Deviate
Society & Culture
About
Rolf Potts veers off-topic in this unique series of conversations with experts, public figures, and intriguing people.
Episodes
- What movies (do and don't) show us about places before we travel there
“When we don't foster local filmmaking traditions, we end up making movies about what we think life is like in the cities we do see movies about.” – Jason Bailey In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Jason talk about how being from Kansas…
- Exploring the idiosyncrasies of male friendship, with Andrew McCarthy
“I asked everyone if they were lonely. All the guys my age said 'no, I'm too busy; too much going on.' When I answer that quickly I'm either lying or it's something I'm afraid of.” – Andrew McCarthy In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and An…
- Debunking the mythology of BEFORE SUNRISE, with co-writer Kim Krizan (in Paris)
"I think you have to pick your battles when you're collaborating with people." – Kim Krizan Kim Krizan ( @kimkrizan ) is the Oscar-nominated cowriter of the Before Sunrise movies, and the author of Spy in the House of Anaïs Nin . Notable L…
- Super Bowl special: Why football kind of matters, with Chuck Klosterman (kind of)
“I wish I loved sports, and particularly football, a lot less than I do. It consumes too much of my memory and too much of my time.” – Chuck Klosterman In this episode of Deviate , Rolf talks about why he's talking to Chuck Klosterman's fo…
- Time is your truest form of wealth (and travel helps you embrace your riches)
“In teaching us to appreciate rather than accumulate – to seek awe rather than outcomes – travel can be an ongoing exercise in gratitude.” – Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate , Rolf remixes his interview from the All the Hacks podcast,…
- Kansas Never Plays Itself: How movies lie when they take us places
In this feature-length video essay that explores the role places play in storytelling, Rolf examines how Kansas -- his home state -- has been imagined, distorted, and mythologized in cinema and television for more than a century. Blending…
- Traveling as a writer, and awkward book-tour experiences, with Anthony Doerr (from 2012)
“I’m interested in writing because I don’t want to sleepwalk through life. I feel like we have an appallingly brief time on earth, and we’re here to see and understand and do as much good as we can before we’re gone.” –Anthony Doerr In thi…
- Talking with my parents about how to handle it when your parents die (in memory of Alice Potts, 1943-2025)
Note : This encore episode is dedicated to the memory of Alice Potts, who died on August 20, 2025 , aged 81. “In America aging is often seen as an insult rather than an inevitable human process. We don’t celebrate getting older; we ‘fight’…
- An audiobook about how (not) to write a travel book: 9 lessons from my failed van-life memoir
“No endeavor to write a travel book is ever lost, since it gives you a useful perspective on (and intensified attention to) the reality of the travel experience itself. When embraced mindfully, the real-time experience of a journey is inva…
- Vagabonding pioneer Ed Buryn on what indie travel was like in the 1960s and 1970s (encore)
“Realizing that you will die greatly clarifies your vision of life, and stimulates opportunities for making the vision real.” –Ed Buryn In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Ed discuss the impetus behind Ed’s first travels to Europe by van…
- Why We Travel: Happiness, curiosity, wonder, sex, healing, and other motivations for hitting the road
"No one motivation is ‘better’ than any other. We travel with different motivations at different times, and they sometimes overlap." –Ash Bhardwaj In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Ash talk about curiosity as a motivation for travel (1…
- Before Sunrise (redo): Screenwriter Kim Krizan on what led up to the classic travel-romance movie
"Time spent traveling on trains, just staring out the window: I don't think that's lost time. That's when we have our best ideas." –Kim Krizan In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Kiki introduce their interview with Kim Krizan by talking…
- Before Sunrise: Screenwriter Kim Krizan on what led up to the classic 1995 travel-romance movie
"Time spent traveling on trains, just staring out the window: I don't think that's lost time. That's when we have our best ideas." –Kim Krizan In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Kiki introduce their interview with Kim Krizan by talking a…
- Mars on Earth: The world's driest desert, and what travelers might find when they go there
“If you're someone who's always dreamed of going to Mars but you don't have the time to become an astronaut, you can just visit the Atacama Desert.” –Mark Johanson In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Mark talk about how Mark became intere…
- Why a chapter about "slum tourism" was edited out of The Vagabond's Way (with Chloe Cooper Jones)
“Travel does not require leaving your city or state or country, but it does require leaving your comfort zone. And that can happen a block or two away from where you live.” –Chloe Cooper Jones In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Chloe tal…
- Long-term travel 101: Matt Kepnes on how to slow down and save money on an extended global journey
“The most difficult part about traveling the world isn’t actually the logistics of a trip—it’s finding the courage to go in the first place.” —Matt Kepnes In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Matt talk about how his travel style has change…
- Travel memoir lab: On blending travel narrative with a broader memoiristic life-narrative
“We do a lot of writing alone, in our own space. But writing is not a solitary practice. The business of writing requires a community.” –Angelique Stevens In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Angelique talk about what her writing life is l…
- How a journey on the Hippie Trail changed Rick Steves' life (and influenced Rolf's travels too)
“Anybody with curiosity and wanderlust can have their own Hippie Trail. They just need to get away from home, embrace the world, and have an adventure.” –Rick Steves In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Rick talk about Rick’s 1990s book As…
- A travel writers' Super Bowl special: Pico Iyer and Rolf discuss NFL football from the global perspective
“My life has often forced me to watch the Super Bowl in unusual circumstances. The first Super Bowl found me in boarding school in England, huddled under my bedclothes with an illegal transistor radio.” –Pico Iyer In this episode of Deviat…
- Pico Iyer on how solitude, stillness, and silence play an essential counterbalance to the traveling life
“In solitude, I often feel closer to the people I care for than when they’re in the same room.” –Pico Iyer In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Pico talk about how the best travels are often counterbalanced with a kind of stillness, in whi…
- Life changing travel experiences: Memories of traveling to Syria, 25 years on (with Ari Shaffir)
“Syria is a mix of everything. There are multiple Christian cultures, multiple Muslim cultures, and multiple languages. It’s the crossroads of the world. It made for some of my best travel memories from that time of my life.” — Rolf Potts…
- Travel memoir lab: How to fast-track your travel book by working with a hybrid publisher
“In El Salvador, I dropped $5 out of my pocket at the border, and some guy came running up to me. At the beginning of the trip I would have been surprised by that. But by that point I would have been surprised if it didn’t happen.” —Matt S…
- HoneyTrek: A case study in making a full-time living as travel influencers and content creators
“When we got into this, we didn’t know how to make videos. That’s a skill we’ve had to learn, because the industry has changed so much, from photos to videos. We are still learning all the time.” —Ann Howard In this episode of Deviate, Rol…
- Live from Bali: How tourists, influencers, and nomads transform destinations (for good and for bad)
“Influencers are forever reinforcing the same images. They’re spending no time in the actual place, other than the requisite time to take the photo. From the local community’s point of view, these kinds of tourists bring very little value.…
- Vagabonding audio companion: Obnoxious travelers (and how to avoid being one)
“We’re having less enjoyable travel experiences, even as our photos show us having this amazing time, because we’re performing a version of travel for people who aren’t even there.” In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and David talk about the…
- What you discover when you walk down every single street in New York City (encore)
“Traveling, for me, is all about destroying stereotypes and narratives about people and places.” – Matt Green In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Matt discuss Matt’s mission to walk every street in New York City (3:00); walking across the…
- A history and future of digital and biological technology, with Jane Metcalfe
“We need positive visions of how all this technology gets deployed, because what we visualize is what we build.” –Jane Metcalfe In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Jane talk about the pioneering work she did with Wired during the dawn of…
- Bicycling across the USA (with no money or food) looking for human connection
“My parents passed away and it created this sense of recklessness in me, but in a positive way: I wanted to create a travel experience and push myself and learn about myself. Because you never know how long you’re gonna be around for.” –Da…
- Wonder Year: The Art of Long-Term Family Travel and Worldschooling
“The parent’s job as teacher on the road is to just create surface area between your kid and yourself and the world.” –Julie Frieder In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Julie talk about what a “Wonder Year” is, how she got involved with f…
- How Rolf Ruined the 1990s: A personal history of my grunge-bandwagon band
“Look at any photo from a moment of supposed zeitgeist in American history, and it will be clear that not everyone in that moment represented the cutting-edge of culture.” –Rolf Potts In this essay episode of Deviate , Rolf talks about why…
- Walk and Talk: Notes from a peripatetic salon across northern Thailand
“Something about the motion of walking is conducive to generating both ideas and conversation. You can empty your mind and open your mind at the same time.” —Kevin Kelly In this episode of Deviate , Rolf reports from a “ Walk and Talk ” ac…
- Essential tips and strategies for telling travel stories, with Andrew McCarthy
“We 'massage' the truth to make it fit the narrative we need it to fit in our lives.” –Andrew McCarthy In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Andrew talk about how Andrew got started in travel writing, and how writing himself on the page hel…
- What it's like to spend a full year traveling within a day's radius of your home
“Unless we explore our neighborhood, we can’t imagine what might be right under our noses, nor be able to celebrate it, mourn its demise, or take action.” –Alastair Humphreys In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Alastair Humphreys discuss…
- Sports, superstitions, and sacraments: A Deviate Super Bowl Special (2024 remix)
“I hate the Kansas City Chiefs with a passion reserved only for things that I love.” —Tod Goldberg In this episode of Deviate , Rolf shares his 2002 NPR “Savvy Traveler” dispatch about trying to watch the Super Bowl in Thailand (3:00); the…
- Tim Ferriss and Rolf discuss travel, time wealth, and “success management”
“Billionaires can’t take a week off? What’s the point of having a billion dollars if they have fewer options than I do?” –Tim Ferriss In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Tim discuss common travel fantasies, and the fears that keep people…
- The best journeys explore mindscapes as well as landscapes (book club remix)
“Sometimes it’s good to sit still and let a place move through you instead of you moving through a place.” –Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and The Vagabond’s Way book club participants discuss how one can be vulnerable to new…
- Going abroad for love, and travel writing that says something new about a place
“When asked to give advice to young people looking to become travel writers, I invariably tell them to go – alone – and live in a country where they don’t speak the language.” –Thomas Swick In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Tom talk ab…
- Seek places where your very presence makes you interesting (book club redo)
“One way of making famous landmarks more comprehensible is to look for surprises, good and bad, that go beyond what you are expected to encounter there, details that open you up to the raw imperfections of the encounter itself.” –Rolf Pott…
- Travel memoir lab: Truth, luck, & multi-genre storytelling (with Tom Bissell)
“Not everyone who’s lucky is talented and not everyone who’s talented is lucky.” –Tom Bissell In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Tom talk about Tom’s lack of travel experience when he joined the Peace Corps, and how he dealt with his ea…
- Seek places where your very presence makes you interesting (book club remix)
“One way of making famous landmarks more comprehensible is to look for surprises, good and bad, that go beyond what you are expected to encounter there, details that open you up to the raw imperfections of the encounter itself.” –Rolf Pott…
- Vagabonding audio companion: A life in (and philosophy of) long-term travel
“One ironic anxiety of travel is that suddenly you’re living in ‘organic time’ and you’re not used to it.” –Rolf Potts In this “vagabonding audio companion” episode of Deviate , remixed from Aaron Millar’s Armchair Explorer podcast, Rolf t…
- A train isn’t just a vehicle; it’s a place (a remix encore, with Monisha Rajesh)
“A wonderful aspect of traveling by train is the transactional relationship between passengers who feed off one another, picking up tips, offering advice, guarding each other’s belongings, and generating a trust that is unique to railway t…
- Travelers experience more when they slow down and ask lots of questions
“We live in an age where you can take a series short flights inside a country to speed things up. You end up going to more places, but you experience less, because you’re not really committed to that chicken bus full of really interesting…
- “Dare to do Dirt”: Seeking rural places (and how to best experience them)
“Domestic travel to rural places can be as important as international travel that is more obviously cross-cultural.” –Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Marci talk about how the best trips are guided by curiosity about eight…
- Vagabonding audio companion: Why (and how) travel souvenirs matter
“A souvenir can be anything from a travel experience that honors a certain moment in your life, certifies the journey that took you there, and celebrates the confluence of people and places and actions that made it possible.” – Rolf Potts…
- Travel can return you to a kind of childhood (online book club remix)
“In alien parts, we speak more simply, unencumbered by the histories that we carry around at home, and look more excitedly, with eyes of wonder.” —Pico Iyer In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and The Vagabond’s Way book club participants di…
- What museums reveal about places (and what they have to offer travelers)
“We do not just keep and collect things. We trouble ourselves to repurpose, create, and invent things just to carry, a little easier, those stories we cannot live without.” —Kendra Greene In this episode of Deviate , Rolf speaks to the dir…
- Vagabonding audio companion: How to study abroad (even if you aren’t a student)
“Quietly use travel to deepen your life, and to build stronger relationships – not only with other cultures, but with your home. Figure out ways to give back.” –Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and David talk about how travel a…
- Fear, family, and walking the Camino de Santiago (live with Andrew McCarthy)
“Not every fearful decision I’ve made has been bad, but most of my bad decisions have been based in fear.” –Andrew McCarthy In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Andrew talk about the two halves of Andrew’s professional life – acting and t…
- Travel burnout is a real thing (and it’s OK to feel it sometimes), with Matt Kepnes
“The truth is that our travel anticipations, and our memories, have a way of holding only the most striking parts of an experience—the parts that don’t cause burnout.” —Matt Kepnes In this episode of Deviate , Rolf and Matt talk about trav…