Listen to “A Long Walk Home” on Atlas Obscura

Published September 9, 2023

Click here to listen to A Long Walk Home

I recently sat down (via Zoom) with Johanna Mayer of the Atlas Obscura Podcast (#1 Apple travel podcast / 17 million listeners) to talk about riding my mules Brick and Cracker from North Carolina to Idaho. We talked about saddle travel and the loneliness of solo travel. I also described what it’s like to ride a mule across the Ohio River, the second largest river in the United States. That part got me so excited that I recreated the sound of all the gear jiggling on Brick’s pack saddle. It goes something like, “jingle, jingle, jingle, Clink!”

Here are a few pics from that journey.

The coolest thing about this interview was that Johanna also interviewed my wife Julia about her side of the story.

Have a Listen

Atlas Obscura just released the episode and it came out fantastic, right down to the piece where (spoiler alert) I start crying. Yeah, that was an emotional journey. Thanks Johanna, Dylan Thuras and the whole Atlas Obscura crew for putting together such a gem of a podcast episode.

You can listen to “A Long Walk Home” right here.

Get A Free Copy of my New Photo Book 19 Million Mule Steps

I’d love to give you a free copy of my just-released 134-page photo book 19 Million Mule Steps. The book contains a lot of the material that didn’t fit into my upcoming book Two Mules to Triumph, about my 7 month, 2,300 mile Long Ride from North Carolina to Idaho with my mules Brick and Cracker.

Enter your details below, hit Subscribe and download your eBook. Enjoy!

In the Mood to Meet a Dinosaur on Atlas Obscura?

If you want to listen to another great Atlas Obscura episode, check out the piece I did with them a while back. It’s called “Creston Dinosaur” and it’s about this big-assed, green concrete dinosaur mule Polly and I visited by wagon in South Dakota. That was for my Lost Sea Expedition journey, which became the documentary of the same name (which you can stream on Amazon).