Program 768: Pan-American Road Trip; Filming the World’s Backyard; Travel Pursuits

Find out what it was like to drive from Oregon to the tip of South America, in an epic Pan-American road trip.

Hear what it takes to make large-screen nature documentaries for IMAX theaters around the world.

And listeners share how their passions and hobbies have provided a framework for memorable overseas travels.

It's all on the next Travel with Rick Steves.

• Teresa Bruce, author of "The Drive" (Seal Press)
• Mike Day, author of "The World Has a Big Backyard: Adventure Travel Stories from an IMAX Documentary Filmmaker" (Wise Ink Creative Publishers)

• Teresa Bruce wrote "The Drive" about her two Pan-American road trips.
• Teresa describes her family's original road trip to South America on the Pan-American Highway on Travel with Rick Steves program #517.
• Mike Day writes about his travel experiences, producing more than a dozen nature documentaries in the large-screen IMAX format, in his book, "The World Has a Big Backyard: Adventure Travel Stories from an IMAX Documentary Filmmaker."
• The Brittany Tourism website offers recommendations for spotting a good kouign-amann pastry, where it originated in Douarnenez, or elsewhere.
• In responding to librarian Jill's e-mail, Rick notes that he designed the "Classroom Europe" video features on his website to be used by educators.

• "As a former sportswriter, I'm inspired in my international travels to seek out sporting events or competitions wherever I go. Soccer in the Netherlands, baseball in the Dominican, sumo in Japan, bullfights in Spain, even chess matches in Paris parks. Contrasting the difference between US and international participants, crowds, foods served in the arenas, etc., can be fascinating. I'm also an avid sports memorabilia collector, and I've found international flea markets can be just the place to find rare treasures (old Olympics tickets and newspapers, for example) for a fraction of the price in the US. Find sports that aren't familiar to you and don't overlook local events in smaller towns." (Mark in Albany, California)
• Caller traced the roots of kouign-amann pastries. "A couple of years ago, a delicious pastry from Brittany started showing up in US restaurants. Last year, I made a pilgrimage to the harbor town of Douarnenez, where back in 1860 a baker named Yves-René Scordia created this amazing treat. It's a round pastry, that is similar to a croissant but more buttery so it gets very crispy on the outside. There's a tourism website in Brittany that gives tips on the best places to sample kouign-amann, and the village where kouign-amann was said to be invented has a mural. I also stumbled onto the annual Interceltic Festival in L'Orient for a very Irish feeling in the middle of Brittany." (Becca in Arlington, Virginia)
• "I never pass up a library or bookshop, and in my previous life, as a library professor, designed and carried out study abroad for graduate library students. We visited/toured the British Library, Cambridge Library, Oxford Library, and the school library for The City of London School, all in England…as well as the following libraries in Ireland: National Library of Ireland, Trinity College Library (including the Long Room and Book of Kells), and Marsh's Library (oldest public library in Ireland). I looked for specialty tours specific to famous libraries and bookstores but could find none so created my own; the process was long but I met lots of nice library folks, learned a lot, and actually enjoyed the process." (e-mail from Jill in Stillwater, Oklahoma)
• "Last year, a group of college buddies spent a week in Scotland experiencing the whisky culture and golfing. We rented a van, each of us taking a day as the designated driver, visiting distilleries across Scotland (Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, and Islay), experiencing great drink, visiting interesting sites (Dunnattor Castle, Falkirk Wheel, Croft Moraig, Highland Games, etc.) and meeting engaging individuals." (Justin in Bellevue, Washington)

• 2FM_2FM_0070_05301_Shimmering_Cascades_60_B-APM
• Trio Mexico, "El Penúltimo Beso," La Canción Oaxaqueña: Dulce, Amante, Romántica / Producciones Mexicanas Discográficas
• Manu Chao, "Mi Vida," Proxima Estación: Esperanza / Virgin France
• Ecuador Manta, "El Dorado," Sounds of the Andes / Alliance
• David Tannenbaum, "Primavera Porteño (Piazolla)," Astor Piazolla: El Porteño / New Albion
• * Tanghetto, "El Boulevard," Buenos Aires-Paris: The Electronic Tango Anthology, disc 2 (collection) / PMB Music (Argentina)
• Jaramar, "La Tortuga," A Native American Odyssey: Inuit to Inca (collection) / Putumayo
• David Arkenstone, "No Rain, No Rainbows," Echoes of Light and Shadow / Domo Records
• Manuel Iman, "Rumbo," Duende: The Passion and Dazzling Virtuosity of Flamenco, disc 3 (collection) / Ellipses Arts
• KPM_KPM_2127_01901_River_Run_a_APM
• PRM_PRM_0058_00301_Easter_Island_APM
• Ryuichi Sakamoto, "Calling From Tokyo," Virgin Nineteen-Ninety (sampler) / Virgin
• CEZ_UBM_2158_00901_Alone_On_Route_66_APM
• * Trudy Pitts, "Take Five," Cocktail Mix, vol. 2 (collection) / Rhino
• KOS_KOS_0555_06201_Joshua_Tree_APM
• Carlos Nuñez and Lenine, "Nau Bretoa," Discover Carlos Nuñez, disc 1 / Sony Music (France)
• Keltik Elektrik, "Wild Mountain Thyme," Celtic Crossroads (collection) / Putumayo

* Indicates filler music used during internal breaks on the broadcast

• In the segment A interview, Teresa Bruce notes that it is possible to drive from North America to South America on one highway, except for the "Darien Gap" in Panama. She reports it took three weeks to find a ship that would book passage for her van to continue their travels south. Teresa adds that camper parks were hard to come by until reaching Argentina, and that they found conditions generally safe on the entire route, although roads were often poorly maintained, especially in Bolivia. She also describes the "mordida" culture of being expected to offer a 20- to 40-dollar bribe to police and government workers.
• At 28:48, Mike Day credits director Christopher Nolan with popularizing the IMAX format of big-screen motion pictures at more than 1700 locations worldwide. He adds that the most recent growth for the big-screen format has been in China and India.
• At the end of segment B, Rick mentions Mike's previous appearance on the show, to talk about chasing total eclipses around the world, and notes it is available in the show archives.
• Caller Justin, at 56:45, reports that distilleries in Scotland require advance reservations for their tasting rooms.