Rolf Potts

Rolf Potts

Travel Writer, Essayist, Adventurer, Teacher

Rolf Potts

  • About
    • Bio
    • Interviews
    • Newsletter signup
  • Contact
  • Writing
    • Essays & Travel Stories
    • Dispatches
    • Travel Writer Profiles
    • No Baggage Challenge
    • Vagablogging
  • Books
    • Vagabonding
    • The Vagabond’s Way
    • Souvenir
    • Marco Polo Didn’t Go There
    • The Geto Boys (33 1/3)
    • Audiobooks
    • Anthologies
    • Introductions & Forewords
    • The Misadventures of Wenamun (comic)
  • Videos
    • Kansas Never Plays Itself
    • TV / Film
    • Travel dispatches
    • Lectures
    • Video Interviews
  • Events
  • Classes
  • Blog
    • Updates
    • Books
    • Poetry
    • Film, TV, Theater
    • Music
    • Sports
    • Writing Craft
  • Podcast
Dispatches, Film, TV, Theater Jordan

Intrigue under the big screen

May 25, 2000

At a 1-dinar cinema in Amman, Jordan, the real story has little to do with the movie itself.

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Dispatches Egypt

The baksheesh diaries

April 11, 2000

In Egypt, Rolf discovers that even the simplest experiences sometimes carry a price tag.

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Dispatches Cyprus

Skepticism and salvation in Cyprus

February 22, 2000

An unorthodox tour of the second and final tomb of Lazarus puts a strange twist into Rolf’s Larnaca layover.

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Dispatches Greece

A Greek romance

January 4, 2000

At Corfu’s Pink Palace, the ouzo flows, the crockery flies and the libidos run wild.

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Dispatches Latvia

Fear and loathing in Latvia

November 23, 1999

Between the fistfights and the Finnish girls, it’s hard to get any writing done.

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Dispatches Laos

Retch-22: Laos in the time of cholera

August 24, 1999

The official analysis was “diarrhea, with vomiting.” Right.

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Dispatches Vietnam

Searching for Binh Hoa

August 10, 1999

Hoping to find an obscure Vietnam War killing field, Rolf discovers that some lessons of history teach themselves.

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Dispatches Cambodia

Song of the broken road

May 18, 1999

For adventurers headed overland to Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s Route 6 is Disneyland gone bad.

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Dispatches Thailand

Getting stoned with Mr. X

April 20, 1999

Rolf wanders in search of an Indiana Jones adventure in Thailand’s gem country.

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Dispatches Thailand

Penny Pinched

April 6, 1999

In the first installment of “Vagabonding,” Rolf pays through the nose for his penny-pinching ways.

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Dispatches Korea

Korea’s no-man’s land

February 3, 1999

Rolf describes a visit to Korea’s DMZ, one of the planet’s oddest tourist attractions, where visitors can pick up everything from propaganda to perfume.

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Books by Rolf

  • Souvenir (Object Lessons) book cover
  • The Geto Boys cover

Podcast: Deviate with Rolf

  • What movies (do and don’t) show us about places before we travel there May 5, 2026
  • Exploring the idiosyncrasies of male friendship, with Andrew McCarthy April 8, 2026
  • Debunking the mythology of BEFORE SUNRISE, with co-writer Kim Krizan (in Paris) March 10, 2026
  • Super Bowl special: Why football kind of matters, with Chuck Klosterman (kind of) February 5, 2026
  • Time is your truest form of wealth (and travel helps you embrace your riches) January 8, 2026

Recent Blog Posts

  • Travel Writer: Caroline Van Hemert May 1, 2026
  • Talking about sense of place and “Kansas Never Plays Itself” on Yonder Radio April 30, 2026
  • Outtakes from an interview about ecotourists who share the the Darien Gap with migrant travelers April 23, 2026
  • 7 outtakes from Christine Rosen’s 2024 book “The Extinction of Experience” April 9, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Rachel Rudwall April 2, 2026
  • Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules for Writers March 19, 2026

Travel Writer Interviews

  • Travel Writer: Caroline Van Hemert May 1, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Rachel Rudwall April 2, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Erin Levi February 26, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Jen Rose Smith January 29, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Natalie Compton January 1, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Mark Orwoll December 4, 2025

Books

Vagabonding

Vagabonding

The Vagabond’s Way

The Vagabond’s Way

Souvenir

Tools of Titans

Kansas Matters

The 33 1/3 B-sides

Souvenir

50 Ways of Looking at Nostalgia

Recent Podcasts

What movies (do and don’t) show us about places before we travel there

Exploring the idiosyncrasies of male friendship, with Andrew McCarthy

Debunking the mythology of BEFORE SUNRISE, with co-writer Kim Krizan (in Paris)

Super Bowl special: Why football kind of matters, with Chuck Klosterman (kind of)

Time is your truest form of wealth (and travel helps you embrace your riches)

Kansas Never Plays Itself: How movies lie when they take us places

Traveling as a writer, and awkward book-tour experiences, with Anthony Doerr (from 2012)

Talking with my parents about how to handle it when your parents die (in memory of Alice Potts, 1943-2025)

An audiobook about how (not) to write a travel book: 9 lessons from my failed van-life memoir

Vagabonding pioneer Ed Buryn on what indie travel was like in the 1960s and 1970s (encore)

Travel Writers

Travel Writer: Caroline Van Hemert

Travel Writer: Rachel Rudwall

Travel Writer: Erin Levi

Travel Writer: Jen Rose Smith

Travel Writer: Natalie Compton

Travel Writer: Mark Orwoll

Travel Writer: I have been interviewing one writer a month for the past 25 years

Travel Writer: Rebecca Hall

Travel Writer: Jen Murphy

Travel Writer: Robin Esrock