Mixtape Travels
Mixtape Travels
Podcast Description
Inspiring Travel Conversations for Gen X. Hosted by Shannon Gomes of The Gomes Guide. Visit: https://thegomesguide.com/
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on travel inspiration, cultural exploration, and personal growth, with episodes showcasing incredible journeys such as walking nearly 10,000 miles from Bangkok to Barcelona and sharing lessons learned about adventure and resilience.
The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast is where travel, food, and culture meet. Hosted by San Francisco–based travel writer, storyteller, and mom of two teens Shannon Gomes, the show features thoughtful conversations with experts in the food and wine world, avid travelers, creators, tastemakers, and locals who reveal what truly makes a destination memorable—and how to experience it like a local, with food always at the center of the journey.
From unforgettable meals and hidden neighborhoods to meaningful cultural experiences and practical travel insight, each episode is designed to inspire curious travelers—especially Gen X listeners who value depth, connection, and great food—to explore the world more intentionally and to bring a sense of discovery back home.
Shannon is also the writer behind The Gomes Guide (https://thegomesguide.substack.com), a weekly travel-focused Substack filled with stories, recommendations, and inspiration for meaningful travel. Listeners are invited to subscribe for fresh ideas, insider tips, and destination inspiration delivered each week.
Whether you’re planning your next trip or simply dreaming about one, The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast celebrates connection, community, and the joy of experiencing new places through food and travel.
Carl Henn grew up in Indiana and left right after college for the Peace Corps in Morocco. That turned into 40 years in public health across 27 African countries. When COVID brought him home at 60, the work he'd done his whole life disappeared. So he had a camper van converted in Denver, met a brindle pit bull named Mr. Bones, and gave himself six months to sell his memoir in all 48 lower states.
When the tour ended, he had a choice: go home to the easy chair and the newspaper, or keep going. That was four years ago. Carl and Mr. Bones now split their year between Mexico and Canada, and Carl calls himself a nomad who got there almost by accident.
In this episode, Carl and I talk about finally seeing America after a lifetime in Africa, the one question that kept him from having a single argument in four years on the road, and why he wants everyone to feel a sense of awe as often as they can. He tells me about Like a Buffalo Roam, the book he wrote from the driver's seat, and what daily life looks like parked in the mountains of central Mexico. We also get into why Mr. Bones gets about 100 times more likes than Carl does. And Carl makes the case for something most of us never do: sitting down and asking what you'd do if you could do anything at all.
IN THIS EPISODE
- How a Peace Corps post in Morocco turned into 40 years of public health work across Africa
- Coming home at 60 when COVID ended the only career he'd known
- The six-month, 48-state book tour that never ended
- Seeing America for the first time after a lifetime abroad
- Why Carl skips politics on the road and asks one simple question instead
- What a sense of awe does to your brain, and why he wants all of us to feel it
- Like a Buffalo Roam, his second book, written from the driver's seat
- Life in Zacatecas, Mexico, and where you can park a van in the middle of town
- Mr. Bones, aka Señor Huesos, and his fan club
- Carl's advice for anyone dreaming of a reinvention: take time to imagine what you want, and try a camper van for a week first
LINKS MENTIONED
- Carl's Substack, Nomad Without a Country: https://carlwilliamhenn.substack.com
- My Two Centuries in Africa on Amazon: https://amzn.to/46mcbPs
FOLLOW THE GOMES GUIDE
📬 Read the full post, with photos, at thegomesguide.substack.com
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