Shooting a podcast at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. By Gary Arndt.

When I first started my trip, my focus was to do podcasting, not blogging. A year and a half later, and I’ve done much more blogging than podcasting. While I have been able to put up several episodes, I still find the workflow of producing a podcast by myself, on the road, to be a daunting task. In this article I’m going to go through some of what I go through to produce a solo video podcast on the road.

The Trouble with Tape

When I started my trip in March of 2007, I really wanted to get a video camera which didn’t use tape. At the time there was only one prosumer level model which didn’t use tape, and because it was so new, most video editing software wasn’t able to handle the way it encoded mpeg4. I wound up buying a Sony HC3, which was a fine high definition video camera, but used tape.

Tape turned out to be a much bigger problem than I had expected. If I was only traveling for a short period of time, I could shoot all the tape I wanted and edit it when I got home. Because I wasn’t going home however, I had to carry around all my tapes without any backup, and eventually find a way to get them all back to the US. On top of that, I would have to rip all the video off of the tapes which is a very annoying process. (An hour tape would take about an hour to encode, and you’d wind up with one enormous file which you’d have to then split apart). I shot about a dozen hours of footage during my first six months traveling in the Pacific and found someone back in the US to do the editing for me.

Doing a podcast on the road is one thing. Doing a podcast when you have no one to help you is quite another.

The workflow was really slow and not sustainable. The quality of the footage I was getting was OK, but getting things out the door was taking way too long. I eventually put my podcast on hiatus and focused on my still photography.

Better Technology

While I was traveling, however, technology improved. About nine months into my trip, I was able to buy a new video camera in Hong Kong. I purchased a Sanyo Xacti HD 1000. It can shoot in full 1080i HD at 60fps. The best part however, is that it saved everything to SD memory, and each clip was its own mpeg4 file. You could access clips randomly as if it were its own drive. The video quality isn’t quite as good as my previous camera, but eliminating tapes more than made up for it.

If you listen to the first podcast I shot with my new camera, you can tell that the built in sound quality is poor. I had a lavalier mic I had with me, but I had to buy a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adaptor to get it to work. You’d be amazed at how hard that was to find. I’m using that now with all my podcasts, and sound quality has improved.

The biggest thing you need when doing a podcast on the road is a laptop capable of doing video editing. I carry a 15″ MacBook Pro with me. I have never found an internet cafe with video editing software on its computers, nor will the computers at most internet cafes support editing even if they had the software. You need something powerful enough to replace a desktop computer as video editing is one of the most processor and memory intensive things you can do with a computer.

Wearing Many Hats

Doing a podcast on the road is one thing. Doing a podcast when you have no one to help you is quite another. Lots of simple camera angles where you could record yourself eating or walking down a street are pretty much impossible. Even mundane things can be challenging. If I want to put myself in front of the camera I have to use a tripod and find a place where I can get away from large groups of people to shoot. Someone grabbing the camera and running off with it while I’m shooting is a real concern if you are doing it on a busy street. Most of my podcasts consist of me in front of the camera, then other shots edited in on top of the audio or after the monologue.

Editing has been the most difficult thing for me by far. I have material over two months old on my computer I have yet to get out the door as well as footage over a year old I shot on my old camera which just needs to be stitched together. Editing is by far the most time consuming and difficult part of the entire process. I started with Final Cut Express (which I later removed because I needed drive space….bad move), moved to iMovie08 (aka Apple’s Vista. A bad piece of software), and am now using iMovie HD, the previous version of iMovie.

I do a lot of still photography in addition to video. It is very difficult to try and do still photos and video at the same time. One thing I’d like to do a lot more of is incorporating still images into my podcasts and perhaps doing some slide shows. I’ve done one slideshow so far, I think it worked rather well. (The presentation was from Yakushima, Japan.)

My ideas for episodes are much greater than my ability to produce them at this point.

Going Forward

Despite the problems I’ve had, I’d still like to put more effort into my podcast going forward. I enjoy podcasting more than plain old blogging, and I think I’m much better at talking than writing. (20 years of academic debate experience will do that). Tapeless high def video camera are becoming the norm. There are cameras on the market which save to flash memory which much better video quality than my Sanyo. I might get a new camera in the next few months.

The biggest thing going forward will probably be to get some help. One option is to find someone to travel with me who could help in some function with the podcast, either in front or behind the camera. Another is to find someone who is a reasonable good video editor who I can send clips to. Either of these options would improve things dramatically for me.

If podcasting during your trip is something you’d like to do, the one thing I suggest is to plan your workflow. Doing video is an order of magnitude more difficult than doing still photography, especially if you are traveling solo. If you are willing to make the investment in time and equipment however, the end result can be quite rewarding.

© for TravelBlogs, 2008. | Podcasting on the Road: Tape, Technology and Hats | 5 comments |
Post categories: Articles
Post tags: podcasting, podcasts

© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2008. | The Indie Travel Podcast | One comment |
Post categories: Blogs
Post tags: budget travel, couples, independent travel, podcasts

Most of the time, TravelBlogs focuses on written material. You know, blogs and all that jazz. Today, I decided to take a look at another medium that more and more travel bloggers are getting into: podcasting.

Some of these are by your everyday bloggers, while others are produced by major travel publications. But if you’re planning a trip, or just looking for some inspiration, these podcasts offer a refreshing and insightful look at destinations around the world.

Worldwide

Everything Everywhere: Gary has been travelling the world since early 2007. He recently started a podcast, which so far features episodes about Australia, Fiji and Singapore. Site | iTunes

Indie Travel Podcast: Craig and Linda are two full time travellers producing a weekly podcast for independent travellers and backpackers. Site | iTunes | Other

The Traveling Morans: Between 2006 and 2007, newlyweds Brendan and Sarah Moran set out on a year-long honeymoon adventure around the world. Their podcasts features episodes about everything from their journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway to their time in India. Site | iTunes | Other

Amateur Traveler: In the world of travel podcasts, Chris Christensen is a veteran. Amateur Traveler has been around since 2005 and now has over 140 episodes on destinations around the world. Site | iTunes | Other

Travel in 10: David Brodie’s Travel in 10 is a growing collection of 10 minute episodes covering cool hotels and sights around the world. Site | iTunes | Other

The Connected Traveler: Russell Johnson’s blog and podcast on Connected Traveler covers news and opinion from around the world. Site | iTunes | Other

Gary Bembridge’s Tips for Travellers: Gary shares first-hand advice on destinations around the world, from Disneyland, California to Seoul, South Korea. Site | iTunes | Other

Travel with Rick Steves: Rick Steves is an expert on all things Europe, and his weekly podcast features episodes on cities and destinations throughout Europe and the world. Site | iTunes | Other

Lonely Planet Podcasts: Lonely Planet have also dabbled in the world of podcasts, and have produced episodes about destinations in every corner of the globe. Site | iTunes | Other

Traveler Magazine’s Walks of a Lifetime: If you prefer to travel on foot, then this podcast will provide you with plenty of inspiration for your next holiday, be it in New Orleans, Venice or Sydney. Site | iTunes
| Other

The Independent Travel Guides: The Independent’s travel editor, Simon Calder, hosts a series of podcasts about cities around the world. iTunes | Other

Frommers.com Travel Podcast: Frommer’s podcast series currently has 90+ podcasts on everything from planning a wedding far from home to taking better holiday photos. Site | iTunes | Other

Europe

A Year in Europe: Scott and Sheryl spent a year travelling around Europe. Along the way, they recorded 39 episodes for their podcast. Site | iTunes | Other

Italy Travel Notes: A blog, a videocast and a podcast devoted to Italy. Site | iTunes | Other

Notes from Spain: The Notes from Spain podcast covers a diverse range of topics about living, working and travelling in Spain. Site | iTunes | Other

Budacast: If you’re planning a trip to Hungary, check out Budacast, which features articles and a regular podcast on all things Hungary. Site | iTunes | Other

iPod Traveller: iPod Traveller isn’t running anymore, but produced 47 episodes about various destinations in Europe over 3 season. Site | Season 1 & 2 | Season 3

North America

Amtrekker: Brett is a self-described “unemployed vagrant” travelling around the United States with a list of ambitious goals. Site | iTunes | Other

Alaska HDTV: Never considered visiting Alaska before? AlaskaHDTV’s great videos are produced by a team of passionate Alaskans hell-bent on showing you the beauty of their state. Site | iTunes HD | iTunes iPod

Asia

The Rest of Everest: This podcast features the stuff that didn’t make it into Everest: The Other Side, a documentary about an expedition to the Northeast Ridge route in Tibet. Site | iTunes | Other

***

If you have any other podcasts you think should be added, feel free to tell me about it in the comments section below.

© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2008. | A Collection of the Internet’s Best Travel Podcasts | 9 comments |
Post categories: Round-Up
Post tags: podcasts