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.
Welcome “Behind the Scenes” with Travel Writer, Linda Ballou
Listen Now
Who’s the Who?
Today I’ll be talking with Linda Ballou, an accomplished travel and adventure writer who challenges her readers to self-actualize and make their own dreams come true. And this will be my last “Behind the Scenes” interview of Season 2.
Linda is a rugged individualist who knows that she needs tall mountains and shady glens to stay in balance. She enjoys reading travel narratives and historical archives about a place before visiting it… because she doesn’t want to go to a destination until she has a sense of what’s going on behind the gorgeous scenery… which she tries to see with wonder and a sense of humor. She aims to get to as many beautiful places in the world that she can – before they are no more.
Like her travel writing hero, Tim Cahill, she tries not to take herself too seriously. Her historical novel, “Wai-nani: A Voice from Old Hawaii”, lets us see the traditional island society as it existed when Captain James Cook arrived at Kealakekua Bay in 1779. Linda spent 20 years researching and writing the book, immersing herself in historical Hawaiian culture, but shortly before she published it, she was told by protective locals that she would have 200 years bad luck if she did so. Linda bravely persevered and fortunately, that wasn’t the case!
In “The Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon”, Linda takes her readers on a wild ride that begins in the horse, show jumping world and then wanders into the high Sierras.
Once again, I met my guest for the first time in the studio thanks to an enthusiastic introduction by Jim Dorsey, my adventurer-explorer guest from Episode 31 – which you can find in the library. Jim writes about one of Linda’s books:
“Lost Angel Walkabout” by Linda Ballou takes the reader out of their armchair and into the vast world as few travel writers can. Her eye for detail combined with intimate knowledge of her surroundings – sets Ms. Ballou – heads above most of the travel writing pack. In this age when everyone with a back pack proclaims him or herself a travel writer, it takes a book like this one – to re-define the genre. The stories are personal and inviting, giving the reader not only a feeling of participation, but also leaving them with a memory of where they have just visited. This is just plain, great, travel writing.”
Please listen to Episode 41 by clicking the ARROW at the top of this post – right below “Listen Now”.
What We Covered
0:01 – Weekly Intro, Theme Music by Amanda Yamate
0:27 – Trules welcomes listeners to show and introduces Linda Ballou, with a quote about her travel writing by writer-adventurer, Jim Dorsey
4:36 – Linda talks about what she did before becoming a travel writer and her first gig, kayaking in Baja, California
6:01 – Linda is definitely not a “soft” travel adventure writer and talks about danger, trust, and traveling with guides
9:09 – Linda on her travel writing mentor and hero, Tim Cahill, godfather of the “dramatic travel essay”
10:37 – Linda on what she’s trying to achieve in her travel books by “delivering a sense of place” and drawing attention to the environment
11:55 – Linda on her book, “”Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawaii” and the chance she took writing as a “howlie” about historical & traditional Hawaii
16:34 – Trules asks about the traditional Hawaiian word “kapu”, meaning “taboo”, and how it was possible to escape death by escaping to a “sanctuary” of priests
19:15 – Trules on being on Kauai for New Year’s Eve of the 2000 Millennium and how hard it was to access the true history of Hawaii
21:28 – The two talk about the similarity between Hawaii and Bali and how native people put on a smile for tourists but hide their true identities and cultures
22:22 – Linda on “the 5 places people should go before they die”
27:23 – “Where do you want to go next and what would next travel book be?
29:08 – Linda talks about being a “Lost Angel” and living in “woo-woo” Topanga Canyon
31:01 – Linda names the books from her travel collection, her essays about hikes along the US West Coast, and about Isabella Bird, the 19th century British traveler
34:23 – Linda takes “The Trules Travel Quiz”, revealing among other things, how she prefers traveling alone, the best way she knows to find solitude and peace
43:52 – Trules wraps up the interview with links and – thanks
To catch up with all the previous episodes from Season 1, or to listen to my last “time travelogue” in Season 2,“The Ghosts of Edinburgh, Scotland” – about one of the great trips of my life — to the furious and fantastic City of Edinburgh during one of its amazing Fringe Festivals — where I talk to the ghosts of William Wallace and Sir Robert, the Bruce….
…please go to the Library on my home page. There you can listen to all the musically-scored, sound-immersive travelogues, as well as to the rest the “Behind the Scenes” interviews with fellow travelers, podcasters, artists, and friends.
Support the Podcast!
As I mentioned above, this will be my last “Behind the Scenes” interview of Season 2. There will be one more, final episode in Season 2, a sort of travelogue “montage” from all the places I traveled in Season 2.”
I am hard at work looking for Funding for Season 3, but until I have the funding in place, I will have to go back to once-a-month “Bonus Episodes”, like I did after Season 1.
So if you’d like to hear more “e-travels with e. trules”, please show your $$upport.
To make an easy, monthly donation to the podcast, just click HERE – or go to the Podbean “badge” on my website.
To make a one time Donation, go HERE.
I will be sending out a strictly fundraising email for Season 3 next month, so I hope you’re on my mailing list. If not, just go to any of my SHOW NOTES pages, and SUBSCRIBE on the top right.
If you can think of a possible SPONSOR for the show (an advertiser), please let me know and/or introduce me. Local and personal – is gooooood.
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And Contact me HERE about anything…. any time……..
Enjoy Behind the Scenes with Travel Writer, Linda Ballou!
Please let me know what you think and…
Happy Trails…………
Trules
Production Credits & Episode Links
Recorded by Scott Barber at the Barbershop Recording Studio in Echo Park, Los Angeles
“e-travels with e. trules” Intro and Outro Theme Music composed by Amanda Yamate
Sound design by Alysha Bermudez
Produced by Harry Duran at FullCast
Find Linda Ballou on Facebook HERE