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Jul 03 2019
Strange Places Podcast: The Pure Joy and Misery of Bike Touring with Joey Howell and Kevin Box
Joey Howell and Kevin Box join me to talk about bike touring in the USA, how cheap it can be, and how it differs from other forms of travel.
What it's like to travel 1000s of miles by bike, How to prepare (or not) for your first bike tour, The hot cheeto diet: eating +6,000 calories per day and LOSING weight and more [read more]
May 30 2019
Introducing BuyBaggage.com
Helping you buy baggage allowance without paying crazy fees or dealing with terrible airline websites.
Budget airlines are known for their "gotchas". While yes, the tickets are cheap, if you are flying a budget airline you'd better be sure you've crossed your t's and dotted your i's. Depending on the airline, you can be charged extra... [read more]
May 27 2019
Strange Places Podcast: Adventuring Responsibly with Phill Monson
Phill joins me to talk about his work raising awareness on how to be a better steward of the environment.
Topics include: The massive rise of nature photos on Instagram, Big Cottonwood Canyon's little trash problem, Social Media mob justice for vandals and more [read more]
May 25 2019
How to save $183.80 on your next weekend getaway
And why everyone needs at least a small stack of frequent flyer miles
Recently an All Access member emailed me, asking if I knew of any good deals for August 16th 18th from SLC SEA (Salt Lake City to Seattle). Being peak summer travel season, unsurprisingly a basic Google Flights search was disappointing. At... [read more]
May 22 2019
Strange Places Podcast: A Healthy Appetite for Misadventure with Anthony and Ross
Anthony and Ross join me and tell stories of going for big goals and sometimes going a little too big.
Topics include: Anthony & Ross summit the Matterhorn in Italy with only 6 months of mountaineering experience, "Small Lake City" abroad, how to tell if you are a mountaineering "gumby", Using "Pre-Mortem" analysis and more [read more]
Apr 10 2019
1,075,965 Frequent Flyer Miles (how I got mine & how you can too)
Content adapted from the "Earning Travel Points" chapter in our upcoming ebook, "The Travel Junkie's Field Guide"
Do you like spreadsheets? Do people consider you organized? What about “gaming the system”? Is that something you consider fun... Or unethical? Do the words “churning” (not butter), “manufactured spending”, “sweet spots” or “ANA RTW in J” mean anything to you?... [read more]
Apr 02 2019
Strange Places Podcast: Adventures in the Outdoors with James and Reed
James and Reed talk about their experiences climbing big mountains, biking long distance, climbing in Cuba, and much more.
Topics include: Biking 700 miles of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico, what it takes to travel to Cuba as an American citizen, Thom, James and Reed hiking the Annapurna range in Nepal and more [read more]
Jan 02 2019
Strange Places Podcast: The Quest For Divine Lasagna with Quinn and Jake
We talk about traveling with family, finding great food, and exploring the catacombs of Paris.
Topics include: Traveling with Family, Jake's quest to find the best lasagna in Italy, exploring the catacombs in Europe, audio and walking tours, finding good beer abroad and more [read more]
Dec 20 2018
Strange Places Podcast: The Ups and Downs of Solo Travel with Kristin and Gretel
Kristin and Gretel join us for a nice conversation about traveling solo and sharing some crazy stories from the road.
Hi, welcome back to our podcast for episode two. This is Thom Allen, I'll be hosting today. And I have Gretel with me and Kristin. And we're gonna be talking about travel here today. I guess to get started off, I will ask you guys a couple questions, and you can introduce yourself. So Kristin, tell us a little bit about your travel experience, and what you've been doing the past couple years [read more]
Dec 03 2018
Strange Places Podcast: Intro Episode with Ben and Thom
In this intro episode we talk about what's in store for the podcast and how we started our company called Flights Machine.
Topics include: Ben's path to becoming a Digital Nomad, minimalism while traveling, Kazakhstan and Borat, Bangkok and the Hangover 2, Medellín and Pablo Escobar, choosing a destination to match your budget and more [read more]