5 ways indie travel has changed (and stayed the same) since 1999

“The secret of the bucket list is that what’s on it doesn’t matter, because the doors that will open up once you’re out looking for your bucket list item will be more amazing than anything you could have dreamt up at home.” – Rolf Potts

Sean Keener (@SEKeener) is the Cofounder and CEO of the BootsnAll Travel Network, a travel media network focused on planning complex, multi-stop, round-the-world travel. He is also the Chairman of Airtreks, a travel network specializing in multi-stop international travel. 

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf reads his essay “5 ways indie travel has changed (and stayed the same) since 1999” (8:00) before speaking with Sean about how travel has changed over the past 20 years and the impact of technology (24:00); the benefits of travel and the importance of failure (48:00); and photography and the selfie generation (54:00).

Notable Links:

• Airtreks (travel company)
• Maps.me (offline map app)
• On Photography, by Susan (collection of essays)
• Temi (speech to text transcription software)
• Lonely Planet (travel guide)
• Kevin Kelly (editor / publisher)
• Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman (book)
• Humans of New York (website)
• Couchsurfing (travel website)
• Anthem Soul, by Rolf Potts (essay)
• Writing Away, by Lavinia Spalding (book)

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks. Tortuga products also include daypacks, duffels, and other travel accessories, which are all made with the traveler in mind and have been featured by Wirecutter, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Business Insider, Carryology, and many other industry outlets.

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

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.