storytellingpodcast

Sometimes we don’t know we are sick until we have left our homes.

New environments have ways of challenging us. 

We can push our strengths to a new limit.

We can see how adaptable our bodies are in new territories. 

We get over the limitations our bodies and minds put on us. We see what we can and cannot do without sacrificing our joy and need to travel. Travel can help us see what pieces need to be put back together. 

Guests: Obligatory Traveler, Find Your Shine, The Deaf Traveler, Tiny Globetrotter

Travel invites us to climb mountains, internal or external. And once we leave the small backyards we were raised in and are exposed to the great landscapes of the world, something shifts within us. 

Our egos crack. 

Our  minds quiet.

Our true selves show up. 

Today on the episode, we are humbled. We talk to people who begin the transformational process that happens when we leave our comforts and discover who we are on our own. 

Featured Guests: Richard Cardillo, She Explores Podcast, Lisa Morales Photography 

“What are the chances?”  is how it always starts. We bump into a middle school friend in Prague, book the same hotel as a high school friend in Argentina, or end up sitting next to someone from home on a bus in Ireland. 

When we travel, we sometimes find ourselves running into people we already know but didn’t expect to see. 

 Your brain is shocked because it is breaking your expectations.  For a moment, in a time where you have volunteered to be uncomfortable and out of your element, you have a moment of familiarity. 

Or maybe the same thing keeps happening to you, you see the same person over and over again, hear the same topic come up in conversations, or keep being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

But what do these coincidences really mean? 

Featured Guests: Yann Iunga, Sandi Marx, Sam Dingman

Are they just a sign from the universe or us just flipping the least unlikely coin? 

Strangers are an inevitable part of our trip. Their presence is like oxygen: invisible but breathes life into our trips. 

These random interactions 

• Being pointed in the right direction ( or often wrong) by someone sitting next to you on the bus. 
• Sharing a dessert with someone you met on a tour
• Having a small laugh with the barista in a cafe 
• Make a quick conversation with a cab driver who tells you where the best meal is in the city
• Sometimes even staying in a strangers home for the night

Are what tend to define our trips. 

We will talk to travelers who have had their trips defined by the random acts of kindness they have experienced from around the world. 

Featured Guests: Anita Florez, Juan Pablo Villarino, Casey Fenton

It isn't about the destination, it’s about the journey is one of the most overused, cliche, eye-roll sayings around travel.

But it reminds us to not take for granted what gets us from point A to point B. The buses, the planes, the cars, the trains, the conductors and all of the wonderful and weird people you met along the way. 

But it is when we are on the move when we see the things we didn’t expect. The goat trees in morocco, the base of the Italian Alps, or meet you new travel buddy for the next week. There is some kind of magic that happens when we remove ourselves from comforts and willingly throw ourselves out into the abyss.

Featured Guests: Everything Everywhere, Women on the Road, Sidewalk Safari, Why Wait to See the World

Travel has a way of redefining our romantic needs and helps us expand more than our horizons. 

What can travel tell us about this silent connection. An eye glance or whiff of someone's pheromones can magnetize us to someone we might not normally be attracted to. We will talk to travelers who adjust their romantic needs, desire, chemistry, and commitment. Put some headphones in, this episode is not safe for work. 

Featured Guests: Jamie Brickhouse, Authentic Asheville, Brad Lawrence 

Today on our show, we take a look at bringing an obsession into a story. It’s possible to go deep into an obsession that has almost nothing to do with the story you are trying to tell without being distracting. That obsession can deepen the meaning of the story by giving us a peek into you, the narrator. 

Editors get a lot of stories about cancer, dead dogs, aging parents, etc. We’re not saying, stay away from these topics. We’re saying, writing about an obsession is a way to write about death (or any of these topics) in a new and interesting way. 

The story you’ll hear is from listener Jackie Ashton. This story was previously published in the March 2019 issue of Real Simple.

We also talk about why it’s important to write and read stories about death, because hiding from feelings is never good. This story illustrates what someone who is going through a difficult time might need the most: friends who remind them of joy by experiencing it with them.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni.

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by EMIA, Blue Jay, and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

We’re pinking out and we want you to pinkout with us by supporting one of our cancer charities: https://www.writingclassradio.com/camo-elephant-projectThe Pink Wig Project or 305 Pink Pack.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Anand Sivakumaran (a.k.a. THE CROC), writer, author and storyteller spins tales using prompts from you guys.

Words aap ke, kahani aap ke liye

Freddy Ki Fiat Ho Gayi Flat Part 2

The only love of Freddy's life is his Fiat but then a nocturnal visit sends him on a road trip that changes everything. Kidnapping, film stars, punch on nose, kisses - this one's got it all.

Prompt for this part - Poppyseed Suggested by Priyanka Ganwani

Episodes out every Monday and Thursday!

To give your prompt reach out to Anand at https://www.facebook.com/AnandSivakumaranOfficial/ https://twitter.com/Anandloki

You can also log on to http://www.anandsivakumaran.com/!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.