“Friends and vagabonders, “Welcome to my newly redesigned website!” I wrote that phrase almost exactly sixteen years ago, when (thanks to a lot of heavy-lifting from my webmaster Mike Marlett) I updated RolfPotts.com from its basic, blue-and-white 1998 design to a black-and-tan layout with ambitious new content. A prominent feature of this new content was my “Vagabonding…
From bicycling across Burma, to shopping for donkeys in the Libyan Desert, to being drugged and robbed in Istanbul, to traversing Israel on foot… Rolf has had his fair share of epic adventures. He has dedicated most of his life to writing about experiences that communicate the glorious complexity and possibility of being alive. In his books, Rolf shares the spirit and philosophy of independent travel. Through the wonderfully voyeuristic ‘Marco Polo Didn’t Go There’ and the Zeitgeist defining ‘Vagabonding’, Rolf has inspired an entire generation (including us) to go out and see the world.
Friends and vagabonders, This fall I will embark on a journey that will take me around the world without using a single piece of luggage. From late August to early October I will explore 12 countries on five continents, crossing the equator four times, without carrying so much as a man-purse. The few items I…
Friends and vagabonders, Recent months have taken me to places like Wales, Italy, and France — though I’ll confess I’ve spent less time vagabonding than I have giving lectures about the art of vagabonding. 2009 was kind to me in terms of book accolades, as Marco Polo Didn’t Go There became the first American-authored book…
Toward the end of each year I usually post a round-up of my travel highlights from the previous 12 months. This year I’ve been diligent enough with updates that I don’t feel I have many new 2009 details to share. Hence, I’ll just share a few images from some of my favorite (photographable) moments this year:…
Friends and vagabonders, Last fall saw the debut of my second book, Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, and I spent three months on tour promoting it in various North American cities, including New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. In addition to the great feedback I got from audiences…
Before we get too far into 2009, I should probably try to sum up some of my travel-writing highlights from last year. Interestingly, my two most prominent happenings in recent months — the release of my second book and my TV hosting debut on the Travel Channel — weren’t even on my radar at the…
Friends and vagabonders, This fall will mark the debut of my second book, Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Revelations From Once Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer. This unorthodox collection of travel stories should be out in September, and I’ll add new details about it on my blog and Books page as that date…
Friends and vagabonders, I write this update from Rio de Janeiro, where I am spending the winter learning samba and working on some magazine stories. 2007 proved to be a far-flung year for me, with travels taking me to the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Russia, France, the Czech Republic, Canada, Brazil, and many parts of the…
Friends and vagabonders, 2007 promises to be a busy year of traveling, writing and teaching for me. Having returned from Cuba and the Dominican Republic this spring, I will head for Europe this summer, where I will teach writing classes in Russia (at the Summer Literary Seminar in St. Petersburg) and France (at my annual…
Before we get too far into 2007, I should probably try to sum up my 2006. It was really a nice year for me, in terms of travel and writing, as well as life in general. I visited a number of countries for the first time: Grenada in January, the Dominican Republic in May and…
