Travel Grit Podcast
Stories from the Travel Grit Podcast with solo circumnavigator and Long Rider Bernie Harberts. Interviews with adventurers, sailors, and long riders from around the world.
The Day Angela Wood’s Covered Wagon Rolled Up Our Driveway
A few years ago, on a brisk November afternoon, a covered wagon pulled by two horses, a paint and a buckskin, rolled up our driveway. The wagon pulled into our barnyard, stopped in front of our barn and a woman with a thick ponytail and heavy coat got out. That’s how we met Angela Wood.
Sea G Rhydr: 200 Miles, 25 Questions, Four Near-Deaths and a Pony Named Theodore
Sea G Rhydr is six weeks and 200 miles into a covered wagon voyage through America and when I asked her what she worried about that didn’t happen, she said, “Nothing!”
The list of tribulations includes a runaway, two jackknifes, a team pole bent like a humpback whale and what she describes as four near-deaths in a single day. Whew! And then there is Theodore, a Shetland… Continue reading
50 Years Ago Today: The Great American Horse Race Began — 92 Riders, 1,966 Miles, Pure Adventure
Fifty years ago today, Memorial Day, Tom Sites and 91 other riders showed up to the starting line of the Great American Horse Race, the longest organized horse race ever held. The starting gun went off, horses walked, trotted and cantered across the starting line, and 100 days and 1,966 miles later, 54 of them arrived at the finish line in Sacramento, California.
Tom showed up with his horse Jose Dante, a $15 saddle, no crew, no trailer… Continue reading
Thies Matzen: Wanderer III: Southern Ocean by the Stars | Travel Grit Podcast
My dear friends Thies Matzen and his wife Kicki Ericson have navigated their wooden sloop Wanderer III in the Southern Ocean for decades, mostly by stars and sextant. Their voyages under sail have inspired me for years, from overwintering two years on the sub-Antarctic South Georgia Island, to sailing Wanderer III to the Antarctica, the smallest traditional plank on frame boat ever to do so.
Jail to Sail: New Interview With Sven Yrvind on my Travel Grit Podcast
Oh man, I’m excited. I just posted an interview with one of my all-time sailing heroes, Sven Yrvind, on my Travel Grit podcast. Short version: Sven was beaten by his teachers, locked up for desertion, built a sailboat in his mother’s basement, and sailed off to sailing legend. Long version: the wonderful 1-hour, 19-minute interview that I had with Sven on Travel Grit.
Click on over to listen to Sven explain how he got his boat out of his mom’s… Continue reading
The $1 Horse That Walked 5,000 Miles
Some people save up for years before a big trip. Sea G Rhydr spent one dollar. One buck bought her an outlaw gelding named Jesse James, and that horse carried her 5,000 miles across America. No sponsor. No support vehicle. Just a woman, a cheap horse, and a lot of road.
I sat down with Sea on the Travel Grit podcast to hear how that ride actually went — the breakdowns, the kindness of strangers, the moments… Continue reading
5,000 Miles Across America on a One-dollar Horse
Long Rider Sea G Rhydr bought a horse for a dollar. Then she rode him 5,000 miles across America.
I recently had a chance to sit down and have a long chat with Sea about her voyage. We had an incredible conversation and you can catch it here on my Travel Grit podcast.
Hugo Vihlen: Crossing the Atlantic on a 5′ 4″ Sailboat
At 62, Hugo Vihlen sailed across the Atlantic in his sailboat Father’s Day. Father’s Day was just 5 feet 4 inches long. He survived a hurricane at sea, was reduced to eating quarter rations, and lost a kidney because he ran low on water. Thirty years and countless challengers later, his record still stands.
I sat down with Hugo a while back to hear his incredible story. Click on the video to hear how the 5′ 8″ Hugo… Continue reading
Long Rider Gin Szagola: First Solo Horse Ride Across Southern Australia
A little over a year ago, Julia and I visited with our friend the Long Rider Gin Szagola. She was planning to fly to Australia, gentle a wild brumby (which is what they call a mustang in Australia) and ride it across southern Australia.
Last week, Gin became the first person to ride a single horse across southern Australia without a chase crew or support vehicle. It was just her and Fable, the wild Snowy Mountain Brumby she trained herself.… Continue reading
First Unsupported Horse Across Australia: Gin & Fable
Big news this morning. Gin Szgola and her wild brumby Fable have just arrived at the Indian Ocean. Julia and I spent a lovely day hanging with a Gin just over a year ago when she floated the idea… Continue reading
How Tom Sites Found Peace in the Great American Horse Race of 1976
I just unearthed a treasure—the only spoken account of the 1976 Great American Horse Race that exists on the internet.
What Would You Ask Hugo Vihlen About Sailing Father’s Day?
If you could ask Hugo Vihlen, who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in a 5′ 4″ sailboat one question, what would it be? What would you ask his wife, Johnnie? That exactly the situation I found myself in this weekend.
