A Vagabond Adventure - An Epic Journey Exploring All Seven Continents
Chip crossing the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean - photo credit Chip Walter
Ep 156 w/ Chip Walter - A Vagabond Adventure - An Epic Journey Exploring All Seven Continents
My 156th guest episode on the Winging It Travel Podcast is with Chip Walter, the Vagabond Adventurer. Chip is a storyteller, National Geographic Explorer, and author who takes an epic journey, exploring all seven continents—never by jet.
Sharing it one day, one culture, one experience at a time. Chip has completed 600 days of exploring across seven continents and 120,000+ miles, with much more to come in 2024 going into 2025.
Chip has such a fascinating life story, having worked in the 24-hour newsrooms of the USA when it was in its infancy, travelled the world making documentaries, written multiple books, and now travels the world.
This episode is almost two hours long because there is so much to discuss from Chip’s past, present, and future.
In this conversation, Chip shares his epic journey of travelling across all seven continents without flying, emphasizing the importance of slow travel and deep exploration. He discusses his background in journalism and documentaries, his fascination with human evolution and ageing, and the intersection of technology and ethics.
Chip shares his extensive travel experiences, discussing the challenges and joys of his journey worldwide with his partner, Cyndy. He reflects on Antarctica's beauty, Svalbard's unique environment, and the historical significance of various locations.
Chip also provides insights into his travel preparations, including packing tips and the importance of travelling light. He shares his future plans, emphasizing the excitement of exploring new places and cultures: a classic Winging It Travel Podcast episode and the perfect story for this travel podcast.
Let’s dive into some topics of the conversation.
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Just finished the Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail in Peru
Chip’s epic trip doesn’t involve flying.
For Chip, the Vagabond Adventure is a monumental task: to see as many countries and continents as possible without flying.
I love this devotion to this type of travel.
Chip mentioned in the episode that he wanted to travel as we have in the last 150 years without flying, which means there are many ships across oceans, buses across continents, and the occasional train.
This has led to some incredible stories from Chip, like sailing the Atlantic Ocean for 21 days from south to north or trying to get ships to Africa, which didn’t exist, and dealing with the fact that they might have to travel through countries to the next one.
Chip is travelling with his partner Cyndy on this epic adventure, and they seem to have the time of their lives.
As a coincidence, many of my guests recently mentioned Antarctica and the tough crossing of Drake’s Passage.
Could you deal with the potential for seasickness?
I think I am pretty strong on the seasickness front, but this seems like a different level.
After my year-long trip in 2023 and the number of guests who shared their love of land travel, I decided it was time for me to indulge in land travel and stop taking so many flights.
Last year, we flew too much, and it annoyed me.
So, for my trip in November, I can’t wait to travel on land and experience those unknown land borders and the stories that come from those experiences.
Chip is one of many explorers who have inspired me this year.
Is there a difference between a tourist and a traveller?
Chip brought up a very interesting topic in our conversation: the difference between a tourist and a traveller.
He explained that tourists visit a place to do the same activities as they would in their home town or city, whereas a traveller or explorer is out there to experience something outside their comfort zone.
I agree!
But I like to be both!
For example, if someone is giving me Eurostar tickets tomorrow from London to Paris and the aim of the trip is to eat great food, drink coffee, and people-watch, I will be there all day long!
I love drinking coffee, eating great food and people-watching in European cities.
Equally, if tomorrow I have a two-month assignment walking the South Island in New Zealand, I will be there all day long, too!
Both types of travel are awesome and have their merit.
I think the sweet spot is mixing the two on the same trip.
This will definitely happen in November when I travel through El Salvador and Guatemala to Mexico. El Salvador and Guatemala will be full of exploring and adventure, whereas Mexico will only have two cities and I will be living the digital nomad lifestyle. I can’t wait for both!
However, I will say that people need to be explorers/travellers at least once in their lives. You need to get out of your comfort zone to experience something new and learn about the world and yourself. It is crucial.
The people who only go to Ibiza every year to the same place saddens me as there is nothing to learn from that after the first time, in my opinion. At least try Falaraki!
Svalbard in Norway sounds wild!
Chip has written about almost every day of his 600+-day trip, so picking places to talk about on the podcast was daunting.
A place that intrigued me and piqued my interest in Chip’s website was Svalbard in Norway.
You can not venture outside to walk or hike without a rifle, as polar bears live among the population.
Polar bears do not hibernate, are much bigger than grizzlies or brown bears, and actively hunt human beings. This is terrifying.
Chip explained that there is a policy in Svalbard that every door has to be open in case people need to escape the bears, but what happens if the bears learn how to open doors?
This seems like the scene in the Mummy film when it is declared that these Mummies ‘don’t do doors’.
After writing them off as too hard to hunt, they have learned how to hunt reindeer. Now, they coerce them to run onto weak ice so they fall into the water and freeze to death before hauling them out to eat.
These guys are not to be messed with, and the fact that people live with them baffles me.
Svalbard has no visa restrictions, so anyone can live and work there, but you have to have a paid job because of its remoteness.
Another intriguing fact that Chip shared was that there is a center collecting every seed in the world in case of a world apocalypse and the need to start again. You can not enter this building as they are strict about visitors with diseases, etc., but they have scientists working there all year round.
This is one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas, and I would love to visit, so I had to ask Chip more questions. Be sure to check out the full episode to get your dose!
Chip's boat in Antarctica - photo credit Chip Walter
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Who is Chip Walter?
Thanks for coming in for a visit. I’m a journalist, story-teller and traveler. I have a bad habit of digging into and writing about nearly everything, which may explain my former job as a CNN Bureau Chief, work as a PBS documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, author of five books of non-fiction (and an upcoming novel) plus dozens of articles for publications like National Geographic, The Economist, Wall St. Journal and Slate.
My work reaches out to mainstream audiences to explore complex topics that relate to the human condition, human evolution, emotion, behavior and creativity. I like to call my non-fiction “literary science” because I work hard to make the subjects I explore accessible and engaging to every reader.
Why we do and feel and think the things we do is something I’m fascinated with, but two seemingly unrelated subjects really intrigue me – human behavior, and the increasingly rapid advance of technology and its effect upon our lives and society. There’s no technology, no matter how powerful, that can succeed unless it connects positively and effectively on a human level.
To smooth the immense and disruptive transitions that lie ahead, I feel it is crucial for us to not only understand the immense power of emerging technology, but to also better comprehend what makes you and me tick; what, in short, makes humans human. And humane. My books and writing (even my novels - coming soon) explore these questions one way or another.
I feel there is so much to learn, and so little time to learn it. Still, we can try …
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