Hello again, everyone! Happy New Year! I wish you all the happiness in the world and many opportunities to follow your heart and succeed.
A friend of mine is traveling to Italy – which is so exciting! I advised her to load up on some travel podcasts about the country, and I wanted to take the opportunity to talk to you about one of the best ways to learn about your destinations on the go.
The Travel section of the Zune Marketplace
I love podcasts – they are mobile, you can listen to them anywhere, and get this – they are completely FREE! I’m absolutely addicted to my podcasts which I listen to while I’m commuting or working out! I even get my news on the go – since I don’t have time to watch the newscasts on TV, I download them to my Zune instead, and while I’m getting to class, or work I learn about what’s going on in the world with the help of Brian Williams, CNN and Katie Couric. SO – it’s completely logical that podcasts are one of my favorite ways to get the latest and greatest travel info.
I want to share with you some really great travel podcasts that you can listen to while you are still home, or even on the plane or train ride to your trip destination. So here are my top travel podcast picks:
- The Amateur Traveler – I love, love, love this one!! Chris Christensen is a fantastic host and I really enjoy all of his travel tidbits and advice. Usually each program has a guest traveler that helps us discover the destination in a way that only a fellow traveler could.
- Travel with Rick Steves – it’s no secret that I’m a fan of Rick Steves’ no non-sense humorous travel advice. Besides being one of the most popular US travel writers and travel show hosts, he also has a radio show. This hour-long podcast series is a capture of his radio shows and gives us an insight into anything and everything European – including countries, travel advice, traveler faux pas, European cuisine, culture and many more.
- Rick Steves’ Europe Video – awesome video clips from Rick’s European travels and PBS TV show.
- Rick Steves’ audio tours – Rick has started a series of guided audio tours for his listeners. So if you were visiting Italy or France, download the guided tours and skip the guide fees without sacrificing discovering your destination in a magical way. If you are traveling with a companion – bring an audio splitter for your iPod or Zune and enjoy the guided tour together.
- A Year in Europe – What would you do if you could spend a year in Europe? Scott and Sheryl quit their jobs, sold their home in San Francisco and embarked on this adventure. Although they are back in the US, you can follow their year-long European extravaganza via their podcast series.
- City by City – slightly more glam and commercial, but still good and fun podcast. (especially if you are a fan of the night life
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Here are a few other podcasts that I thought were good and downloaded, but I haven’t been able to listen to yet:
- Italy Guides.it
- Traveling to Italy by Jules
- Frommers.com Podcasts
These podcasts are just some of my picks – if you go to the Zune Marketplace, or Apple’s iTunes, you can find hundreds of titles in the Travel section. Whatever you like listening to, take advantage of podcasts! I really love ‘em and am filling my Zune with various podcasts about each city and town in Europe that I’m visiting. That way, I could listen to them on the train rides between destinations and make sure I don’t miss some of the best and most authentic experiences Europe has to offer! …and, well, avoid the worst. 
What are your favorite travel podcasts? Are there any that you listen to and would like to recommend? Most of you are probably reading this via the blog feed into Facebook – so feel free to leave your podcast recommendations either on Facebook or directly on this blog. I’d really love to hear them and discover new places with you!
Happy podcast searching and happy travels!
-K
PS: E. – I hope you will have a blast in Italy and come back with so many memories of a lifetime! We all would be looking forward to seeing your pictures and hearing about your adventures! Bon voyage!
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