I'm a fellow travel podcaster and journalist (The Big Travel Podcast) and came across this podcast when reviewing other travel podcasts for an article I'm writing. Eric has such a lovely way of telling a story and a brilliant voice. Love it. This is exactly what I've been looking for and sounds amazing. Can't stress how great this show sounds enough. Great show + great host = Home Run Podcast. Subscribed! Fascinating! Love indigenous music and listening to Chuck’s vivid descriptions were as close to being there as possible. I am so intrigued with these off the beaten path places and this podcast offers a glimpse into realities otherwise unknown. He really captures the “spirit” and Eric, your podcast connects us to that world. Wonderful! e-travels with e. trules is a very informative and entertaining podcast about Mr. Trules travels across our planet over the past many years. But it's more than just that. It's also about his life beginning in New York and how he created a life for himself, his wife and now their adopted son in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles.
What's especially enjoyable about his accounts of his life is not just what's going on in the present but also the historical knowledge he imparts with a sense of humor.
He probably remembers Gene Shepard from many many years ago on WOR A.M. Radio in New York City and I as a young child back then would listen to him on the equivalent of podcasts back then. Younger people may recall the movie "A Christmas Story" and the famous saying about not getting a Bebe gun because he will shoot his eye out. Well that was written by and voice overhead by Gene Shepard.
Mr. Trules has a similar ability to tell a good story and to do so in such a way as to bring you right there.
I only recently discovered podcasts and this has got to be one of the best ones out there! Well worth a sub, DO IT NOW, i did! Listen to this podcast and the man who makes it. He will rekindle your desire for adventure, knowledge, and just maybe teach you how to catch a ride on the train of opportunity. I love travel and foreign cultures, and it was great to find a podcast that adds an entertaining, offbeat angle to a genre that can quickly become stale. Highly recommended. If you love travel you will certainly love this podcast! Eric is an amazing story teller and he will transport you to another world every time. I definitely recommend this podcast to all travel lovers. This podcast transports me evey episode to a entertaining adventure that lets me leave my current reality and allows me to see this crazy world as told by the euthusiastic, talented, and engaging storyteller, Eric Trules. I find his travel stories enlightening and very relaxing to sit back and listen to. Besides Trules mastery of telling his stories, the podcast is well-produced with excellent audio and sounds that help in making this such an addictive listen. Can't wait for more! This was a delightful and entertaining narrative. I tuned in thinking it was a podcast about one of Eric's wild travels only to find out that this was a piece about marriage, and a damned good one at that. Love the story telling aspect of the early episodes: the score, the performance. It's really engaging. As a podcaster, I love the behind the scenes episodes as well. Looking forward to where this show will go! Trules' voice and the sound design make E-travels with E-trules a lovely soundtrack when working. His stories will transport you to another world while you tap away at your cubicle. I hope he post more and more often! Highly recommend. Love the interplay between discovering new places in the world that are ancient and making new personal discoveries. Yes, he's crazy to be taking some of these trips, but what else is new? He's being truly Trules. His inner clown is always smiling.
Thanks a bunch.
Mark Berger and Rain Worthington A great listen. Transported me. Looking forward to more! I love it! 5+ I was lucky enough to be in Echo Park, Los Angeles this November and heard some of Eric's podcasts before they were even available on itunes. He has the perfect pitch and tone of the seasoned traveller and raconteur, I slipped comfortably away and was lost in distant lands and times. A real treat to hear Eric's voice among hoards of podcasts out there. His point-of-view, cadence, and energy makes for trascendent listening. LOVE it! Trules has such a great radio voice. Truly enjoyed the podcast, as it got me yearning to backpack again. Really high-quality production, with great music (and I dig the whistling at the end). Eric Trules is a natural born storyteller. He also happens to be an ever-searching, wonderfully curious, thoughtful and profound individual, with a unique perspective on the wide world -- a world which he's circumnavigated far more than I could even imagine. Though, after listening to his podcast, it's inspiring me to attempt to catch up someday and ramp up the timeline on my exploration of this mysterious, beautiful world.
As much as the travel adventures are wonderful to hear on their own though, the real treasure here comes in his thoughtful reflection on humanity in its many garments and idiosyncracies. He certainly could have been a cultural anthropologist if he didn't become a theatre professor...but I'm glad he went toward the stage; now we get the benefits of his runminations on humanity through the vessel of a uniquely gifted, entertaining storyteller.
I've seen him perform many times, but this podcast is a great reminder of how much character and warmth his voice carries with every phrase as a trained performer. Trules is a cultural treasure, and I can't wait to hear more installments of this powerful travelogue. The podcast is a delightful medley of travel, history, and Trules! His voice over the music and sound makes it easy to picture the fantastic stories. The storytelling is as hypnotic as the music. For those who love traveling but don't get to do so as often as you wish, this is the go-to podcast! Eric creates a sense of place like no one else. I felt like I was right there alongside him on all these amazing journeys. What an experience! Love, love, LOVE this! Inspires me to keep exploring the world with our new little family addition. Great first episode. Trules has a natural knack for storytelling, and exploration. Looking forward to the new show! The widely traveled Trules is also a gifted writer, performer and teacher — and this podcast benefits from all those talents Trulles is a unique, funny, and intelligent guide in the world of travel, life, and love. Between the music, sound design, and pleasant low rumble of Trules' voice, this is a podcast that will satisfy that craving for a story that lets you live by your mind's eye. In the introduction of the podcast, Trules begins laying down the different stories and inspirations that he has quilted together over his life. From his natural curiosity in history to his appreciation for the unforeseen, you get the sense that Trules has a narrative that bridges his personal discoveries with the shifts the world has undergone throughout his life.
I'm looking forward to seeing how these stories flesh out. I can tell that we're in for a treat. Really great and entertaining podcast. Hooks you from the first episode. I'm very impressed with the content in this first episode and can't wait to hear more of Eric's stories. I am thrilled that I came upon this podcast. Trules has a wonderful quality for engaging his listeners, and will transcend you from your living room couches to vast corners of the world. The podcast's professional quality, coupled with Trules' creativity and natural skill for storytelling, will keep you coming back for more. It's a must - can't wait for more! Based on the promo episode of this show, I've subscribed and am definitely looking forward to more! This podcast is extremely well-produced, with audio that excites and amuses. I love the concept of unique, personal and engaging travel stories from the host's real-life experiences, combined with audio scapes that bring listeners directly into the story. I have a feeling this show will be one to keep an eye on, as it holds a great deal of promise for future success. Can't wait to hear the many places Eric Trules will take us! Ooooookaeeeeeeeeey! Amazing podcast. It’s so great to hear travel stories and really unique histoires from Eric Trules life.
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Who’s the Who?
Ever wonder WHY I do this podcast? WHO gave me the idea? Well, wonder no further.
Welcome to another “Behind the Scenes” Episode of “e-travels with e. trules”.
My guest this week is Jonathan Munoz-Proulx, otherwise know as “JMP”, my former student and now independent theater artist, who first gave me the idea of doing a travel podcast. After seeing me do many readings and performances of my stories on stage, and then reading them on my travel blog, he said:
“Your stories are SO MUCH BETTER when we hear your voice! You should do a podcast.”
And the rest…. is history.
Jonathan also holds the dubious distinction of having taken more classes with me than any other student at USC. He learned what “culture vulture” points were when he took my Freshman Seminar, “Self Expression and the Arts” as an enthusiastic 17 year old, and he then took my Solo Performance course – twice – where he learned the power of telling your own autobiographical stories. Even after he graduated, he took my class, “A Life in the Theater with Gordon Davidson” – also twice – where Gordon inspired all of us, by showing us with the example of his life, that theater could make a difference – to an audience, to a City, and to a culture. If you’ve never seen ZOOT SUIT, developed by Gordon with playwright Luis Valdez, go see its revival, now playing in LA at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA.
I’ve seen Jonathan grow up from a still wet-behind-the-ears college student into a self-motivated, theater director, producer, and activist… representing and fighting for the unheard voices of people of color and gender. In this Episode, you’re in for a treat to hear how Jonathan “traveled” electronically to explore his gay Mexican-American roots by contacting gay Mexican men – in pornographic bathhouses – over the internet!
HERE is Episode 8, “Behind the Scenes with JMP”
Travel is still one of the best ways I know to “get out of myself”. I have always thought that one of our greatest hungers, our greatest needs, as human beings is… “transcendence”. That means… connecting with something bigger than self… something universal.
Some people do it though religion or spirituality, others through love, service, or philanthropy. I spent a lifetime trying to accomplish it through “art”. I thought by finding something unique and personal inside myself,something “true”, I could connect with an audience, a body larger than myself .
Well, I think travel offers the same opportunity… to transcend the routine of ordinary life and connect to the larger world. That by experiencing other people, other cultures, other forms of dance, food, music, politics, ideas, we find that we are all connected… together.
This Podcast is my way of connecting us all – just a little closer together.
Please listen. Enjoy. Subscribe. TELL YOUR FRIENDS. And let’s all feel a little bit more… connected.
Best from Echo Park,
Trules
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The Podcast is made possible with a USC Capstone grant, with support from Prof Phil Allen and the Sound Design Program at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts. With original music by Amanda Nicole Yamate and sound design by Alysha Bermudez. Produced by Harry Duran at FullCast.
What We Covered
- 0:01 – Weekly Intro with theme music by Amanda Yamate
- 0:26 – Welcome to JMP
- 0:43- Acknowledgement of my podcast Subscribers, including Israeli diplomat, Raphael Morav
- 2:10 – Introduction of JMP, Jonathan Munoz-Proulx
- 3:32 – Trules on seeing Jonathan “grow up”
- 4:14 – JMP on the nature of Trules’ USC classes and “mentorship”
- 5:40 – JMP and Trules on his being a mentor; Trules on his Fulbright trip to Romania
- 8:18 – JMP’s & Trules’ unorthodox trip to Trules’ son, Exsel’s, elementary school
- 9:28 – JMP about Principal Garza’s tour of the elementary school’s theater with Trules on his “new stage”
- 10:15 – Trules on retiring from USC, now simply having fun reading “travel stories” to 10 year olds
- 11:40 – JMP on Trules’ new identity “as an artist” in this new “community”, questioning the role of “doing traditional theater for subscribers paying $60 a ticket”
- 12:45 – Trules on his own retreat from traditional theater; the podcast as his new solo performance arena, and on “devising theater”
- 13:41 – JMP on his “electronic travels”, looking for his Latino ancestry and queer identity, using the GPS technology of gay sex apps
- 16:30 – On the concept of “traveling electronically”
- 16:58 – On “SERVAS” hosting and travel
- 17:35 – JMP speaking about Trump’s election and the American experience to a user of a sex app in Australia
- 19:03 – Trules on traveling “as an American” and seeing images of Osama Bin Laden on the screen savers of his Islamic colleagues in East Malaysia
- 21:07 – JMP on French-bashing, his unpopular identity as Mexican & French
- 21:57 – Trules’ goal of doing the podcast – connecting people all over the planet as human beings
- 22:36 – JMP takes the “Trules Travel Quiz”
- 26:46 – Wrap up and closing credits
Tweetables
Support the Podcast
Please subscribe, rate, and review the Podcast on iTunes, by clicking the iTunes logo on the top right of this page. It really helps establish the podcast with Apple. Thanks so much! Any trouble navigating iTunes? Please go HERE for an easy-to follow VIDEO.
I’d also like to thank recent contributors Tori Avey, Adam Robitel, and Bambi Reeves – for their generous donations.
As you might imagine, putting on a biweekly podcast of this caliber, with original music and sound design, really depends on the support of our community of listeners. So if you feel so inclined, or you know anybody who would like to support the podcast, I would sincerely appreciate it. Here is the link to donate.
And contact me with any questions or comments.
Happy Trails…
Production Credits
Sound design by Alysha Bermudez.
Music composed by Amanda Yamate.
Produced by Harry Duran at FullCast.
Supported by a USC Capstone Grant, with special thanks to Professor Phil Allen, Director of the Sound Design Program at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts.
