Celebrating 7 Years of Travel Stories from the Amateur Traveler

CUPERTINO, CA, July 13, 2012

Iran. It was on President George W. Bush's list of the "Axis of Evil", but Andrew and Friedel had a somewhat different experience when they spent 3 months biking through Iran. They stopped to use a pay phone because they needed to get visas for the countries in Central Asia. A stranger stopped by to offer them the use of his cell phone instead, the pay phones are notoriously unreliable. Then a second stranger stopped by. Then a third stranger stopped. Soon they had 5 strangers on 5 different cell phones calling 5 different embassies on their behalf. Another day
as they biked up a steep hill in the countryside yet another stranger slowed down and followed them up the hill in his car for an hour until they got safely to the top, then he waved and went on his way.

On the Amateur Traveler (http://AmateurTraveler.com) we have been listening to travel stories like this for 7 years as of July 2nd. The Amateur Traveler is an online travel show that focuses primarily on travel destinations, but it delivers that information through the timeless art of story telling.

Before appearing as guests on the Amateur Traveler, Andrew and Friedel listened to the Amateur Traveler in their tent at night as they biked around the world from London heading east. Listener and guest Sherry Ott said the Amateur Traveler helped her get through a "bus ride from hell" in Northern Morocco. Sherry then came on the show to talk about traveling around the world as a solo woman traveler. Chris, a lawyer from Atlanta and an amateur wildlife photographer, told stories about traveling to the island nation of Tonga where you can still legally swim with whales. That episode ended with whale song he had recorded from his trip.

Some of the guests on Amateur Traveler have quite literally written the book on the destination. Guide book author Zora O'Neil took us away from the resorts of Cancun into the Yucatan interior to swim in cenotes, visit colonial cities and explore the less visited Mayan ruins
of the Ruta Puuc. Travel editor Don George described how he fell in love with first the drink but later the region of Champagne in France. Author Francis Tapon took us to the "undiscovered" countries of Eastern Europe like Albania which is still dotted with bunkers built to keep out an attack that no one outside the country ever intended.

Some of our destinations have been closer to home as guests like Lonely Planet's USA Editor Robert Reid have proved that even places like Reid's home state of Oklahoma are rich with travel stories. We learned that Architect Frank Lloyd Wright's only skyscraper is in the Sooner state. We also learned that the "Indian Country" that Tom Sawyer set out for and that the territory that the protagonist of "True Grit", Mattie Ross, heads into is now Oklahoma. Of course, on the way we also learned where to find the best BBQ in the state.

What People Are Saying

The name Amateur Traveler was chosen because it means someone who travels "for the love of it". Over the last 7 years host Chris Christensen has been recognized by various publications and has won a North American Travel Journalism Award but he takes more joy and surprise from the
fact that the show is now used to teach English at Oxford University and other schools.

"I have always enjoyed being interviewed by Chris. He's a great listener and asks excellent questions. And he's an enthusiastic and respectful traveler, which makes his shows enjoyable and illuminating. "
-- Don George, Travel Editor

"In a world of copycats and travel bloggers who have never traveled, Amateur Traveler stands out as a highly legitimate medium. It is an entertaining, comprehensive, and reliable source of helpful information about inspiring destinations all over the world."
-- Chris Guillebeau, Author, The Art of Non-Conformity

"The Amateur Traveler is the primary source of my travel bucket list. If you take the things you love about some travel resources and drop what you hate, then add them all together, you get the Amateur Traveler. Enthusiasm without the pitch. Knowledge without the superiority. The sense of hearing a friend without all the extraneous, off-topic asides. If you love travel, Amateur Traveler will fit perfectly. If you don't, listening to the Amateur Traveler will change your mind."
-- Shel Holtz, Holtz Communication + Technology

Amateur Traveler Facts
• 1.5+ million travel podcast downloads in 2010
• This Week in Travel (a companion podcast) won a 2012 Gold Medal in broadcasting from the North American Travel Journalism Association
• The Chicago Sun Times included the show in their list of 10 "Best travel sites".
• Oxford University uses the Amateur Traveler to teach English as a second language.
• Men's Journal says: "One of the 4 best adventure travel podcasts"
• Best Life Magazine named the Amateur Traveler one of the 10 best podcasts on the internet.
• Nominated for a People's Choice Podcast Award in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.
• Popular Vote Winner for a Lonely Planet Blog Award 2009 in the Podcasting category.
• Named in a study as one of the "50 Most Influential Independent Travel Blogs"


Links
Travel to Iran by Bike - Episode 134 - http://asia.amateurtraveler.com/2008/04/26/iran-by-bike-episode-134/
Travel to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico - Episode 163 - http://mexico.amateurtraveler.com/2008/12/06/travel-to-the-yucatan-penninsula-of-mexico-episode-163/
Swimming with Whales off Tonga - Episode 38 - http://pacific.amateurtraveler.com/2006/04/15/episode-38-swimming-with-whales-off-tonga/
Solo Travel as a Woman - Episode 107 - http://pacific.amateurtraveler.com/2006/04/15/episode-38-swimming-with-whales-off-tonga/
Travel to the Champagne Region of France with Don George - Episode 308 - http://europe.amateurtraveler.com/2011/12/24/travel-to-the-champagne-region-of-france/
Travel to Albania - Episode 268 - http://europe.amateurtraveler.com/2011/02/19/travel-to-albania/
Travel to Oklahoma with Robert Reid from Lonely Planet - Episode 295 - http://amateurtraveler.com/2011/09/03/travel-to-oklahoma-with-robert-reid/


Chris is available for interviews. To schedule one, please contact him at Chris2x@AmateurTraveler.com.

The Amateur Traveler is an online travel show that focuses primarily on travel destinations and the best places to travel to. It covers everything from knowing what to put on your Chicago dog when you go to the Windy City to swimming with whales in Tonga. It includes both a weekly audio podcast, twice monthly video podcast and a blog.

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The press has had this to say about the show:

Men's Journal says: "One of the 4 best adventure travel podcasts"

The Chicago Sun Times included the show in their list of 10 "Best travel sites".

Best Life Magazine named the Amateur Traveler one of the 10 best podcasts on the internet.

Nominated for a People's Choice Podcast Award in 2006?, 2007, 2008, 2009.

Popular Vote WInner for a Lonely Planet Blog Award 2009 in the Podcasting category.

Named by tripbase.com as one of the 10 best looking/most accessible travel blogs on the internet.