Adventures Less Traveled

John Schwenck
Adventures Less Traveled

The Adventures Less Traveled podcast is an immersive video podcast that seeks those who trade comfort for risk and daringly venture into the unknown. There is no single definition of adventure. It is characterized by the experiences that shape each person’s unique perspective, and this podcast seeks to connect these dots through conversation.

  1. JUN 20

    21 | Andrew Mortensen - First Known Openly Gay Man To Cycle The World

    You may recognize Andrew Mortensen from a previous episode when he cycled from Neah Bay, Washington in the United States down to Patagonia during COVID back in 2020. Here we are 4 years later in 2024, and he's done it again. This time adding 25 more countries to his repertoire from Spain to Singapore, bringing his grand total to over 27,000 cycling miles across 37 countries - officially circumnavigating the world. What makes his story different than others who have accomplished similar feats? He is the first openly gay man to do so. I have been friends with Andrew since high school and I am very proud of the journey he has undertaken - both literally around the world on a bicycle as well as his journey as a gay man. His curiosity to better understand the people and cultures around the world epitomizes the adventurous spirit that we all should embrace - regardless of identity. GUEST LINKS - Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/andrew-mortensen-biking-across-the-world-for-trevor/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew_mort/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.mortensen.16 - 1st Adventures Less Traveled Podcast with Andrew (Ep. 12): https://youtu.be/tOEgnJeHvNA PODCAST INFO - Podcast Website: https://adventures-less-traveled.com - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LpB7vI - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-less-traveled/id1681357393 OUTLINE (00:00) Introduction (02:30) Demystifying Andrew's adventure (07:45) The Trevor Project (09:45) LGBTQ acceptance around the world - Expectations vs Reality (14:20) Traversing the Middle East (17:35) 1st trip (North to South America) vs 2nd trip (Europe, Middle East, Asia) (18:55) What connects us? (21:10) Why does it (being gay) matter? (26:30) Logistics (29:20) Biggest misconception (32:15) World record standards (35:30) EFI (Every F***in Inch) (38:00) Reflections (40:25) Overview Effect (43:30) Advice for future adventurers (45:20) Changing your perspective (47:10) Defining adventure PODCAST SOCIAL - Instagram: https://instagram.com/adventures.less.traveled - Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_ALT_podcast - Facebook: https://facebook.com/AdventuresLessTraveled

    50 min
  2. JUN 5

    20 | Neil Laughton - Adventureholic

    It's one thing to climb the tallest mountain in the world. It's another thing to have the world's highest black tie dinner party atop it. Neil Laughton is an "adventureholic" whose expeditions range from the classic seven-summits ascents, to the unusual such as rowing a bathtub around the Solent, or hosting a game of cricket on the geographic south pole, or driving the world's first street-legal flying car across the Sahara from London to Timbuktu. Neil has more stories than can possibly be fit into a single podcast episode, but I tried to learn as much as I could in the time allotted. He also published Adventureholic which outlines over 50 of these adventures in great detail for those looking to learn more. GUEST LINKS - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Laughton - Personal Website: https://neillaughton.com/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neillaughton1/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neillaughton1/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neil.laughton1 - X/Twitter: https://x.com/NeilLaughton - Siobhan's Trust: https://siobhanstrust.uk/ PODCAST INFO - Podcast Website: https://adventures-less-traveled.com - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventures.less.traveled - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LpB7vI - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-less-traveled/id1681357393 OUTLINE (00:00) - Introduction, Background, & Military Service (06:00) - Neil & Paula Reid's cycling trip across Ukraine (09:30) - Riding a penny farthing (13:10) - Experiencing the Ukraine war firsthand on the ground (20:30) - Glenn Shaw's desire to see Mt. Everest (24:15) - V.I.S.T.A. leadership (29:35) - The world's highest black tie dinner party (33:30) - Crossing the Sahara Desert in a street-legal flying car (35:35) - Charity + Expeditions (41:50) - Defining adventure (43:55) - Leaving a legacy PODCAST SOCIAL - Instagram: https://instagram.com/adventures.less.traveled - Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_ALT_podcast - Facebook: https://facebook.com/AdventuresLessTraveled

    47 min
  3. MAR 26

    19 | Edd Sorenson - Body Rescue & Recovery (Cave Diving Part 2)

    Oftentimes cave diving doesn't go as planned, and when it doesn't, the most likely outcome is a slow inevitable death. Wedged between narrow gaps in caves with no means of escaping, divers become trapped and typically die by hypocapnia as a result. Of the individuals who are found and returned to the surface, almost none of them come out alive (body rescue). The overwhelming majority of them end up in a body bag (body recovery). Edd Sorenson is known to be the only person with more than one body rescue in the world… he has six. So if there is any chance of survival, there is not a more equipped and more experienced individual to return these trapped divers back to their families - dead or alive. Edd is a cave diving instructor examiner and body rescue & recovery specialist based out of Marianna, Florida. He is the founder of Cave Adventurers, a cave diving training and exploration company, and is known for his expertise in body rescue and recovery during rescue missions to bring back individuals who get stuck inside underwater caves. Edd discusses his track record, how he got involved, differences between cave diving vs open water diving, what the allure of cave diving is, how he compartmentalizes death, and one particular experience of having to break a body apart to get it to the surface. GUEST LINKS - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edd_Sorenson - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CaveAdventurers - Cave Adventurers Website: https://www.caveadventurers.com/ - Cave Adventurers Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/divecaveadventurers/ - Cave Adventurers Training: https://www.caveadventurerstraining.com/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eddsorenson/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edd.sorenson/ PODCAST INFO - Podcast Website: https://adventures-less-traveled.com - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LpB7vI - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-less-traveled/id1681357393 OUTLINE (00:00) - Introduction (02:55) - Cave Adventurers (05:50) - Differentiating dive types (10:30) - The allure of cave diving & Edd's background (16:05) - The IUCRR & responding to an emergency (23:05) - # of body rescues vs # of body recoveries (29:05) - Compartmentalizing death & breaking a body out of a restriction PODCAST SOCIAL - Instagram: https://instagram.com/adventures.less.traveled - Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_ALT_podcast - Facebook: https://facebook.com/AdventuresLessTraveled

    47 min
  4. FEB 5

    18 | Jill Heinerth - Exploring The Underworld (Cave Diving Part 1)

    More people have been to outer space than to the underwater caves that Jill Heinerth has explored. She is world-renowned cave diver credited with exploration of both the deepest and longest caves in the world, the first ever descent of iceberg caves in Antarctica, and helped create the first ever 3-D map of an underwater cave. She has documented her discoveries through various TV series, documentaries, and books about life below the surface. We discuss all of this, and more! GUEST LINKS - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Heinerth - Into The Planet Podcast: https://intotheplanetpodcast.com - Personal Website: https://www.IntoThePlanet.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillheinerth - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jillheinerth - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillheinerth EPISODE LINKS - Upcoming Documentary: https://divingintothedarkness.com/ BOOKS - Into The Planet (Hardcover): https://amzn.to/3DJdIAv - Into The Planet (Paperback): https://amzn.to/45goFW3 - The Aquanaut: https://amzn.to/43WUpP8 PODCAST INFO - Podcast Website: https://adventures-less-traveled.com - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LpB7vI - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-less-traveled/id1681357393 OUTLINE (00:00) - Introduction (01:30) - Into The Planet - My Life as a Cave Diver (02:50) - The allure of cave diving (05:15) - Interweaving fine arts, visual communications, and lust for adventure (07:15) - Breaking away from orthodoxy (12:35) - Jill's chip on her shoulder (15:30) - Wakulla Spring incident (22:40) - First cave dive in Antarctica (27:35) - Compartmentalizing when things go wrong (30:40) - New directions & upcoming documentary (Diving Into The Darkness) (33:05) - Jill's legacy (34:15) - Defining adventure PODCAST SOCIAL - Instagram: https://instagram.com/adventures.less.traveled - Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_ALT_podcast - Facebook: https://facebook.com/AdventuresLessTraveled ** All videos and photos provided by Jill Heinerth with consent (Heinerth Productions)

    36 min
  5. JAN 22

    Journal Entry 06 | Adventure Book Club

    Where are my adventure book worms at?? My 2024 reading list covering exploration, resiliency, escape, research, and everything in between! EPISODE LINKS - Charlie Walker JRE #1832: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0s6MNrgR48HxhoZpLZaJUn - Yeonmi Park JRE #1691: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0G5o6GYjWgbSvKG3W2W2x OUTLINE (00:00) - Introduction (01:30) - Endurance - Alfred Lansing (03:00) - On Roads that Echo - Charlie Walker (03:10) - Through Sand & Snow - Charlie Walker (04:15) - Marathon Man - Alan Cocoran (04:20) - Unsinkable - Alan Cocoran (05:10) - In Order to Live - Yeonmi Park (06:10) - I am Malala - Malala Yousafzai (07:25) - The River of Doubt - Candace Millard (09:15) - Madhouse at the End of the Earth - Julian Sancton (11:20) - Adventure Psychology - Paula Reid (12:15) - The Two-Mile Time Machine (by Dr. Richard B. Alley) - Dr. Alison Criscitiello (13:30) - Mountains of Fire - Dr. Clive Oppenheimer (14:25) - Into The Planet - Jill Heinerth (15:40) - Adventureholic - Neil Laughton (16:40) - Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer PODCAST FEEDBACK FORM: https://forms.gle/UZBJT6Bm9EpoL57h6 PODCAST INFO - Podcast Website: https://adventures-less-traveled.com - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LpB7vI - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-less-traveled/id1681357393 PODCAST SOCIAL - Instagram: https://instagram.com/adventures.less.traveled - Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_ALT_podcast - Facebook: https://facebook.com/AdventuresLessTraveled

    18 min
  6. JAN 8

    17 | Dr. Clive Oppenheimer - Exploring Volcanoes

    Few people on earth have ever seen erupting magma from an active volcano, been to North Korea, or been to the Mount Erebus volcano on Antarctica. One man has been to all three while pioneering academic research in the field of Volcanology - Dr. Clive Oppenheimer. He discusses the technical aspects of his field with respect to the importance of volcanoes and how to measure their activity, along with his approach to adventure and stories from around the world. GUEST LINKS - Twitter: @ultraplinian - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Oppenheimer - University of Cambridge Faculty Profile: https://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/people/oppenheimer/ - Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=P1sG2NQAAAAJ&hl=en EPISODE LINKS - Into the Inferno documentary: https://www.netflix.com/title/80066073 - Mountains of Fire: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo205711457.html PODCAST INFO - Podcast Website: https://adventures-less-traveled.com - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LpB7vI - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-less-traveled/id1681357393 OUTLINE (00:00) - Introduction (01:20) - Importance of volcanoes & how to analyze them (06:40) - Inspiration (08:45) - Equipment used to measure volcanoes (16:30) - Volcanoes' role in our lives (21:15) - Research in Antarctica on Mt Erebus (31:15) - Research in North Korea on Paektu San (40:20) - Cultural reverence for volcanoes around the world (45:40) - Dr. Oppenheimer defines adventure PODCAST SOCIAL - Instagram: https://instagram.com/adventures.less.traveled - Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_ALT_podcast - Facebook: https://facebook.com/AdventuresLessTraveled ** All videos and photos provided by Dr. Clive Oppenheimer with consent

    49 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The Adventures Less Traveled podcast is an immersive video podcast that seeks those who trade comfort for risk and daringly venture into the unknown. There is no single definition of adventure. It is characterized by the experiences that shape each person’s unique perspective, and this podcast seeks to connect these dots through conversation.

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