Road trips provide the perfect opportunity to dive into a podcast. The time on the road without other distractions is ideal for tuning into something new. Sure, we love listening to our favorite songs while ticking off miles on the road (heck, we’re usually singing right along), but we also love how thought-provoking and inspiring podcasts can be.

Check out these 8 best podcasts for your next road trip—curated to spark your curiosity, expand your perception, and foster conversation once you’ve finished listening. 

The Dirtbag Diaries

Why We Love it:

The campfire tale—it’s ubiquitous in mountain culture. As long as we’ve climbed, skied, hiked, boated or traveled, we’ve been telling stories. The Dirtbag Diaries is a grassroots podcast dedicated to the sometimes serious, often humorous, stories from wild places. What began as a solitary experiment has evolved into a collaboration between writers, photographers, artists, and listeners to produce the type of stories that rarely find homes in the glossy pages of magazines.

get hooked with:

Episode 167: Three Wheelin'

Every July, nearly 20,000 cyclists from around the world swarm the roads of Iowa for one week to ride across the state. It’s hot. It’s humid. And it’s not as flat as one may think. Iowa resident Caleb Smith shares his personal journey of RAGBRAI, complete with a buffet of midwestern charm: homemade pies, barn parties, sunsets over fields of corn. But he doesn’t ride a bike, he inline skates.

99% Invisible

Why we love it:

Offered up in roughly 20-40 minute digestible bites, this is a great podcast when you have a shorter drive, between stops along your route, or when you want to binge several episodes in a row. 99% Invisible is a sound-rich narrative about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about—the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world. 

Get hooked with:

Episode 443: Matters of Time

For the most part, we take time for granted. Maybe we don’t have enough of it, but we at least know how it works—well, most of the time. A lot of what we think about time is relatively recent, and some of what we take for granted isn’t quite as universal as one might think. This series of time-centric stories challenges what you know (or think you know) about the way time works around the world.

She Explores

Why we love it:

We find inspiration in the outdoors. She Explores brings some of the most powerful outdoors stories to the forefront. Interviews, in-the-field recordings, and listener submissions make up a tapestry of episodes covering themes like solo hiking and camping, entrepreneurship, outdoor equity, aging, conservation, motherhood, chronic illness, and more—as they intersect with outdoor experiences.

Get Hooked With:

Episode 184: Spreading the Joy

Demiesha Dennis is an angler, mom, and community leader who is passionate about spreading the joy she’s found outdoors. Her reflections on time spent outside as an immigrant and Woman of Color provide many insights into industry gaps, misconceptions of people in the outdoors, and the privilege of recreating through hiking and fly fishing. In this episode, we hear about how Demiesha started fly fishing, what she’s teaching her daughter, what it means to her to be a woman on the water, changing the narrative through Brown Girl Outdoor World, and more.

The Happiness Lab

Why we Love it:

You might think more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations would make you happy. You’re dead wrong. The Happiness Lab podcast takes you through the latest scientific research and shares some surprising and inspiring stories that will forever alter the way you think about happiness. It’s hosted by Yale professor Dr Laurie Santos, who has changed the lives of thousands of people through her class, Psychology and the Good Life. Listen to a few episodes and she'll change yours, too.

Get Hooked with:

Season 2, Episode 25: Happiness Lessons of the Ancients: Confucius

The pandemic has robbed us of many rituals and ceremonies we took for granted—from simple handshakes to elaborate graduation ceremonies. Their loss is important. Rituals contribute to our happiness in so many ways, something the ancient Chinese teacher Confucius contemplated deeply. Laura chats with Harvard professor, Peter Bol, who explains why Confucius thought that ritual behaviors can bring us and our communities peace and joy, but also why we need to create traditions, rules, and customs that serve others—not just ourselves.

The Adventurepreneur

Why We Love It:

The Adventurepreneur podcast shares the stories of unconventional problem solvers, change makers, and entrepreneurs—building businesses, projects, lifestyles, and brands around a love for adventure, travel, and the outdoors. They are the people brave enough to not let traditional definitions of success confine them. Often irreverent misfits and risk takers, these are folks living life on their own terms.

Get Hooked With:

Episode 50: Wyn Wiley aka Pattie Gonia on Allyship, the Origins of Drag, and Living Our Truths

If you’re not familiar with Pattie Gonia, she was born in 2018 from photographer Wyn Wiley’s creative mind when he dressed in drag for the first time in his life and discovered that the experience brought him alive like he’d never quite felt before. Part 1 of this two part series dives into the origin story of Pattie Gonia and some incredibly insightful ideas for becoming a better ally and saving Mother Earth—or as Pattie likes to call it—Mother Natch.

Atlas Obscura

Why we love it:

We love to start our journey with this daily dose of 15-minute exploration into the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, and strange places. Atlas Obscura inspires wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share. Co-founder and host Dylan Thuras takes you on an audio journey to discover new and hidden places; perhaps on the other side of the world, or perhaps in one's own backyard. Once there, you’ll hear stories and history from the incredible people who make these places special.

Get Hooked With:

Episode 131: The Real Alchemist of Castle Frankenstein

Two members of the Atlas Obscura team go in search of the true story that may have inspired the literary classic, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

Armchair Expert

Why We Love it:

With each episode clocking in around 2 hours, Dax Shepard and Monica Padman take you on a deep journey into the human experience. Guests include Barack Obama, Prince Harry, Salma Hayek, Common, Sanjay Gupta, Aly Raisman, and Ibram X. Kendi—to name a few. Through vulnerable, honest, and eye-opening conversation about struggles and shortcomings, Armchair Expert celebrates the challenges and setbacks that ultimately lead to our growth and betterment.

Get Hooked With:

Episode 297: Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace, is an ethologist and advocate for the environment, animals, and the natural world. Jane joins Armchair Expert to discuss her journey to studying chimpanzees, how her approach of empathy allowed her to learn how human chimps are, and that they have a culture of their own. Jane explains how similar the gender roles are between chimps and humans, her trajectory of going deep into the jungle and coming out a world icon, and how the Jane Goodall Institute has grown to 24 institutes in 24 separate countries. Dax admits that if he met Jane, he would try to groom her.

Travel Tales by AFAR

Why We love it:

Travel changes the way we see the world. Travel Tales by AFAR follows different people from different backgrounds—a chef, a photographer, a comedian—as they explore new countries. They find a part of themselves in searching for lost recipes, finding unexpected connections, and stepping out of their comfort zones. Travel Tales by AFAR is your ticket to the world, no passport required.

Get Hooked With:

Episode 33: Rough Waters: Kayaking Blind Through the Grand Canyon

Erik Weihenmayer lost his vision at age 13, but he never lost his thirst for adventure. Now 53, Weihenmayer—the founder of the nonprofit No Barriers—has spent his life traveling. He was the first blind person to summit Mount Everest and has climbed all the major peaks in the world. He has rock climbed in California and ice climbed in Antarctica. In 2008, he decided he wanted to take on a new challenge: to kayak through the Grand Canyon. It was, as you can imagine, quite a ride.

Ready to get away?

Reserve your 2022 camper van vacation before December 31, 2021 and receive 10% off using promo code EARLYPLANNER10.