Program 731: Hiking Iceland; Disappearing Asia; England Journeys & Slang

A creative writing professor explains how the legendary tales called the Sagas shed light on the culture of Iceland, during a summer backpacking trek.

A futurist looks back on the thousands of photographs he took over nearly 50 years, to document vanishing traditions and features across Asia.

And we get advice for fall travels to gardens and stone circles in England, and understanding a bit of British slang, on the next Travel with Rick Steves.

• Kurt Caswell, author of "Iceland Summer" (Trinity University Press)
• Kevin Kelly, photographer/author of "Vanishing Asia" (self-published)
• England-based tour guides Tom Hooper, Roy Nicholls, Gillian Chadwick
• Chris Rae, author of "The Septic’s Companion" (self-published)

• Kurt Caswell wrote "Iceland Summer" about his hiking adventure along the Ring Road in Iceland. He also filed dispatches from his trip for McSweeneys.
• Advice for motoring Iceland's Ring Road.
• Kevin Kelly is a "senior maverick" at Wired magazine. He organized a multi-year photography project called "Vanishing Asia," to document changing traditions in 35 nations.
• Kevin spoke further with Rick on the topic of what’s vanishing in Asia on Travel with Rick Steves program #712 in April, 2023.
• Kevin also delivered a TED talk on how "the future will be shaped by optimists."
• Some of the favorite landscaped gardens mentioned by Rick and the British guides include those at Sissinghurst Castle Gardens in Kent; Great Dixter House and Gardens; Hidcote, near Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire; Longlete House in Wiltshire; Bodnant Gardens in northern Wales; The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, near London; Stourhead, near Stonehenge; and The Eden Project in Cornwall.
• The stone circle called "Long Meg and her Daughters" is just east of Carlisle.
• Chris Rae's website for "The Septic's Companion" includes a searchable British slang dictionary with pronunciations.

• "We will be in England and Scotland in October. I really like to visit gardens but am not sure which ones would be good in early fall. The books I've seen mostly list great places for Spring and Summer flowers. Recommendations?" (Lynn in Carson City, Nevada)
• "After ten days in Scotland, we drove from Oban to York with plans to sightsee along the way. I'd heard that England has smaller and less touristy stone circles than Stonehenge. After a bit of research we found a circle called Long Meg and Her Daughters. The circle is 350 feet in diameter and with 69 stones. From Hadrian's Wall, our GPS took us on a series of windy, narrow country roads to this secluded site. We were the only two people there--this was truly a 'back door' highlight of our trip." (Karen in Santa Rosa, California)

• Michelle Sell & Ensemble, "Glass Houses," Secret Harbor / Sugo Music
• Junius Meyvant, "Signals," Floating Harmonies / Record Records
• DED_DED_0165_00201_Deep_Roots_Creep_a_APM
• Soul 'n' Soda, "Mokkascience," Nikki Beach vol. 1 (collection) / Loungism Recordings
• SON_SCDV_0490_01701_Elven_Garden_A_APM
• Martial Nardeau and Orn Magnusson, "Fjogur islensk bjodlog-IV: Alegretto grazioso," Iceland Flute Music / Iceland Music Information Centre
• Junius Meyvant, "Signals," Floating Harmonies / Record Records
• * Bela Fleck, with Chris Thile, "Keyboard Sonata in C Major, K159 (L 104) 'La Caccia' (Scarlatti)," Perpetual Motion / Sony
• Instrumental intro to The Temptations, "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," The Best of the Temptations, vol. 2: the 70s / Motown
• Jolimont Project, "Uncertainty Principle," Tillman and Ambient Groove Artists: Lingo / SRI Enterprises-Musica Helvetica
• Bliss, "Kalimantan (feat. Lotus)," Blue / (self-released)
• SON_SAS_0024_00901_Turkish_Gathering_A_APM
• BRU_BR_0366_00501_Festival_Of_Light_APM
• Arto Tuncboyaciyan, "Simple Message," Every Day is a New Life / Living Music
• * Ryuichi Sakamoto, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence," Piano One (collection) / Private Music-RCA
• Sidney Torch and His Orchestra, "My Native Heath Suite - IV. Barwick Green (Arthur Wood, 1924)," British Composers Guide to Britain, disc 2 (collection) / EMI Classics
• Daniel Adni, "Handel in the Strand (Clog Dance, RMTB2)," British Composers Guide to Britain, disc 1 (collection) / EMI Classics
• Martyn Bennett, "Rye," Bothy Culture / Rykodisc
• Gus Elen, "If It Wasn’t for the 'Ouses In Between," Music Hall: The Absolutely Essential Collection, disc 6 (collection) / Big 3
• Flanagan and Allen, "Run, Rabbit, Run," Music Hall: The Absolutely Essential Collection, disc 3 (collection) / Big 3
• Academy of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields, Sir Neville Marriner, cond., "Early One Morning," Ultimate Classical Relaxation: The Essential Masterpieces / Decca
• London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox, cond., Howard Shelley, piano, "Suffolk Suite III-Suffolk Morris-'Ritmico' (Carwithen)," Doreen Carwithen: Piano Concerto, Bishop Rock, ODTAA, Suffolk Suite / Chandos

* Indicates filler music used during breaks

• At 14:09, Rick tells Kurt that he "was just in Iceland a month ago" filming a TV show.
• Rick mentions that the callers at the start of segment C were recorded before the pandemic.
• Caller Lynn discusses visiting gardens in England and Scotland in late September and early October, at 40:54.