Rolf Potts

Travel Writer, Essayist, Adventurer, Teacher

Rolf Potts

About
Contact
Writing
Books
Videos
Events
Classes
Blog
- Updates
- Books
- Poetry
- Film, TV, Theater
- Music
- Sports
- Writing Craft
Podcast

e

February 7, 2019

Category :

Sign up for news

Thank you for your response. ✨

Name(required)

Email(required)

Message

Δ

Books by Rolf

Podcast: Deviate with Rolf

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
Kansas Never Plays Itself: How movies lie when they take us places December 16, 2025
Traveling as a writer, and awkward book-tour experiences, with Anthony Doerr (from 2012) November 4, 2025

Recent Blog Posts

5 Thoughts on Confession in Memoir, from Emily Fox Gordon March 5, 2026
Travel Writer: Erin Levi February 26, 2026
Seven of the best Deviate episodes about 1990s zeitgeist (& zeitgeist-adjacent) experiences February 19, 2026
Using AI to enhance a 37-year-old photo of me with Barry Sanders’ Heisman February 4, 2026
Travel Writer: Jen Rose Smith January 29, 2026
11 Outtakes from Chuck Klosterman’s “Football” January 20, 2026

Travel Writer Interviews

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
Travel Writer: I have been interviewing one writer a month for the past 25 years November 6, 2025
Travel Writer: Rebecca Hall October 2, 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

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)

Why We Travel: Happiness, curiosity, wonder, sex, healing, and other motivations for hitting the road

Before Sunrise (redo): Screenwriter Kim Krizan on what led up to the classic travel-romance movie

Travel Writers

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

Travel Writer: Michael Engelhard

Travel Writer: Kathleen Hughes