Talking travel with PBS travel host Rudy Maxa

by Jerry Guo on

I’m here with Rudy Maxa, PBS’s “Savvy Traveler” and host of the awards-winning series Rudy Maxa’s World. His sixth season is currently airing, featuring locales such as Estonia, Argentina, and Thailand (he’s already done a whopping 65 episodes).

He began as an investigative journalist at the Washington Post and then became the “Savvy Traveler” 15 years ago for public radio. He’s now a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler and his work has appeared in GQ, Travel & Leisure, LA Times, and Forbes, among other publications. If you’re interested in more of what he has to say, check out his blog.

How did you make the transition from investigative journalism to travel writing? Did you always have the travel bug?

The switch was gradual and unplanned. While a senior writer at Washingtonian, the monthly DC magazine, I was asked to do political commentary twice a week on a new, national public radio show called “Marketplace.” I didn’t want to do political commentary, but the producer of the show persisted. He asked if I had any hobbies, and I said, ‘Well, I travel all the time, and I’m always surprised at how fellow travelers don’t know how to read an airline ticket. Or don’t know their rights when they arrive at a hotel with a reservation to find the hotel if filled.”

So I suggested a segment on consumer travel issues. I asked my friend Peter Greenberg, then writing a column in the LA Times on travel called “The Savvy Traveler” if I could use that name for radio. He kindly consented. Over a couple of years, my Savvy Traveler segment grew in popularity. I began getting writing assignments on travel subjects for national magazines. Then the every-other-week radio commentary turned into a one-hour, weekend show on public radio, “The Savvy Traveler,” that I hosted for four years. Then came the television series that I own as of this season, “Rudy Maxa’s World.”
And, yes, as an Army brat, I moved around the world every year or two as a kid. I always looked for excuses to travel as a college student and, later, during my 22 years as a journalist at The Washington Post and Washingtonian.

How do you pick what to showcase in each episode of Rudy Maxa’s World? Can you give us a preview this new season?

I consider what shows we’ve done on previous seasons, what cities and regions are capturing travelers’ attention, and, well, where I want to go. The 2008 season features 13, 30-minute shows on the following destinations: St. Petersburg (Russia); Estonia; India (Delhi/Agra and Rajasthan shows); Turkey (Istanbul and The Turquoise Coast); Argentina (Buenos Aires and Mendoza); Japan (Tokyo and Kyoto); Thailand (Bangkok, The Golden Triangle, and The Andaman Coast).

You produced a series of podcasts for NG Traveler about the top walks around the world. What are your favorite three and why?

There are so many great cities for walking. We focused on specific neighborhoods or themes, since no one can walk an entire big city in a day. So National Geographic Traveler chose Tribeca in Manhattan, Miami’s Art Deco district, and so on. My favorites would have to be Paris because every block holds tiny surprises; Tokyo because it is so foreign to most Americans; and-this might be surprising-Minneapolis.

In Minneapolis, I walk a very small area, the city’s old mill district, which in the early 1800s provided the bulk of the country’s flour. I didn’t know what a dangerous business turning wheat into flour could be-to this day, the Twin Cities has a large industry in artificial limbs, born from tragic accidents nearly 200 years ago. Many of the mills are still standing, though today they’re luxury condos. I love places with compelling stories, and to my surprise, the mill district of Minneapolis qualified.

What do you do as a NG Traveler contributing editor?

I write articles. I help out on ancillary projects such as the walking tours and a couple of other projects that are in the works. I’ll be a guide on an ’09 around-the-world trip that the Society offers each year.

What are your all-time favorite cities and countries?

Here’s my theory: It’s a place you discover later in life that impresses you the most. My father, an Army colonel, was stationed twice in my life in Germany, and we toured Europe widely. I visited often in college and as a young man. I love Europe, but I didn’t get to Asia until I was 34. And that first night in Hong Kong, I was alone on the Star Ferry looking at a full moon over Victoria Peak on crystal clear night, and I was transfixed. Ever since then, I’ve tried not to miss an opportunity to travel in Asia.

If you really press me, I’d have to choose Thailand as my favorite country, maybe Paris or London or Bangkok as my favorite city. But, then again, there’s Barcelona and Madrid. And Istanbul and Delhi . . .

Come back tomorrow for part 2.

Talking Travel with the Filmmakers of PBS’s new travel series, Roughing It

by Jerry Guo on

Christopher Rufo and Keith Ochwat are a couple of fresh filmmakers who, on a whim, decided to fly to Mongolia, where they managed to camp with a tribe of nomadic reindeer herders, challenge a provincial wrestling champion to a match, and drink tea with Mongolian president Nambaryn Enkhbayar. Oh, and they’re just 23.

Their half-hour documentary, Roughing It: Mongolia, will be making its premier later this summer on PBS, and they’ll be turning it into a series, called what else but Roughing It, coming out in late 2009. Here’s more from our interview:

What traveling experiences have you guys had before setting on this documentary?
CHRIS: My first real adventure travel experience was with Keith during the summer of our sophomore year in college. We had arranged jobs as English teachers in Guangdong, China. But the morning we were supposed to leave, we got a frantic call from the Chinese school administrator: “The children have been poisoned and the school is closed. You cannot come anymore. I’m very sorry!” But, luckily, they didn’t cancel our airline tickets. So we went to China with no plan whatsoever. We ended up as extras in a Chinese rap music video, hitchhiking 19,500 feet up the Himalaya in the back of a dump truck, and steamboating down the Yangtze River with thousands ofThree Gorges Dam refugees. We were hooked. From that trip, we realized there was a really good chemistry of us two on the road. Almost effortlessly, we met fascinating people and found ourselves in fascinating situations

KEITH: Chris has lived abroad and I have traveled throughout Europe on a number of trips. But we both agree that it wasn’t until we got away from the tourist trail and left the city lights behind that we truly found adventure. In China, we pushed ourselves hard to put away the travel guides and rely on our instincts and on those we met to take our travels to the next level. What we learned led us to the incredible adventure we found in Mongolia.

How’d you know what to do and see in Mongolia? How can readers avoid the Lonely Planet trail and really rough it?

CHRIS: It’s simple, but my best advice is to be curious. I’m surprised at how many people I see who spend most of their day finding the cheapest hostel, hunting down the pizza place in the guidebook, and getting drunk with the Australians at the backpacker bar. You have to think like a journalist–meet people, ask questions. Get over whatever timidity you might have. Hunt around in the strange parts of town, ask to go along with people. If you’re respectful and genuinely interested, they will welcome you into their lives and culture.

KEITH: As Chris mentioned, a little respect will go a long way when you’re trying to rough it. Regard for those who live in the country you’re visiting-sometimes, just a smile-opens doors to festivals, celebrations, restaurants, and people that you would never find in the best travel guides. No matter how remote or ‘off the beaten path’ your travel guide claims it is, if you’re reading it, so are thousands of other travelers. We’ve had tremendous luck meeting interesting people, and finding once-in-a-lifetime situations. And I know our success meeting interesting people has been because of the attitude we have when we’re traveling.

How did you land the chance to drink tea with the Mongolian president?

CHRIS: A lot of phone calls, e-mails, and pestering the Ambassador– plus some tactical exaggeration. We had a paper-thin resume at that point, so we had to stretch it. I think the president was a little surprised when two kids showed up for the interview in running shoes and wrinkled polo shirts.

Is Mongolia very difficult to travel through on your own?

CHRIS: Mongolia is a challenging place for independent travelers. There are less than 1,000 miles of paved road in the country, which complicates the logistics for getting anywhere. In the first week of filming, we had to sneak around a Bubonic plague quarantine. I broke three ribs after getting thrown off a horse. Keith and I both puked after a dozen bowls of distilled yak milk–yak vodka–at a traditional wedding ceremony. And I would guess everyone who travels in Mongolia would have similar experiences. It’s the kind of place where adventure finds you.

KEITH: A perfect example of how physically demanding travel in Mongolia is what happened when we were tracking down an elusive tribe of nomadic reindeer herders. Our guide assured us it would take five hours on horseback to find them. Ten hours later, after crossing snowy mountain passes and miles upon miles of rocky, bumpy paths, the sun was setting and we hadn’t found the nomads. We had no tent and it was freezing cold-it was late fall and we were on the border of Siberia. All we could do that night was scrounge up some wood, make a fire, and huddled around it all night. The next day, we got back on our horses and rode another day before we found the nomads. If that wasn’t difficult traveling, I don’t know what is.

CHRIS: But even though you’re miserable at the time, these are the kind of challenges that make the best stories later. So, it’s difficult, yes. But to a lot of travelers, including myself, that’s a plus. Maybe a masochistic plus, but still a plus.

Would you talk a bit about the process of convincing a television network to run your documentary?

CHRIS: Like starting out in any of the arts, you have to pay your dues. I was working as a night security guard in Sacramento, editing the show and making phone calls during the day. Eventually, if the project has potential, some kind soul will take interest. We found some amazing support from KVIE, our local PBS station. Particularly two guys, Mike Sanford and Tim Walton, who spent a lot of time giving us editorial guidance and advice on the business end. They helped us craft an interesting travelogue into a polished PBS program. It was a long process. It was our first show and a steep learning curve every step of the way.

KEITH: It was just before Christmas, fourteen months after we had wrapped up filming in Mongolia, when we got our big break- a phone call from one of the major PBS distributors. Their development manager called and said, “I like giving good news during the holidays. We’d like to pick up Roughing It for national distribution.” Christmas came a little early for Chris and I last year.

CHRIS: We’re thrilled to be airing on PBS. It’s one of the few television outlets that respects its audience’s intelligence. It’s the only major network where independent producers have complete control over their work. And our travel documentary hero, Michael Palin, airs on PBS. His Himalaya series is a masterpiece and was a big, big inspiration for us.

Can you give us a preview of the eight-part series, Roughing It, coming out next year on PBS?

KEITH: Roughing It: The Great Pacific will take you through some of the most exotic and remote countries on the planet. We’re in the process of mapping out a rough path through Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. Chris and I will definitely be packing our pepto bismol and dramamine as we island hop across Oceania and delve into the indigenous cultures that have successfully fended off Western influence.

CHRIS: For better or worse, I think what ultimately sold us on the Pacific was the same thing that sold us on Mongolia: the exotic factor. Keith hanging out with cannibals–what in the world could be more compelling than that?

For more information about Roughing It, visit their website. They’re also on Youtube and MySpace.