Episode 3 - Julian Smith

Julian Smith is a writer based in Portland, Oregon. Specializing in travel and science, he’s written guidebooks to El Salvador, Ecuador, Virginia, the Four Corners region, and Portland, and his writing has been featured in Smithsonian, Wired, Outside, National Geographic Traveler, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post, among many others.

He’s also the author of a book called Crossing the Heart of Africa: An Odyssey of Love and Adventure.

After learning about Ewart Grogan, a British explorer who in 1898 made a landmark crossing of the African continent, Julian was inspired to explore some of the same parts of Africa himself. Like Grogan, Julian started in the south and headed north. In the book, Julian tells Grogan’s story, details his own journey, and explores some of the parallels between his life and Grogan’s.

We talked about Crossing the Heart of Africa, Ewart Grogan, travel writing, and traveling in Africa.

Listen to our conversation here:

Julian Smith is a writer who specializes in travel and science. He's written several travel guidebooks, and his work has been featured in publications like Smithsonian, Wired, Outside, National Geographic Traveler, and many others. He also wrote an award winning book called Crossing the Heart of Africa, which we discussed in this episode.

Check out Julian’s website at http://www.juliansmith.com/

Photos property of Julian Smith.