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 Thailand

Fear and Loathing in a Five-Star Hotel

July 1, 2002

He’d navigated the Mekong river, wandered the Libyan Desert, and been stranded in Siberia. Then – in one last adventure after two years of vagabonding – Rolf traveled to Bangkok to face the specter of world-class luxury.

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Dispatches Mongolia

Raising My Parents in Mongolia

June 21, 2002

When Rolf’s parents accompany him on a trip to Mongolia, he suddenly finds the whole parent-child dynamic reversed. But who’s teaching whom a lesson?

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Dispatches, Sports Thailand

Super Bowl Exile

February 1, 2002

Rolf reports from Thailand on the difficulty of taking part in a time-honored American custom — watching the Super Bowl — while traveling in Asia.

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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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Books by Rolf

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

Podcast: Deviate with Rolf

  • Best of Travel: Paul Theroux on the necessary obstacles of meaningful journeys August 4, 2026
  • The geography of sports movies (with Chuck Klosterman and Michael Weinreb) July 3, 2026
  • Designing a creative life on your own terms (with Cedar Van Tassel) June 2, 2026
  • 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

Recent Blog Posts

  • Travel Writer: Daniel Scheffler September 1, 2026
  • Five of my favorite cartoons from Edward Steed’s “Forces of Nature” August 20, 2026
  • MISL 1980s: Tales From a Lost Soccer League (foreword, by Rolf Potts) August 13, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Brendan Shanahan August 1, 2026
  • “Jane Room Superman,” by Rolf Potts (1998) July 23, 2026
  • I used a $35 thrift-store desk for 20 years (and then took it back to the thrift store) July 9, 2026

Travel Writer Interviews

  • Travel Writer: Daniel Scheffler September 1, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Brendan Shanahan August 1, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Angie Chuang July 1, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Perry Garfinkel June 1, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Caroline Van Hemert May 1, 2026
  • Travel Writer: Rachel Rudwall April 2, 2026

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

Best of Travel: Paul Theroux on the necessary obstacles of meaningful journeys

The geography of sports movies (with Chuck Klosterman and Michael Weinreb)

Designing a creative life on your own terms (with Cedar Van Tassel)

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)

Travel Writers

Travel Writer: Daniel Scheffler

Travel Writer: Brendan Shanahan

Travel Writer: Angie Chuang

Travel Writer: Perry Garfinkel

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