"My life has been so much better thanks to the people I've met. 500 new people that I would never have known."
Randell Carlton Green's podcast, Any Given Runway, introduces listeners to fascinating people from around the globe, guided by the message: "Everyone has a story, each person a scholar."
https://anygivenrunway.com/
When travelling, or travelling vicariously through a podcast, the best way to connect with people is to talk about their interests. Randell embraces this, starting by asking himself, "What do I know nothing about?"
It helps to be insatiably curious when you're a podcast host.
Indeed, Randell could probably interview the same person half a dozen times and uncover different topics in each conversation. But, Any Given Runway is a show about diversity, whether it's in people, places, topics, ideas or especially, perspectives.
The podcast is a delightful mix of athletes, artists, adventurers, authors, performers, and everyday people who may not fit into a single box or category. He has chatted with MMA fighters, mountain climbers, DJ's, freedivers, digital entrepreneurs, vocalists, ballet dancers, contortionists, skeleton athletes, solo travellers, soldiers and comedians. And that is very much just scratching the surface.
A quick flick through his list of episodes, the guests and their activities, will leave you with the tricky yet exciting choice of where to start.
Randell and I chat about the valuable life lessons learned, especially over the past couple years, and seeing how they are applied:
How he has so much more motivation now to pursue goals and projects.
How he has a greater appreciation for accountability, especially to yourself.
Learning about resilience, and how so many of his guests have overcome odds and pushed through obstacles.
The most common answer to, "What have you learned over the past two years?" - Jettison that negative energy. It's not worth your time, and life's too short.
Any Given Runway is a textbook example of how interviewing and focused conversation is one of the great pathways to learning and personal growth.
We chat a bit about Randell's volunteer travels to Poland, and his upcoming one to the Romania/Ukraine border, volunteering for World Central Kitchens. Organizations such as Workaway help people find places to volunteer, and at varying lengths and types of work.
With underlying themes of travel, adventure, self-growth and resilience, Any Given Runway provides a platform for telling your story, and embracing knowledge and discovery.
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Travel Podcast the World is happy to support "A Roof for Jorge" project, fundraising to build a new roof for an indigenous family in Panajachel, Guatemala. It is the initiative of Nelia Hutt, host of Giving Starts With You podcast, and an early guest on this show (Episode 5, March 1, 2022).
Nelia met Jorge and his family on her trip to Guatemala, which she talks about in our episode together, and has maintained contact with them. They are in dire need of a new roof for their house, costing approximately $1800 USD. Her Go Fund Me campaign is raising funds for this cause, a perfect example of travel creating giving opportunities, and a way for all of us to contribute in a direct, existential way to a very meaningful result.
Find the link here for the campaign, and thank you for your support! Every bit helps!
A Roof for Jorge fundraising campaign.
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Action Advice
8:21 - How to find guests: searching by hashtags, save to a list.
10:44 - How to keep on top of a steady, weekly recording schedule (or perhaps even more frequent).
14:11 - The importance of daily habits, and making something a normal, regular part of your routine and life. Resilience.
18:31 - A great trick for introverts: Just ask questions. Let someone else do most of the talking. Put your energy into listening.
19:14 - On shaping and guiding guests towards having a good, solid conversation, especially for those not used t