Episode 27: Lighthouse Relief—Peru, Where Isabel Learned How to Be Happy

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they show us the way ... Isabel coordinated volunteers for Lighthouse Relief in Ritsona refugee camp in Greece, but that wasn't the important part, according to her.  This will be the last in our series of episodes from Ritsona for a while.  We asked refugees to tell us their stories and volunteers to tell us theirs ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé.

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Three organizations that take volunteers and donations in Greece are:

Lighthouse Relief→

I Am You→

Echo 100 Plus→

In Chicago, you can volunteer with:

World Relief→

Heartland Alliance→

“And why complain of more, why complain of very much more.”

— Gertrude Stein

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Episode 26: A Little Light in the Darkness—Greece, Where Hanan Gave Birth

Hanan did not want to give birth in Greece. She crossed from Turkey after escaping Syria while pregnant. Now Ahmed is her happiness. I asked how he was born ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders. Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé.

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“The new must be dovetailed into the old as it were, if it were to endure.”

— Jane Addams

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Episode 25: An Enormous, Deep-Rooted, Foolish Faith in the Benevolence of Fate—Chios, Where Yousef Took His Family in a Rubber Boat

Episode 25: An Enormous, Deep-Rooted, Foolish Faith in the Benevolence of Fate—Chios, Where Yousef Took His Family in a Rubber Boat

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, we navigate by their composition ... Yousef and his wife made the difficult choice to leave Syria with their children four years after their factory and home were burned to charcoal.  They went by rubber boat from Turkey to the island of Chios in Greece.  We asked him to tell us the story ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Thanks as always to the musician Dana Boulé.

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“There are people whom we do not fully know, and yet they live in a warm place within us.”

— Ta-Nehisi Coates

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Episode 24: Another Goal of Unknown Distance—England, Where Travel Saved Alberto's Life

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they save lives sometimes ... Alberto went rogue while volunteering at Ritsona refugee camp, moving into one of the tents to live closer to his new friends.  We followed him there to ask why ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Thanks as always to the musician, Dana Boulé.  And a very special thanks to Joan for letting us record him playing saz.

Check out Alberto's podcast for nonconformists at mimundoenlamochila.com.

Check out Alberto's Podcast→  Check out Kiva→  Subscribe in iTunes→

“If your photographs aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”

— Robert Capa

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Episode 23: The Death Journey—The Syria-Turkey Border, Where Adnan Stood Up and Yelled

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they make you patient ... Adnan spent 45 days escaping Syria with his four children.  Now he's waiting in Greece to find out where the EU will decide to put them.  We asked our friend Yousef to translate his story ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.

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“We were tired of everything, tired in particular of perforating useless frontiers.”

— Primo Levi

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Episode 22: Solidarité—Ritsona, Where Romane Waited to Volunteer

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they ask patience ... Romane was too young to volunteer at a refugee camp in Greece when she first decided to go.  We asked how she learned to enjoy "giving without receiving" ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

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“This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled.”

— Paulo Freire

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Episode 21: What Do You Want?—The Syria-Turkey Border, Where Siba Sat Down

Travel stories spring from joy and sorrow, result in change and status quo.  Siba needs to move.  She has been waiting in a refugee camp seven months for her asylum application to be processed by the EU.  She teaches math to children.  She lives with her mother and siblings in a tent.  She studies English.  We did not ask what she wants ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

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“I could never tell it so that it could be imagined.”

— Dante Alighieri

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Episode 20: I've Been Here—Cairns, Where Ferdi Couchsurfed in the Nude

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they expose ... Ferdinand spent two weeks naked in Australia.  We asked what, if anything, he learned ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

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“Does what goes on inside show on the outside? Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney.”

— Vincent van Gogh

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Episode 19: A Site of Stoppage—Casablanca, Where Bishupal's Visa Application Was Denied

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they problematize the word travel ... Bishupal tried to renew his visa to study in the United States, from Morocco; they told him he needed to go back to Nepal.  We asked whether travel really changes people, since he's a professor of postcolonial theory ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

Check out Kiva→  Subscribe in iTunes→

“All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.”

— Jorge Luis Borges

Episode 18: Can We Let This Question Open?—Portugal, Where Flore Fell in Love with a German Boy

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they bring back the ones we miss ... Flore studied abroad in Portugal through the Erasmus Programme and unexpectedly fell in love.  We asked what it felt like when the program ended and she had to go home ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

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“Coming home at last at the end of the year, I wept to find my old umbilical cord.”

— Matsuo Bashō

Episode 17: The Bridge—Bosnia, Where Johannes Busked amid Minarets and the Moon

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they're bridges between our separate selves ... Johannes is a social worker in Vienna serving primarily Afghan boys caught up in Europe's migrant crisis.  We asked where else he's traveled ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

Check out Kiva→  Subscribe in iTunes→  Visit Circles Cafe in San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala→

“When strangers on journeys and people far removed from their friends and companions enter a well-known place and famous site, it is their habit to leave behind a record of their presence in order to seek blessing in the prayers of other strangers, travelers, and people bereft of their kith and kin. I want to join in, so get me a pot of ink.”

— Caliph al-Ma'mūn

Episode 16: The Conversationalist—Gleneagles, Where Calum Meets Lovely People All the Time

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or seeming status quo, sometimes we have to tell them delicately ... Calum is a driver for Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland.  We begged him to reveal what famous people he's chauffeured, even though he said he never would divulge anyone's secret ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

Check out Kiva→  See Gleneagles Hotel→  Subscribe in iTunes→

“Neither in your conversation be without method, nor in life be so busy as to have no leisure.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Episode 15: La Locura Positiva—Marrakesh, Where Sergio Walked from Sevilla

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they record journeys, the deepest symbol in literature ... Sergio walked the 800 kilometers from Sevilla to Marrakesh in 17 days.  We asked why such a good madness came over him ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

Check out Pachilofeos→  Check out Kiva→  Subscribe in iTunes→

“Following a road from beginning to end is particularly satisfying both in literature and in life.”

— Italo Calvino

Aquí puedes hallar la entrevista completa con Sergio en Pachilofeos.

Episode 14: In the Guise of the Most Ordinary Things—The U.S., Where Ramchandra Melted a Little

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they usually represent an initiation ... Ram, along with his wife Janhavi and daughter Sharayu, stood in line with us to get into Vatican City.  While waiting, we asked if they would tell us their best travel story ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

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“A novelist could never imagine possibilities such as real life offers every day by the thousand in the guise of the most ordinary things.”

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Episode 13: There and Back Again—Catalonia, Where Manfredi Was Saved by Columbus

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they bring us back where we've been ... Manfredi lost his way in Barcelona.  We asked how he got back to where he was going ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

Check out Kiva→  Subscribe in iTunes→

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien

Episode 12: Same Blood—Pisa, Where Souka Sells Watches

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, we have to listen to find our place in the world ... Souka migrated from Cameroon to Italy and now sells watches next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We asked how he got there ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

Check out Kiva→  Subscribe in iTunes→

“And I have seen a ship run straight and swift across the sea for all its course, only to perish at last when entering the port.”

— Dante Alighieri

Episode 11: Two Ovens—Indonesia, Where Freya Fell Ill

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they remind us that people like to help ... Freya got sick traveling alone.  We asked whom she turned to ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

Check out Kiva→  Subscribe in iTunes→

“Viajar es intentar cambiar.”

— Gabriel García Márquez

Episode 10: The Hostel Grampa—Nicaragua, Where Kai Started to Heal

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they scab over wounds ... Kai embraced solo travel wholeheartedly when his wife betrayed him.  We asked why  ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

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“Many tasks give themselves better to the cool of night.”

— Virgil

Episode 9: A Piece of Glass Floating in the Air—Iran, Where Gordon Was Summoned

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they take us where we can never go ... Gordon's Iranian father-in-law summoned him from the UK in 1986.  We asked what awaited him there ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.  Check out Gordon's music too on Soundcloud.  And his furniture shop in Edinburgh, Retro Morrison Street.

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“Every experience is a moving force.”

— John Dewey

Episode 8: The Lucky Note—Málaga, Where Ann-Sophie's Friend Surprised Her with a Trip

Whether travel stories spring from joy or sorrow, result in change or status quo, they change the way we look at strangers ... Ann-Sophie's friend Flore planned all the details of their trip to Spain without revealing any of them.  We asked what happened when they got there ... and hope listening like this evaporates borders.  Special thanks to the musician, Dana Boulé.

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“I jotted down these notes with the hope that they might provoke pleasant conversation among my readers and that they might be of some use to those who would travel the same way.”

— Matsuo Bashō