The Radio Vagabond

This is really a story of connecting the dots as Steve Jobs talked about. This guy went from studying to be a nurse – to becoming a soldier in Kuwait – to being stationed in Guantanamo – to working for the FBI busting criminals – to landing a high-paid job while being drunk in a karaoke bar – to doing spy-stuff and nearly getting killed in a rocket attack in Afganistan – to becoming an app developer and then a digital nomad. Wade Sellers is also a Nomad Cruiser but we’ve never been on a cruise together. I’ve been on Nomad Cruise 6, 7 and 10 and he was on number 9. We met in Canggu Bali for a chat about the first 34 years of his life. A very nice guy with a remarkable story. LINKS: Wade’s blog AppsWithWade.com and his newsletter AppsWeekly.com. Sponsor Hotels25.com The Radio Vagabond is produced by RadioGuru. You can follow The Radio Vagabond on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

As a full-time solo traveller, it's always great to have visitors, especially from your kids. You might remember that my youngest daughter travelled with me for four months at the beginning of my journey to Asia. She met me in Bangkok, and then we were in Chiang Mai, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hongkong, China, North Korea, South Korea. And when we got to Japan, my oldest daughter joined us, and we had two weeks together there – during cherry blossom season. Since then, I've only seen them when I've been back in Denmark. When I knew I was going to be in Cape Town, they decided to be spontaneous and book a flight to visit me. And I can't be happier. I've planned to show them why I love this place, and I'm going to be the best tour guide I can be, and below you can find my personal Top 10 Things to See in a Week in Cape Town. The first thing on the list is a must-see when you're in Cape Town. Like San Francisco has Alcatraz, Cape Town has Robben Island. An island close to the city where there used to be a prison. When you visit Robben Island, you start with a 40-minute boat ride from V&A Waterfront. FACTS ABOUT ROBBEN ISLAND:

• The World Heritage Site, Robben Island takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (robben), the Dutch/Afrikaans name Robben Eiland translates to Seals Island.
• It's 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) of the coast of Cape Town – and the island itself is 3.3 km (2.1 mi) long, and 1.9 km (1.2 mi) wide.
• The island was first used as a political prison in the mid-1600s. This was where the Dutch settlers sent people who refused to bend to colonial rule.
• In 30 years from 1961, a maximum-security prison here held enemies of apartheid.

One of the prisoners was behind bars here for 18 years, was a political activist named Nelson Mandela. The South African also call him Madiba – and our guide, who's also an ex-prisoner, calls him Father Mandela. In total Father Mandela served 27 years in prison until he was released in 1990. After the fall of apartheid, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 together with the former president, Frederik Willem de Klerk, and one year later this former prisoner of Robben Island was elected President of South Africa. The guide takes us for a walk around the prison and tells stories of what it was like being there. And then we get into the corridor with the cells in B-Block. One of them being the cell of prisoner #466/64 A 2 x 2-meter cell with a thin mattress on the concrete floor as a bed and a bucket for a toilet. They were allowed one visitor a year for half an hour, and one censured letter every six months of no more than 500 words. Outside is a courtyard where Mandela and fellow prisoners would eat breakfast, exercise and worked long days in the yard hammering rocks. A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY Editing this episode, we're in the middle of the Corona Pandemic, and I'm alone in an apartment in Cape Town during the lockdown. We're not allowed to go for a walk unless it's to a supermarket or the pharmacy. We're to stay at home. When I think of the 18 years, Mandela spent in this tiny cell on Robben Island, and we really shouldn't complain. We have Netflix, YouTube, WIFI... and TikTok. We have music, radio and podcasts. We can talk to our friends via video calls – and we do that all the time. Mandela was just alone with his thoughts. And still, he later said that he came out of prison a better man. Thar being alone with your thoughts give him a "wonderful opportunity" to think. What a remarkable man. He said this not that long after he was released from 27 years in prison most of this in a small cell with a matt as a mattress and a bucket as a toilet... and a light bulb shining in his head 24 hours a day. Let that sink in. And then maybe give this a thought: Can we use this difficult time with social distancing as a ... "wonderful opportunity" to sit alone and think. LIMESTONE QUARRY MADE MANDELA "SNOW BLIND" Then we went on a bus ride around the island and passed a bleak limestone quarry. It was here Nelson Mandela, and his inmates worked virtually every day for 13 years, digging up rocks, some of which paved the road we were driving on. The sun was so relentless, the white limestone quarry so bright and dusty, that Mandela got "snow blindness" – something that damaged his eyes. Our guide also tells us how Mandela and other heroes of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement used their time in this quarry to teach each other literature, philosophy, political theory, and much more. In 1997, three years after apartheid fell, the prison was turned into the Robben Island Museum. Robben Island is a must-see for any visitor to South Africa. Tours leave Cape Town four times a day, and even though I've been here before I'm glad I went back and shared the experience with my daughters. BO-KAAP WALKING TOUR We're at the foot of Signal Hill, at the edge the city centre; and we're about to go on a tour in what used to be known as the ...

I’m back in the USA, and this time I’ll be in Billings, Montana and Yellowstone National Park, where I get up close with a bunch of buffalos and big bear.

I also visit a unique landmark without aliens.

See pictures and read blog post here: www.theradiovagabond.com/259-usa/

While I’m working on episodes for the next season, I’ll give you some flashback episodes that you might have missed.

This one was recorded in December 2017 and is from my visit to Senegal.

Find pictures and more here: Welcome to Senegal.

We will kick off Season 5 in September.

WITAM Z WARSZAWY

I think I said the latest episode that it was 2 weeks in Kraków and one week in Warsaw. It was not totally accurate: 22 days in Kraków and 4 days in Warsaw. But that’s how much I enjoyed my time there. Still, I also wanted to get a taste of the capital of Poland, and this is where we’re going in this episode.

I’m going to meet an Englishman that has lived here for many years. I’m interested in hearing how and why he chose to live here and hear about the city and the country with western European eyes. I’m also going to the hospital because I discovered that my blood pressure was through the roof.

But we start in Kraków where I’m heading to the airport – named after Pope John Paul II, chatting to the Uber driver.

FLYING TO WARSAW

And then it was off to Warsaw. It’s actually not that far – only around 300 kilometres, and I would be able to do that in a bus overland. But LOT Polish Airlines had a cheap domestic flight at only 100 €, so I decided to do that and save a bit of time. I landed at 1 pm and headed straight into the centre of the city – and didn’t know where I was going. But I managed to get my host on the phone, and he came rushing from work to let me into the apartment.

6 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT WARSAW

• The Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw was a gift of the Soviet dictator Stalin to the Polish nation. At 237 meters tall, it’s the tallest building in Poland, and at 165 meters, the clock tower is considered to be the tallest in Europe.
• When it comes to air pollution, Poland is the China of Europe. According to the World Health, a staggering 33 out of the 50 most polluted cities in Europe are in Poland. The capital is one of those.
• But Warsaw is also a green city. Its Lazienki Park is one of the largest parks in Europe, and pre-pandemic hosted free Sunday concerts from May to October. Probably again in 2021.
• Traffic jam is a thing in Warsaw. It’s the most congested city in Europe: Poles spend an average of 106 hours per year stuck in traffic.
• With around 1.8 million people Warsaw is the 7th Largest capital cities of the European Union.
• The oldest evidence of cheese production was found in the vicinity of Warsaw, apparently being produced here around 7,500-8,000 years ago.

BLOOD PRESSURE WAS SKY HIGH

For a few weeks, I’ve had a funny feeling that my blood pressure was high. I’m not sure how, but I felt a ringing in my ears and just that something was not right. I went to a pharmacy to get it tested and sure enough, it was much higher than it should be. So, I decided to get a check-up at a hospital, and my private insurance company gave me an address. When you’re Danish you are covered health-wise in most of the world. But I’m not a resident there anymore, so I’ve taken out a private insurance that takes care of me anywhere. Also, here in Poland.

First, they did a quick test and then I was presented with the prospect of spending a long time in a dreary Polish waiting room. But then the nurse found another option – just around the corner was another clinic. In fact, this is just the Emergency Room. Half an hour later, I was consulting a doctor, who said that it wasn’t that bad – in my age. So, she asked me to test myself three times a day for the next three weeks and go see another doctor then, and maybe get some medication.

Stay subscribed to hear what happens in a later episode.

MEETING AN ENGLISHMAN

If you keep an open mind when you travel you meet people. In this case we met at the sports bar back in Kraków where I was helping the English singing “It’s coming home”. Well, as you heard in the latest episode, the FIFA World Cup Trophy didn’t come home to England for the first time since 1966. In fact, England also lost the bronze match – and then against the small country, Belgium and finished fourth. But still, they did much better than they’ve had in a long time.

I met Mark who was in Kraków to hang out with some friends from England, that took a trip there to have a break, watch football together over pints.

Mark and I connected and when I heard that he was from Warsaw, I basically invited myself to visit him. I punched his number in my phone and wrote the name “Matt”... but it turned out that his name is Mark. He’s an alien. He’s a legal alien. He’s an Englishman in Warsaw. It almost sounds like a Sting song.

What’s he doing here? How did he land here and what does he think of the country, the language and its people? Listen to the episode to find out.

FREE WALKING TOUR OLD TOWN.

I also went in a Free Walkative Tour in the old town of Warsaw. But in fact, it’s not that old.

During the occupation of Poland, The Nazi Germans had a plan for a long time to destroy the city. Warsaw had been selected for destruct...