Only one way to do a podcast with face-to-face interviews in a bunch of different countries – pack up and go. 🛶
In this case it means putting everything in storage, giving up the comfy apartment, and calling it quits in Hong Kong. Off we go Feb. 20.
Good bye cozy rooftop..
Stay tuned for updates on the road if you are following…
Thought I’d try a new environment to record some voice overs for the teaser episode (coming soon!). Hope the company doesn’t mind my using a board room.. results: The usually stunning view of Hong Kong Harbour was drearily hazy and the hum of the city and carnival below may be hard to work with. Live and learn!
Recording our teaser episode at a friend’s cool Hong Kong office.
My good friends at Knowmium allowed me to record in their funky office space in the hip Sheung Wan hood of Hong Kong. Many thanks guys!
Was a little challenging to stay out of their bottle of Buffalo Trace, however.
Inspired by my decision to quit my job last week (Jan 8 2018) to work on the Rootabaga podcast full time, I made this little video of my commute from my little village in the Outer Islands of Hong Kong to my office in the city. Figured I’d want to remember it on down the line. Enjoy…
More videos soon sharing the making of the podcast.
Music – Mui Wo to Central Blues by me made on Garageband
Equipment – Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Smooth Q gimbal stick
SWEEET…
Just a couple of hours after our post yesterday kind of semi-officially announcing the no-turning-back point for the Rootabaga podcast, fate would have it that an absolute internet legend (in at least one very wide international circle) gave an enthusiastic “yes” to my invitation to be a guest. Can’t tell you how stoked I am. He’s a great guy and his “idea” has helped thousands, probably tens of thousands of people, since the very very early days of the internet. As probably one of the very first and most successful digital nomads ever, he’s been a huge inspiration to me and even this podcast. I’m not going to give away more just yet but at least half of you will know who it is and I find it amazing that he has not been the subject of a podcast if not documentary. If you guess who it is, don’t say. If you recognize that this is about you, thanks again and can’t wait to meet you in person in Los Angeles this spring! (and don’t accept any other invites before that!) 
😎
This post is a week after the fact but it really just sunk in today when I got an email from HR confirming my resignation on January 8 from a very comfy salary (at a soul-sucking job) and overinflated job title (assistant vice president/research division at an investment bank!!??) to pursue one crazy idea – a podcast about a bunch of expats who pursued their own crazy dreams to start unusual careers in foreign countries.
I could just wait till the whole thing is finished and drop ten episodes on the world all at once but I thought it would be much more fun to share the whole experience as I ramble and tumble through it. So it starts here.
Shout-out: I would not be to this point at all without the encouragement and ideas of two amazing people that this page won’t let me tag (??) – Murashka at Thumb it up / Hitchhiking around the world , who was with me when the idea sprouted and was an inspiration, sounding board and motivator in the early days and Wendy, whom I’ve known since middle or elementary school and who has not only been a sounding board and motivator but also become a creative and technical contributor and full time partner in the whole damn crazy thing. Thanks y’all!
If you’re interested in this project please follow here or head over to our Facebook page to see the podcast in the making.
Wait for it…..
One of the best things about working on this podcast (coming soon) is that it is taking me to some of the coolest places in the world. A week in Seoul in October kicked things off and five days in Tokyo last week was epic. Two interviews in the bag. One with my former bandmate in We Need Surgery who not only runs an English/guitar school on the outskirts of Tokyo but who also has his own line of Tokyo hipster e-cigarette liquids…
And then it was off to Omotesando to see professor, poet, PhD, pal Jordan Smith who, well, does all those things right before his name.
Sounds are in the works.. and future trips include the US, Sweden, Canada, (maybe Nepal) and who knows where.. stay tuned.
First time laying down some content… when you finally get to listen, pardon the rural ambiance courtesy of Tai Tai Tong village on Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Update May 8, 2018: We are still plugging along and trying to get some episodes ready. It’s just been harder than expected. Wendy, Rootabaga’s editor, shaper, shifter and motivator, and I spent a couple of weeks in her Atlanta home planning how Rootabaga would will look and sound and then I had to hit the road to see some friends and family that it I haven’t seen in years. For the last few weeks Wendy has been hard in Atlanta and I have been mostly hard at play in Birmingham Alabama – but also getting back to my roots is all part of this podcast. Tomorrow I am off to Indianapolis and Arizona to interview a few more of the final guests on Rootabaga. We hope to launch with at least three episodes in the coming weeks. Thanks for your patience.
Brandon
Update April 5, 2018:Â About to leave California after interviewing Dave Sperling of Dave’s ESL Cafe (.com) fame, Paul Johnson, the bassist from my old band We need Surgery and Elaine Chou, a Taiwanese hypnotherapist plying her trade in China via Skype from Los Angeles! A couple of weeks of intense editing with my fearless partner Wendy in Atlanta and we should have some episodes for you. Stay tuned for teasers and other content till then!
Brandon
Update Feb, 2018:Â Â No episodes of Rootabaga are ready just yet but we still want to share our journey with you as I travel the globe to collect interviews and get ready for launch. It will take some time but the adventure is a blast so far and we’re confident the end product will be worth sticking around for. Until the final interview episodes are ready please do stay tuned for some teaser episodes, photos and blogposts about the journey.
Brandon
Rootabaga is a podcast in production. Join me as I travel the globe to bring you interviews with some of the amazing expats I’ve been lucky to meet in my 23 years as an English teacher, drummer and financial editor in Asia and Canada. You’ll hear from two fellow Alabama boys who decided to show a country famed worldwide for its own barbecue how to do BBQ southern style. If I can track her down – you may find out why one vivacious young Ukrainian has chosen to live her life out of a backpack for almost three years now as she hitchhikes from Eastern Europe to who knows where. Then there’s my dear Korean friend who also happens to be a political dissident and spiritual guru who lives off the grid in Hawaii, South America and a remote mountain cabin near the North Korean border. In short, people like me who couldn’t resist the urge to put down roots in a place far away from home.
