Big Blend Radio

Travel writer and advisor Lisa Evans, host of Big Blend Radio's "Journey Jukebox" Podcast takes us to Yellowstone National Park — America's very first national park, marking 110 years of the National Park Service this year. 
This episode picks up right where her Cody, Wyoming visit left off: after basing herself in Cody, Lisa spent a day and a half looping through Yellowstone by chartered bus, and brings back a full rundown — bison herds thick enough to stop traffic for fifty cars, a moose sighting straight out of Lamar Valley, a surprise cinnamon bear, and the bighorn sheep on the way out of the park.
From there we walk through the icons — Old Faithful (which kept everyone waiting an extra thirty minutes), the otherworldly colors of Grand Prismatic Spring and the Midway Geyser Basin, the bubbling mud volcanoes, and dinner at the historic Lake Yellowstone Hotel with a general manager who's spent 40 years working his way up through the park's lodging operation.
We also get honest about the less charming side of visiting a place like Yellowstone: tourists stepping over barriers at Mammoth Hot Springs, walking up to bison for a closer photo, and — in one widely reported case — Pierce Brosnan's own $1,500 fine for wandering off a boardwalk into a restricted thermal area. With national parks already stretched thin on funding and staffing, we talk about why this isn't just about rule-following — it's about keeping the wildlife wild and the parks safe for everyone who visits them.
Along the way, Lisa also looks ahead to her next stops — Clarksville, TN, and a trip up to Anacortes, WA — and shares more of the multi-generational travel trends she's seeing on the road.
🗺️ Plan your own trip: Full Yellowstone travel guide, park links, and resources: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/yellowstone-still-wild-at-110 
- Missed her last stop? Catch Lisa's Cody, Wyoming episode & article: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/cody-wyoming-western-culture 
🎵 Journey Jukebox Music Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7humUf03LIW04t8LiJSSN9?si=71c11c52c77c4596 
🎧 More about the Journey Jukebox Podcast:- New episodes air every 3rd Tuesday at 6pm CST: https://journeyjukebox.podbean.com/ - Podcast Magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/JOURNEY-JUKEBOX---2026/#p=1 
Follow Lisa Evans: - https://substack.com/@allabouttravelwithlisa  - https://writerlisa.com/ 

Welcome back to another episode of Big Blend Radio's "Wanderers Compass" Podcast! Three years after Joelle's first truffle hunt in the pouring rain with a cooking group of sixteen women, she and Ryan return to Buzet, Croatia, to sit down with Višnja Prodan Jekić of Prodan Tartufi — a family truffle business now heading into its fourth generation.
It started in the 1960s, when Višnja's grandparents didn't even know what truffles were — they thought they were smelly, inedible potatoes and fed them to the pigs, until Italian traders showed them otherwise. Today, the Prodan family hunts and trains their own truffle dogs (five of them, each with their own name and personality), collects from 50-60 local hunting families every week, and ships fresh truffles worldwide — to Michelin-star restaurants like Alchemist, Noma, and Geranium in Copenhagen, and markets as far as Japan, Singapore, and Dubai.
In this episode, Višnja walks through what makes Istria's climate uniquely suited to truffles, how a dog is trained from puppyhood to become a serious hunter, the real differences between black and white truffles (and why white truffles can sell for €2,000-€5,000 a kilo), how to actually cook with truffles at home without overcomplicating it, how to spot a real truffle product versus a chemical imitation, and the story behind the largest truffle her family has ever found. She also shares her own favorite way to eat them — simple scrambled eggs — and what it means to be building a new generation of this family tradition while opening the business to travelers from around the world.
🔗 Read the article: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/prodan-tartufi-istria-truffles  🔗 Learn more about Prodan Tartufi: https://prodantartufi.hr/hr/  🔗 Wanderers Compass: https://www.wandererscompass.com/  🔗 More Wanderers Compass episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/wanderers-compass-podcast  🔗 Wanderers Compass Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/wanderers-compass-magazine 
New episodes of the Wanderers Compass Podcast air every second Monday on Big Blend Radio.

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Jo Goes Everywhere!" Podcast, travel writer Jo Clark takes us to Greensboro, North Carolina — the third-largest city in the state and home to Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, site of one of the most consequential battles of the Revolutionary War.
Jo digs into Greensboro's roots, from the Saura and Keyauwee peoples who lived there first, to the German, Welsh, English Quaker, and Scotch-Irish settlers who followed, to the city's surprising reputation as the "second-holiest city in America." 
Then the Revolution arrives: on March 15, 1781, General Nathanael Greene's Continental Army met Lord Cornwallis's British troops at Guilford Courthouse. Cornwallis technically won the battle — but at such a staggering cost in men that it helped set up his eventual defeat at Yorktown.
Along the way, Jo tells the story of the Hoskins family, who fled war-torn Pennsylvania for a fresh start in Greensboro, only to have the British commandeer their farm and turn their home into a field hospital just three years later. 
Jo also shares Greensboro's literary and broadcast history (hometown ties to O. Henry and Edward R. Murrow), plus where to eat, drink, and stay if you visit today, including Sàigòn Cuisine, Machete, Lewis and Elm, the O. Henry Hotel, Fainting Goat Spirits, and Angels Bed & Breakfast.
Read Jo's full article: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/guilford-courthouse-national-military-park 
Plan Your Visit to Greensboro- Jo's Greensboro Travel Guide:  https://recipestravelculture.com/greensboro-1781-battlefield-to-jeansboro/ - Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: https://www.nps.gov/guco/index.htm 
Follow More of Jo:-  https://www.haveglasswilltravel.com/ - https://recipestravelculture.com/ - Jo Goes Everywhere! Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/jo-goes-everywhere-podcast - Jo Goes Everywhere! Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/jo-goes-everywhere-magazine 

In this episode of Big Blend Radio's "ABC's of Horses" podcast, World Champion horse trainer Christy Wood is joined by fellow rider Stephanie Callahan Clark for their annual look at the Chief Joseph Trail Ride — a thirteen-year progressive journey on horseback retracing the Nez Perce National Historic Trail across Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.
 They cover this year's route, wildlife encounters, camp community, horse safety, and why living off-the-grid on the trail is part of the adventure — plus a look ahead to 2027, the 150th anniversary of Chief Joseph's flight.
🔗 EXPLORE MORE🐴 Learn more about the Chief Joseph Trail Ride: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/the-chief-joseph-trail-ride 📚 Connect with Christy & get her books: https://wdnhorse.com/ 🏇 Chief Joseph Trail Ride nonprofit: https://chiefjosephtrailride.org/ 🎧 Listen to more episodes of the ABC's of Horses Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/abcs-of-horses-podcast 📖Check out the ABC's of Horses Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/abcs-of-horses-magazine 

Author and adventurer Inga Aksamit returns to this Big Blend Radio's "Food, Wine & Travel" show with the International Food Wine Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) — to take us snorkeling for two weeks aboard the MV Bilikiki in the Solomon Islands. 
From a camouflaged crocodile fish and venomous sea kraits to a floating village market and the Coral Triangle's marine biodiversity, Inga shares what it's like to spend eleven days snorkeling with Snorkel Venture on one of the South Pacific's most remote liveaboard adventures.
SOLOMON ISLANDS SNORKLE ADVENTURE RESOURCES:  - Inga's article about her experience: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/snorkeling-solomon-islands - Plan Your Own Snorkeling Adventure: https://snorkelventure.com/ 
MORE ON INGA & IFWTWA:- Inga Aksamit: https://ingasadventures.com/ - IFWTWA: https://www.ifwtwa.org/ - Follow this podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/food-wine-travel-with-ifwtwa - Read its companion magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/travel-food-wine-magazine 

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Quiltripping Travel" Podcast, travel writer and photographer Rose Palmer shares her epic month-long journey across Southern Africa with her husband — starting with wine tasting in Cape Town, riding the historic Rovos Rail into Zimbabwe, chasing wildlife and waterfalls at Victoria Falls, safari glamping in Botswana's Khwai Private Reserve and Okavango Delta, and ending with a river boat cruise on the Chobe River.
Rose talks border crossings, elephant migration, the best age to bring kids on safari, and why this trip topped even her Alaska road trip for pure epic scale.
MORE ON AFRICA: - Read Rose's full article and see her photos: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/an-epic-month-in-africa  - More of Rose's Africa stories: https://quiltripping.com/africa/  
KEEP UP WITH ROSE:- Listen to more of Rose's "Quiltripping Travel" Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/quiltripping-travel-with-rose-podcast  - Check out the "Quiltripping Travel" Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/quiltripping-travel-magazine  - Follow Rose's blog: https://www.quiltripping.com 

Debut author Jane Brookwood joins Big Blend Radio's "Books & Authors" series with Books Forward to talk about her new tarot-themed cozy mystery, "The Hanged Man," out September 15, 2026.
Jane shares how she built the fictional town of Pineridge Hollow, the real cat named Rosie who inspired Fiona's feline familiar, and how her own tarot practice — including a recurring relationship with the Devil card — shaped the book's themes. 
The conversation covers tarot symbolism, synchronicity, the archetypes behind her characters, and what's next for the Raven-verse.
The Hanged Man is available for pre-order now. Learn more about Jane Brookwood: https://ravenversebooks.com/ 
Listen to more Big Blend Radio Books & Authors episodes: https://bigblendmediahouse.com/ 
Learn more about Books Forward: https://booksforward.com/ 

Just 30 minutes from Portland, Tualatin Valley is Oregon's underrated wine country — home to 40+ wineries, one of the state's most ethnically diverse food scenes, tax-free shopping, and a 21-mile paved trail past a giant wooden troll. 
On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Food, Wine & Travel Show," presented in partnership with the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA), Sylke Neal-Finnegan, VP of Communications and PR at Explore Tualatin Valley, gives us a conversational tour of the Willamette Valley's northwest corner.
Beyond the vineyards, Tualatin Valley is shaped by a 50-year-old urban growth boundary that protects farmland and keeps its wine country sustainable including some dry-farming. Sylke also digs into the region's thriving arts scene — from the Broadway Rose Theatre Company to the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts — plus year-round outdoor adventure along the Tualatin River, Hagg Lake, and the fully accessible Banks-Vernonia State Trail. It's proof that this corner of the Willamette Valley offers a lot to experience.
Featured image: David Hill Vineyards & Winery, courtesy of Explore Tualatin Valley.
RESOURCES LINKS:- Plan your visit: https://tualatinvalley.org/ - Learn more about IFWTWA: https://www.ifwtwa.org/ - Follow the Food, Wine & Travel Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/food-wine-travel-podcast-ifwtwa - Check out Big Blend Radio's "Travel Food & Wine: Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/travel-food-wine-magazine