Creating a Travel Podcast

Creating podcasts came from my desire to decrease the weight of paper and guide books and increase my information and enjoyment while traveling. My first podcast, Poland, also came about because I was well aware that I would never be able to pronounce the names of streets nor ask directions because of my total ignorance of Polish.

Because of the wealth of information available via guide books, official tourist sites, internet, and travel blogs, there is no shortage of guidance to those who do their research. I especially appreciate sites such as Google Maps, Wikipedia, Frommer’s, Rick Steves, TripAdvisor, InYourPocket, and Lonely Planet.

There are many free walking tours available on official tourists sites around the world. One should research to find and download them before leaving home as most times it is too late once on site. Rick Steves has some great ones on his free Audio Europe APP. or, you can contact experts from my site who can help you with the best travel information.

Having the ability to plop my “little golden girl” into just about any city in the world and map my route, hotel, restaurant and interesting sites while sitting at home is an immeasurable assistance in planning my walking tours. I like to know before I go. Using Google Maps for research, I create a personal walking tour of any city I visit. And I am a walker: even though tours may be less than an hour, the route may be 4 or more miles spread over a day.

I narrate my walking tour into GarageBand, enhancing it with photos, chapters and music, then share to iTunes. Thanks to an awesome nephew who got me started with this Blog and how to upload podcasts into the cloud, I am up and running. I can download them to my iPhone as needed. 

Narration is not as easy as I imagined. I lack a narrator’s good tonal qualities, pronunciation can oftentimes be a challenge depending on the language (sometimes my native English is a challenge too), and the quality of a professional production are beyond me. However, next time I am in a particular city, I know I can plug in my ear pods, start the podcast, and walk around while being informed of the importance of what is before me. All at my own pace.

Podcasts I have created and times:

GREECE

1. Olympia Greece: Walking tour of the ancient site of Olympia Greece   16:56
2. Delos: Walking tour of UNESCO site of Delos Greece  33:44

POLAND (I beg forgiveness for the slaughter of Polish pronunciations)

1. Poland’s History: History of Poland  38:43
2. Kraków Royal Way: Walking tour from Florian’s Gate to ramp of Wawel Castle   48:28
3. Kraków Walking Tour Part 2: Walking tour from Wawel Castel, thru Jewish Quarter and return to Old Town   52:34
4. Oświęcim: Tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau   36:23
5. Wrocław Walking Tour: Wrocław Walking Tour of Old Town   52:50
6. Poznań Walking Tour: Poznań Walking Tour from Old Town thru Citadel Park  41:45
7. Gdansk’s Royal Way: Gdansk’s Royal Way walk from Upland Gate to The Crane   46:07
8. Gdansk’s Solidarity Walk: Walking tour of UNESCO World Heritage of Solidarity Shipyards   38:58
9. Malbork Castle: Day trip from Gdansk to Malbork Castle   37:23

WARSAW

1. Warsaw Part 1 Royal Way: Walking Tour from Nowy Świat to Old Town   33:28
2. Warsaw Part 2 Royal Way: Walking tour from through Old Town to New Town Square 38:42
3. Jewish Warsaw v.A: Walking tour of Jewish Warsaw from Palonia Palace Hotel thru Jewish Ghetto to Old Town Square  37:26
4. Jewish Warsaw v.B: Walking tour from New Town thru Jewish Ghetto to Polonia Palace Hotel   38:31

SLOVAKIA

1. Bratislava Walking Tour: Walking tour of Old Town sites   53:30
2. Bratislava History and War Museums: Walking tour from Palace gardens to the Slavin War Memorial  18:00

BULGARIA

1. Sofia, Bulgaria: Walking tour of city sites 48:26