Deviate with Rolf Potts Podcast
1) 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...Show More
2) 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. W...Show More
3) 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 re...Show More
4) 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 impet...Show More
5) 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 abou...Show More
6) 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 th...Show More
7) 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 th...Show More
8) 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...Show More
9) 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 I...Show More
10) 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 tal...Show More