if you're an audio listener there, please do check it out)
The book, Canada in Ten Maps, has a great chapter on David Thompson. Its a very good read. Thompson had possibly one of the first documented encounters with Bigfoot.
Excellent conversation. I just love hearing about David Thompson. On so many levels he’s the ultimate hero. There should be a David Thompson holiday. I grew up right beside Williamstown , St Andrews, but wasn’t aware I was so close to greatness. I didn’t find out about him til I heard something on CBC. Maybe in the 90’s. I’ll go by his house next time. Thanks for all this info. You all 3 are my heroes.
I have read all of her books. I have been fascinated by the Balkans since I first went behind the "Iron Curtain" in 1968. But I have not been to Albania, so closed for so long. I will go there for the first time in April. I met only one Albanian here in Australia. A young woman in her 20's. When I mentioned Edith Durham, she didn't bat an eye. We chatted about her as if it was just another everyday topic. Thank you.
Excellent! I only saw a small corner of Albania when walking through the Accursed Mountains, but the kindness of the people both there and in Kosovo left a mark even deeper than the incredible landscape. I look forward to a return journey to see other parts of the country. Safe travels, I'm sure you will enjoy it.
An insightful interview with this extraordinary traveller and writer. One of her books sat on my book shelf for last few years and I only picked it up last year (the waiting land) and didn't really start to discover her until this year and was so sad to hear of her recent passing. Now that I have read into her life, I think I would have wanted to visit her in Ireland. I am N.Irish but left young, due to the troubles. I have travelled the world extensively and would have loved to have spoken to her about travelling, especially of the lost of traditional ways of life and pre-internet times. So this interview has been a very nice gift. I listened to her desert island discs today and was crying. I didn't know her personally but I feel such a affinity to way she saw things and lived her life. She will forever be a great inspiration to my life and travels. RIP Dervla Murphy - thank you for being you and for every last word you wrote.
Thank you very much for your comment, Caroline. I'm glad you enjoyed our conversation. It's been the highlight of my brief podcasting experience. I'm sorry I never had a chance to raise a glass with Dervla in person. She was wonderful to talk to. Such an inspiration after reading her books for years. You might also enjoy the documentary 'Who Is Dervla Murphy?' It's possible to buy it online from the producers and download.
@@RyanMurdockRoadWisdom Thanks Ryan for the recommendation, I will have to watch that. I just listened to Rebecca Lowe interview which I really enjoyed (and I brought her book but still to read it!) I have always thought about writing a book myself and many friends have said I have many stories to tell. I used to think I was odd travelling alone all the time, it is definitely trickier to get away from mass tourism these days, an added layer of complexity for the lone traveller. If I'd discovered Dervla little earlier - perhaps wouldn't have felt a lonesome traveller, but perhaps in future, I can be comforted by her example. There are lots of good reasons to travel solo when wanting to connect with the locals. The fact she had difficult circumstances in her earlier life but had this self determination that compelled her forward and across the world when opportunity knocked - is very relatable to my own circumstances. It is comforting to know this fellow Irish woman existed and achieved her dreams on her own terms, career, motherhood, single life, the lot. She had her own opinions, grit and personality and a taste for the good stuff (beer) and she had a thick skin - i bet there were lots of criticisms of how she lived from society during her prime years. For me, its not just the travelling but how she lived as a single woman. She really was the whole package. Thanks again for the the recommendation and these interviews, I will be listening to more of your interviews and will be keeping a more regular journal from now on.
We corresponded before covid , then sadly her arthritis got really bad and even typing was painful. She was one of the vert very best, and this podcast must be one of her last - abd very best. May you RIP Dervla , a life well lived. I miss your wisdom .
She was a wonderful writer and such a remarkable person, someone who lived life on her terms. Dervla's publisher tells me this was her last recorded interview. What a pleasure it was to talk with her. I'm sorry we never had a chance to raise a glass in person.
I'm from Coorg. My parents live there. I live in the USA. Sadly I have to say that Coorg has been destroyed by development.... Aka the tourist trade. It has been discovered by the rest of India that has descended on Bangalore .... The draw of the software industry. Coorg has become everyone's favourite getaway... To a hill station as it is often referred to. My grandmother lived in coorg where my cousins and I used to gather every vacation. I grew up in a neighboring district... About 2 hours from coorg. Dervla mentions it in her book....On a Shoe String to Coorg....her visit to Byerly stud farm run by an english/Irish couple.... They were my neighbour's. I was born after this trip of hers .... Wish I could have been born earlier and met her!!! We met a lot of the foreigners who visited the Fosters of Byerly stud. Thanks for the interview. So honest. Glad to know she had so much clarity at 90. RIP
I'm so sorry to hear that. Overdevelopment is such a scourge. I saw it completely destroy the island of Malta during the years I lived there. I remember reading the sections about Byerly stud farm. It sounds like you grew up in a beautiful area. I've still never made it to India. A trip is long overdue.
In the bucket list , impossible now . Tibesti seems to be a nest of various jihadis salafis ,people smugglers , etc I’m surprised you could travel there freely so recently . How was security ?
Yes, it's such a shame. I'm really glad I took advantage of that brief window. The Tibesti was unforgettable. I didn't have any security concerns at the time, though we found out when we got back that attacks had taken place near Lake Chad. I wrote more about it on my blog ryanmurdock.com/2015/02/chad-tibesti-expedition/
@@RyanMurdockRoadWisdom read it , fantastic trip . It seems that the toubou got their man the other day as they poured south in pickups from the Tibesti . And as electronic communications get ever easier physical travel becomes more hazardous . Crazy times !
Between 6,000 and 8,000 years old, most likely. That's when the central Sahara was fertile, and inhabited by cattle pastoralists. We found similar pottery at Jebel Uweinat (on the border of Sudan/Egypt/Libya).
Perry Pierce I think just natural selection. Life is hard on the edge of the desert. Perhaps the parent's died and couldn't bring the pups food. It looked like many of them had starved, or died of disease. A few had marks of violence (from other seals, not humans).
Do you know if that is some type of perennial occurrence? By the way, thank you for putting your footage online. I hope one day to be able to explore a desert
No, I never heard that it was cyclical. Glad you're enjoying my stuff. I've got a bunch of desert stuff on my blog if you search through some of the articles a bit, including a few on a recent expedition to the Tibesti in Chad ryanmurdock.com/blog/ The full magazine story about that Namibia trip is also on the Articles section of my site. Once you venture into the desert, you will always find yourself drawn back there.
Causes a fatal imbalance in electrolytes. It's called water intoxication en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication But beyond that, more people actually die from drowning in the desert. Flash floods are sudden and violent.
