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
    • The Vagabond’s Way
    • Vagabonding
    • Souvenir
    • Marco Polo Didn’t Go There
    • The Geto Boys (33 1/3)
    • The Misadventures of Wenamun
    • La déchirante histoire de l’homme qui inventa le livre de poche
    • Audiobooks
    • Anthologies
    • Introductions & Forewords
  • Videos
  • Events
  • Classes
  • Blog
    • Updates
    • Books
    • Poetry
    • Film, TV, Theater
    • Music
    • Sports
    • Writing Craft
  • Podcast
Essays & Stories, Music Syria

Anthem Soul

July 5, 2001

Sometimes you have to travel halfway around the world to find out how American you are.

Read More

Sign up for news

Sign up for News

Get updates from Rolf about his books, podcast, appearances and more.

We use Elastic Email as our marketing automation service. By submitting this form, you agree that the information you provide will be transferred to Elastic Email for processing in accordance with their Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Vagabonding Trip Planner

Books by Rolf

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

Podcast: Deviate with Rolf

  • Live from Bali: How tourists, influencers, and nomads transform destinations (for good and for bad) November 12, 2024
  • Vagabonding audio companion: Obnoxious travelers (and how to avoid being one) October 22, 2024
  • What you discover when you walk down every single street in New York City (encore) September 17, 2024
  • A history and future of digital and biological technology, with Jane Metcalfe August 8, 2024
  • Bicycling across the USA (with no money or food) looking for human connection July 16, 2024

Recent Blog Posts

  • Notes on my (never published) first travel book, part VII: Neurotic young-manhood November 21, 2024
  • On finding familiar things in some of the most isolated parts of the world November 14, 2024
  • A new film, shot in Kansas, aims to show what is possible for women’s artistic voices in rural America November 8, 2024
  • Notes on my (never published) first travel book, part VI: On depicting places November 7, 2024
  • Notes on my (never published) first travel book, part V: On veering from the truth October 24, 2024
  • On sharing a truck with 11 other people (plus chickens & yams) in Vanuatu October 17, 2024

Travel Writer Interviews

  • Travel Writer: Laura Kiniry November 1, 2024
  • Travel Writer: Rosie Bell October 1, 2024
  • Travel Writer: James Michael Dorsey September 1, 2024
  • Travel Writer: Shahnaz Habib August 1, 2024
  • Travel Writer: Megan Harlan July 1, 2024
  • Travel Writer: Oliver Smith June 1, 2024

Books

The Vagabond’s Way

The Vagabond’s Way

Lands of Lost Borders

Tools of Titans

The 33 1/3 B-sides

Vagabonding

Souvenir

Marco Polo Didn’t Go There

The Misadventures of Wenamun

The Geto Boys (33 1/3)

Recent Podcasts

Live from Bali: How tourists, influencers, and nomads transform destinations (for good and for bad)

Vagabonding audio companion: Obnoxious travelers (and how to avoid being one)

What you discover when you walk down every single street in New York City (encore)

A history and future of digital and biological technology, with Jane Metcalfe

Bicycling across the USA (with no money or food) looking for human connection

Wonder Year: The Art of Long-Term Family Travel and Worldschooling

How Rolf Ruined the 1990s: A personal history of my grunge-bandwagon band

Walk and Talk: Notes from a peripatetic salon across northern Thailand

Essential tips and strategies for telling travel stories, with Andrew McCarthy

What it’s like to spend a full year traveling within a day’s radius of your home

Travel Writers

Travel Writer: Laura Kiniry

Travel Writer: Rosie Bell

Travel Writer: James Michael Dorsey

Travel Writer: Shahnaz Habib

Travel Writer: Megan Harlan

Travel Writer: Oliver Smith

Travel Writer: Zoey Goto

Travel Writer: Jonathan DeHart

Travel Writer: Aaron Millar

Travel Writer: Bart Schaneman