COVID-19 has closed borders and made traveling difficult if not impossible for many of us. But radio signals don’t needs passports or plane tickets. They circle the earth, bouncing off the atmosphere, so even if you’re confined to your home, it’s possible – with a good antenna – to listen to voices from the other side of the planet.

For anyone who lives in Oklahoma City, April 19th is generally a somber day. It’s the anniversary of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which killed 168 people including 19 children. Prior to September 11, 2001, it bore the distinction of being the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.

Justin and Patrice La Vigne had a lot of hiking experience under their belts by the time they set out on Te Araroa — a 2000 mile path across New Zealand — so they were pretty sure they knew what they were getting into. But this trip would be much different from anywhere else they had gone in the past.

During this period when travel hasn’t really been possible, exploring places closer to home has given me a greater appreciation for all the fascinating and undiscovered adventures it’s possible to have right in my own backyard.

Where I come from in the United States, this time of year means dressing up in costumes, carving jack-o’-lanterns, and watching scary movies. And of course going to the polls. But in Peru, people have other traditions. Chief among them is the celebration of All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day on the 1st and 2nd of November.

In many ways, Barbuda is a lot like other Caribbean islands. It has beautiful pink sand beaches, pastel colored homes, and tropical fruits I’d never heard of before I before I went. But there’s also something really unique about this place.

Like many people, I’ve been pushed by the protests for racial justice these past few weeks to take a step back, reexamine my place in this world, and think once again about how so many people go through vastly different experiences in life simply because of the color of their skin.

The historical accounts are a bit fuzzy, but the way the story is commonly told, Caribbean slaves in the 18th century gained a day of freedom two times a year, on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and New Year’s Day. They made costumes and played music to celebrate, and over the centuries, that tradition evolved into what’s now know as the annual Junkanoo festival, an all-night parade through the streets that’s been compared to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnival in Brazil.

It was the fall of 2016. I had just finished driving 11,000 miles across Europe and Asia -- the story I told on the first season of this podcast -- and now my friend Donna had flown out to Eastern Siberia to join me for the trip back, three quarters of the way across the largest country in the world. I’d hardly spent any time in Russia up to this point, so I really had little idea what to expect.

This week’s episode of Far From Home is a bit different from what I normally do on the show. I’ve been getting a lot of questions and comments from listeners recently, so I spend some time answering some of them and sharing a bit of the feedback I’ve received. I also feature a recent interview I did with Corey Cambridge on his program, OPP (Other People’s Podcast), where I talk a little more about my background and the thinking that goes into my show.