Amateur Traveler - The Amateur Traveler is a travel show that helps you find the best places to travel. It includes both a weekly audio podcast and a twice monthly video podcast. It also includes travel news and resources.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Douglas Duckett about his travels to Israel and his popular travel guide to Israel. Douglas has fallen in love not just with the “holy land” but with the modern nation of Israel.
We address the issue of “is it safe to travel to Israel” at this time when Israel is at war with the Palestinians in Gaza. He takes us on a virtual trip from the beaches and night life of Tel Aviv, through the working city of Haifa with the beautiful Baha’i gardens and the informative museum about the modern jewish immigration. We stop at Lake Kinneret (also known as The Sea of Galilee, also Sea of Genneseret, or Lake Tiberias) at the town of Tiberius. We make a detour to the historic site of Gamla the “Masada of the North” before turning our face toward Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem we stop at Megiddo (Armageddon in the bible) and the roman ruins at Beit-Shean.
In Jerusalem we talk about the overwhelming religious and historic significance of the city and how some people come down with ” Jerusalem syndrome”. We suggest a walking tour of the city, a tour of the Mount of Olives, the holocaust memorial and the Israel museum. We also talk about the work the Jerusalem YMCA is doing to promote peace with their peace preschool that teaches Jewish and Palestinian children together.
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Visit San Francisco’s Embarcadero with the Amateur Traveler: This video shows the ferry building at San Francisco’s embarcadero. The ferry building was built in 1898 and survived the 1906 earthquake. In the early 1900s the pedestrian plaza outside of the ferry building was one of the busiest pedestrian areas in the world but the opening of the bay bridge caused the area to fall into disuse. The embaradero freeway cut off this area from downtown which increased its isolation. After the 1989 Loma Prieda earthquake the embaradero freeway was condemned and torn down. Since then the area has been rejuvenated. Now it is the home for restaurants and high end food stores and hosts a farmers market and arts and crafts fair.
The Amateur Traveler talks to Eden (an ambassador for Macallan Whiskey) about his home country of Scotland. Eden lays out a tour for Amateur Traveler listeners that starts in Edinburgh with its castle, royal mile and pubs and continues up to Saint Andrews (the home of golf) and the castles of Perthshire. We make sure to stop on the Whiskey trail of Speyside before continuing to the rugged countryside of the highlands. We also talk about special events, famous scotsmen and hagis.
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The Amateur Traveler talks to Margot about Acadia National Park in Maine. Margot has been going to Acadia since she was a little girl to hike, bike, kayak, and connect with the beauty of this beautiful area. She talks about the sights, the seafood, the Maine people and why you should not go blueberry picking with her grandfather.
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Visit the Marin Headlands just the other side of the Golden Gate bridge from San Francisco with the Amateur Traveler. The Marin Headlands area is part of the larger Golden Gate National Recreation Area which is part of the National Park System. From the Marin headlands you can get great views of the Golden Gate bridge. This video also shows the Point Bonita Lighthouse and Fort Cronkhite which was part of a series of forts built to protect San Francisco during world war II.
