Five Travel Lessons You Can Use at Home (a road-trip intro to Deviate Season 4)

“The best experiences in life can be had for the price of showing up.” –Rolf Potts

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Kiki take a road-trip to Colorado (with Salvie the cat yowling in his pet-carrier) and discuss how Rolf’s 2010 essay “5 Travel Lessons You Can Use at Home” can apply to home-life during a time of pandemic, including the notion that “Time = Wealth” (5:00); the importance of knowing how to “Be Where You Are” (8:30); the advantages of knowing when to “Slow Down” (20:00); the merit that comes in knowing how to “Keep it Simple” (25:00); and how life is more dynamic when you “Don’t Set Limits” (39:00).

Kristen “Kiki” Bush is an actress, known for Paterno (2018), Liberal Arts (2012), and Synecdoche, New York (2008). Her TV credits include The Affair, The Good Wife, Elementary, and Law & Order: SVU. She has performed onstage at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public, the Old Globe, Goodman Theatre, and Lincoln Center.

For information on the Paris-based Travel Memoir classes Rolf is offering to Deviate listeners in 2021, inquire at [email protected], or via the online forms at the Paris Writing Workshops website.

Notable Links:

• “5 Travel Lessons You Can Use at Home,” by Rolf Potts (essay)
• “A personal history of nostalgia” (Deviate episode)
• Late Night with Seth Meyers (news satire talk show)
• Rocky Mountain National Park (American wilderness area)
• Geographers’ A–Z (British street atlas)
• Thomas Guide (Los Angeles street atlas)
• Marie Kondo (Japanese organizing consultant and author)
• No Baggage Challenge (Rolf’s 2010 minimalist journey)
• Hoarders (reality TV series)
• Bumble (dating app)
• Atomium (landmark building in Brussels)
• Kanopolis State Park (hiking area in Kansas)
• Marquette Pioneer Trail (hiking area in Kansas)
• Lindsborg (Swedish-settler town in Kansas)
• Sterling (small-college town in Kansas)
• Coronado Heights (sandstone overlook in central Kansas)
• Richard Rohr (American spiritual writer)
• This Week in Flips (producer Justin Glow’s YouTube channel)

This episode of Deviate alludes to Rolf’s experiences with Tortuga Backpacks, which set the standard for the best, most durable, organized, and comfortable travel backpacks.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].