1. Travel With Rick Stevens: feed://podcasts.ricksteves.com/
2. First Impressions of India (http://podcasts.ricksteves.com/feeds/pgm109_pod.mp3)
3. This specific podcast tells travelers what to do and expect when traveling about India. Rick Stevens is the host, but has many guests who contribute to this podcast. Some with stories and others with advice from India.
This podcast starts with stories from outside listeners who share their personal experience overseas. It's a bit of a chunk of the show that focuses on personal stories, but it's interesting to hear what happened and what the outcome was. At first I thought it was odd, but once I thought about it I realized that not alot of vodcast that I have listened to have outsiders sharing their personal experience. These stories don't take place in India though, so I'm not sure they belong in this specific podcast. (Two were in Italy and one in Scottland)
This podcast has many contributers. This is good, espicially with a travelers podcast, because it gives people different views on this country. His guest speaker, Serena Sing who is an Aulstralian contributer to 'The Lonely Planet Guide to India', talks with him about ways to connect to the culture. I like how she doesn't just talk about the country, but she points out ways to really feel like a part of the country and not so much an outsider.
The topics covered in this podcast covered many things that a traveler in India should know. Health concerns, food etiquite, healthy ways of living, traveling pointers (booking flights, bus rides & train rides), and weather concerns are just a few of the topics they covered in the hour podcast. It is a long podcast, but if you are interested in traveling to Inida or want to learn more about the country this podcast gives alot of information straight from the book 'The Lonely Planet Guide to India'.
4. Is this podcast too long?
What information did you find the most interesting?
Were the stories at the beginning boring or interesting to you?
India information was good, but it took a while to get to it
I think this podcast is a bit too long, and it seems to drag in the beginning and middle. I was interested in the ostensible topic of traveling in India, and I felt myself wanting the calls at the beginning to move more quickly so that the show could proceed to this subject. The format of the calls also was somewhat wearying, because they seemed to drone on a bit. I think perhaps the host could have taken a more active hand in managing them so that they didn't become tedious. The musical interlude in the middle of the podcast also seemed like filler. The discussion with Sarina Singh about traveling in India was interesting (particularly regarding the high social status of "grannies"), but I felt as though I had to wade through less pertinent material to get to it.
I think this episode highlights the different expectations in radio and podcasting. This podcast appears to be a recording of Rick Steves's radio show, and it works in that format. As a podcast, it seems to require some editing to remove superfluous material.
India
I think that the podcast is too long because I found myself looking for other things to do. I really thought it was interesting to hear the various guests because you gain various perspectives about India and what to do. Also, if the information can all be found in a book, then why would I want to subscribe to the podcast? I think it would be cool if they could have different topics or things to offer that could only come from experience, not a book.
Traveling in India
1. The podcast is probably too long -- I found it challenging to stay focused on the podcast the entire time. I think if he had kept it more specific and removed the phone calls, then it would have been easier to listen to.
2. I think the information they gave about travelling in India (after we got through the phone calls) was really useful. They gave some interesting perspectives and ideas about what to see/do and what not to see/do. They spoke about a wide range of things -- from transportation, culture, sights and more. It was cool to hear different traveller's opinions on travelling in India, but I think they could have offered some more objective suggestions as well.
3. I think the phone calls in the beginning were interesting, but they didn't seem to have any relevance to the topic of the podcast. For instance, the first phone call was all about Rome -- it was an entertaining story, but it wasn't pertinent and I got a bit frustrated. I wasn't sure if I was listening to the right podcast.
Traveling in India
In response to your question, I felt that the podcast was a bit too long. After listening and becoming familiar with more podcasts I think that keeping them focused and brief was a good suggestion that we talked about in our advice class discussion. The stories at the beginning were not vital in understanding the podcast nor did they really enhance any of the informational aspects of the podcast.
Traveling in India
http://indietravelpodcast.com/podcast/travel-bhutan-india/
This is a podcast about traveling in a particular region of India. There are many more on indietravelpodcast.com about different regions of India, as well as podcasts with more general advice, such as packing tips and ways to earn money while traveling.