Whiskey and a Map: True Stories of Adventure.

Jacob “Val” Myers is an Appalachian-born adventure athlete with a growing list of accomplishments stretching across the board from ultramarathons, expeditions, published writings, and community service projects. Getting his start working with public lands as a young man in Gorges State Park, Val has hundreds of hours of volunteer service on trail crews and as a fundraiser supporting conservation projects around the country.Val has taken on extreme expeditions in the coldest regions of the world such as Antarctica, the Yukon, Norway, and Alaska since entering the field as an aspiring polar guide in 2022. In parallel to his fascination with wild and rugged spaces, Val has completed multiple mountainous ultramarathons extending over one-hundred miles across the American landscape.Val is currently publishing a book detailing his attempted world record skiing solo and unsupported to the geographic south pole while providing context and honor to the complicated Appalachian landscapes that raised him. When not writing, Val has continued planning for future expeditions, Fastest Known Time (FKT) attempts and is supporting his community through volunteerism.Get Val's new book Blue Ridge - White Desert: A Young Man's Journey Through Appalachia, Antarctica, and the Self Val's website: jacobvalmyers.comVal's You Tube Channel Support this Podcast:  buy me a coffeeHosted by Michael J. ReinhartMichaelJReinhart.com True stories of adventure and exploration Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oscar Scafidi is a travel writer, international educator and risk consultant. Originally from the UK and Italy, he has lived, worked and travelled across over thirty African nations. Oscar tends to focus on difficult destinations and post-conflict zones which do not attract many tourists. His work has included everything from interviewing pirates in Somalia to chasing elephants around the forests of Gabon. Among his many accomplishments, he kayaked 1,300km along Angola's longest river and 750km along Madagascar's longest river.Oscar’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ScafidiTravels/ Social media links:  lnk.bio/ScafidiTravelsKayak The Mangoky Official website: https://kayakthemangoky.com/ Support this Podcast:  buy me a coffeeHosted by Michael J. ReinhartMichaelJReinhart.com   Whiskey and a Map: Stories of Adventure and Exploration.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George McKenzie Jr. is a National Geographic Explorer, award-winning filmmaker, conservation photographer, and educator whose work sits at the intersection of storytelling, science, and community. Born in Guyana and raised in Brooklyn, George did not grow up in wild places—however found his way to them and now dedicates his career to making conservation accessible to people who may not see themselves reflected in it.George is the director and subject of The Book of George, a critically acclaimed short documentary that has screened at major international festivals, including Telluride Mountain film, Banff, and Jackson Wild, where it won Best Short Form Film in the People & Nature category. The film anchors an ongoing impact campaign focused on youth mentorship, conservation education, and representation in the outdoors.His photography and film making document the unseen connections between wildlife, working lands, and the people who steward them. From camera-trapping Florida panthers and photographing endangered plants on the Lake Wales Ridge to telling stories across the Florida Wildlife Corridor and the Okefenokee Swamp, George’s work emphasizes private lands, cultural history, and the human role in conservation outcomes.Beyond storytelling, George is deeply engaged in applied conservation. He collaborates with land trusts, state and federal agencies, scientists, and private landowners on projects related to habitat restoration, invasive species management, prescribed fire, and climate resilience. His work often translates complex land-management science into compelling visual narratives that build public understanding and support.A committed mentor and educator, George works extensively with young people—particularly youth of color—through workshops, school programs, and outdoor experiences that use photography and storytelling as tools for confidence, curiosity, and connection to nature. His approach is grounded in the belief that conservation succeeds when people feel included, capable, and invested.Through his lens, voice, and leadership, George McKenzie Jr. is reshaping how conservation stories are told—centering place, people, and possibility in the effort to protect wild and working landscapes for generations to come.Support this Podcast:  buy me a coffeeFollow George at his Instagram https://www.instagram.com/georgemckenziejr/ and at his website https://www.georgemckenziejr.com.Hosted by Michael J. Reinhart MichaelJReinhart.com   Whiskey and a Map: Stories of Adventure and Exploration.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textJim Clash covers extreme adventure and classic rock. Over three decades of writing for Forbes, Clash, who holds an MBA from Columbia University, has penned four books, most recently Amazon bestseller “Amplified,” about ‘60s music. His first-person stories include supersonic flights in eight separate aircraft pulling up to 9 Gs and flying to 84,000 ft; driving a Bugatti at 253 mph and Indy cars at 200 mph; expeditions to the North and South Poles; summiting the Matterhorn and 23,000-ft. Aconcagua; a C-130 flight through Category V Hurricane Dorian; chasing tornadoes; riding jet skis on 60-ft waves in Portugal; a U-2 flight to the edge of space; bullfighting; being shot point-blank in a ballistics jacket, and more. Interviews include Neil Armstrong, Mario Andretti, John Glenn, Edmund Hillary, Roger Bannister, Grace Slick, Joe Frazier, Chuck Yeager and Edward Teller. For fun, Jim gives 170-mph rides at Daytona speedway. He’s a former director at The Explorers Club.See more of Jim's work at Forbes and on his FaceBook pageGet Jim's books here on AmazonSupport this Podcast: buy me a coffeeHosted by Michael J. ReinhartMichaelJReinhart.com Whiskey and a Map: Stories of Adventure and Exploration. #space #JamesClash #biggestwaves #supersonicflight Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textDriving across the African continent in an old Land Rover. Safari guide in the remote Zambezi valley. Join us for part two as we hear more tales of classic African adventure from Rob Fynn.Rob Fynn's family goes back in Africa six generations. He was brought up in Rhodesia and then at age 18 he left to join the Royal Navy. He was asked to leave when UDI was declared and all Rhodesians in the British armed forces were now regarded as potential rebels.After pursuing his engineering degree at Bristol University, he returned home driving across the African continent in a Land Rover, which led him into starting up a safari operation in the remote Zambezi valley of Zimbabwe.Rob Fynn is a professional guide and author. His book, Angels in a Thorn Bush is good reading. Available at Amazon and good book stores.Follow Rob at https://www.facebook.com/rob.fynn. Support Michael's work by visiting MichaelReinhartPhotography.com Hosted by Michael J. ReinhartMichaelJReinhart.comWhiskey and a Map: Stories of Adventure and Exploration. #safari #landrover #Safariguide #Africa #RobFynn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textIn this episode of Whiskey and a Map, award winning journalist and author Jacques Leslie recounts his years as a war correspondent covering the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia and the Indira Gandhi crises in India. At the age of 24, Jacques Leslie became a Los Angeles Times foreign correspondent, and covered the war in Vietnam and Cambodia for two years. For that work he won the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for foreign correspondence and an Overseas Press Club citation. He began writing about environmental issues two decades ago, and won numerous awards including the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award for the “elegant, beautiful prose” of his 2005 book on dams, Deep Water: The Epic Struggle Over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment. Now a Los Angeles Times contributing opinion writer, he is working on a book about the Klamath River basin on the California-Oregon border. Support Michael's work by visiting MichaelReinhartPhotography.comFollow Jacques at jacquesleslie.com Hosted by Michael J. ReinhartMichaelJReinhart.comWhiskey and a Map: Stories of Adventure and Exploration. #Vietnamwar #vietnam #warcorrespondent #Cambodia #JacquesLeslie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textFacing down grizzly bears, charging mountain gorillas and a solo cross country ski crossing of Yellowstone in winter, are just some of the adventures award winning wildlife photographer Tom Murphy shares with us in this episode of Whiskey and a Map.Tom uses his photography to illustrate his passion for the remaining wild places on our earth. Yellowstone National Park’s wildlife and landscapes are the special focus of Tom’s work. A talented naturalist and gifted lecturer, Tom has traveled the United States presenting the wonders of nature captured in his photographic slide shows.Tom Murphy is featured in a PBS Nature film, “Christmas in Yellowstone” which is shown every Christmas worldwide. His photography is in private, public, and museum collections around the world. He has produced seven books including the Seasons of Yellowstone, a four volume set.Tom serves on the board of the Yellowstone Park Foundation and the Park County Environmental Council.Tom donates his work to conservation organizations to help in preserving wildlife and wild land. Much of the photography in the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center in Yellowstone Park was donated by Tom for educational use by the National Park Service.Please support this podcast and Michael's work at MichaelReinhartPhotography.com Follow Tom Murphy at his website tmurphywild.comHosted by Michael J. ReinhartMichaelJReinhart.comWhiskey and a Map: Stories of Adventure and Exploration.#Yellowstone #Adventure #AdventureStories #grizzlybears #wildlife #wildlifephotography Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textDescribed by some as a never ending green hell and by others as the most beautiful bio diverse place on the planet, the jungles of Panama attract the best and the worst of mankind. In this episode, conservation photographer Joshua Asel recounts his adventure into the jungles of Panama’s Darian gap to embed with the indigenous tribal rangers and support their efforts to counter large scale poaching of wildlife and timber on their lands. Joshua is an award-winning wildlife conservation photographer and certified Marine Ecology Naturalist, with a photographic emphasis on coastal and marine habitats, birds of prey, and threatened/endangered species and national parks. He is an Emerging Member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a Board Member of the Bird Rescue Center of Sonoma County, the Global Editor and Manager of the Global Parks Network at Global Conservation, a member of the Ethics Committee for the North American Nature Photography Association, and is sponsored by Think Tank Photo. While in Panama, Joshua became an Honorary Tribe Member of the Naso Indigenous People for his work helping them document their culture and patrolling with their rangers. His current main project revolves around critically endangered California condor conservation, with focused efforts to establish a new home base in Sonoma County for the Condor Recovery Program. He's also appeared on multiple judging panels, advised on mountain lion safety for land trusts, and acted as a consultant and principal photographer to help establish a new redwood forest preserve in Healdsburg, California. Joshua’s stories and images have appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic, Defenders of Wildlife, Whalebone Magazine, The New York Times, Hakai Magazine, Alaska Airlines Magazine, The Press Democrat, NANPA Expressions, and several scholarly articles, among others. Please support this podcast and Michael's work at Michaelreinhartphotography.com Host: Adventure Journalist Michael J. Reinharthttps://michaeljreinhart.comFollow Joshua at https://www.joshasel.com/Whiskey and a Map PodcastStories of Adventure and Exploration as told by those who lived them.#counter-poaching #anti-poaching #rangers #conservationphotography #trueadventurestories #dariangap #panama #worldsmostdangerousjungle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textLuke Smithwick shares stories of his travels and adventures in the Himalayan mountains. The dangers of climbing remote and unclimbed peaks, witness to ancient mask dances and blood sacrifice, and an encounter with the rare snow leopard.Luke Smithwick is an American professional skier, alpinist and mountain guide in the Himalaya with 98 Himalayan expeditions in the past 13 years. He is focused on the unclimbed and unskied in the Himalaya and hasn't repeated an expedition since he started climbing and skiing full time there in 2010. Formerly he worked as an environmental biologist and archaeologist in Alaska so his approach on expeditions isn't just about climbing summits and first ski descents, focusing on the cultures and natural history in each specific expedition. He lives at home in Teton valley, Idaho with his dog Wolfie when he isn't on expedition. Having done eight to nine Himalayan expeditions every year since 2010, that is not very often. Please support this podcast and Michael's work at Michaelreinhartphotography.com Follow Luke at his website lukesmithwick.com and at his Facebook page.facebook.com/himalayaslukesmithwick Hosted by Michael J. ReinhartAdventure Journalist MichaelJReinhart.com An adventure and exploration podcast #travel #travelstories #outdooradventure #mountaineering #skimountaineering #adventuretravel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a text George Kourounis is an explorer, storm chaser & TV presenter who has spent 25 years documenting extreme forces of nature and natural phenomena worldwide including tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, floods, and the effects of climate change. He holds the title of National Geographic Explorer, Explorer In Residence for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and served the maximum term as the Canadian Chapter Chair of the Explorers Club. Best known for having hosted the TV series “Angry Planet” he also co-hosted “Storm Hunters” for The Weather Network and is a regular on-camera contributor for “Strange Evidence” & “What On Earth?” on Science Channel. He’s appeared in programs for National Geographic, Discovery, Smithsonian Channel, Netflix, most of the major TV networks, and is frequently invited to comment about global weather & natural disasters by CNN, BBC, CBC, and other news outlets. George earned a Guinness World Record for being the first person to ever set foot at the bottom of the Darvaza “Doorway To Hell” flaming gas crater in remote Turkmenistan, the project was funded by a National Geographic science grant and was also filmed for Nat Geo television. He has documented changes to melting permafrost in Siberia, sea level rise in Tuvalu, shifting tornado & hurricane patterns in North America, wildfires in Australia, and melting polar ice. In 2014 he was awarded the Stefansson Medal from the Explorers Club Canadian Chapter "For outstanding contribution to science and to public education by documenting extreme environments through filmmaking.” In 2020 was awarded the Leif Erikson Exploration Award from the Exploration Museum in Iceland. Please support this podcast and Michael's work at Michaelreinhartphotography.com Follow George atwww.furiousearth.com george@stormchaser.ca Hosted by Michael J. Reinhart MichaelJReinhart.com An Adventure and Exploration Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textAre you prepared? How far would you go and what risks would you accept to accomplish your goal?In this episode, we rejoin join Cyril Derreumaux and his quest to solo kayak from California to Hawaii. Cyril is French born, American world traveler and adventurer. His exploits include backpacking around the world, setting a Guinness record for crossing the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii as part of a four-man rowing team, and then repeating that crossing over open ocean solo in a kayak.Cyril shares with us his experience and philosophy in what it takes to accomplish seemingly impossible goals.Please like, comment and share this episode so that your friends can enjoy Cyril’s stories.Please support this podcast and Michael's work at Michaelreinhartphotography.com Follow Cyril at his website cyrilderreumaux.comHosted by Michael J. ReinhartMichaelJReinhart.comAn Adventure and Exploration Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a text"Best Story of Adventure and Survival in the Jungles of the Amazon."Yossi Ghinsberg is an adventurer. A wandering soul seeking not the prize of a conquest, but a connection with tribal cultures around the world. He is a best-selling author, award winning speaker and was featured on the Discovery Channel.After finishing his hitch with the Israeli navy, Yossi traveled to South America in search of his dream of finding the El Dorado and of befriending a lost Amazonian tribe. He and three others set off into the uncharted jungle in the Madidi region of the Amazon. The hardships of the jungle caused two of his fellow adventurers to split of and attempt to return to civilization. They were never seen again. A rafting accident on the Tuichi River left Yossi alone in this inhospitable place. Attacked by insects (Yossi had to cut burrowing worms out of his forehead), stalked by jaguar, hungry and alone, Yossi fought to survive. This epic story of adventure and survival is the basis of his best-selling book Lost in the Jungle and the movie Jungle.This ordeal transformed him. He learned that “The gift of life is not to be taken for granted. Nothing is mundane, it is all a miracle.” A philosophy expressed in his late friend Vesty Pakos’ war cry “Where is it? Where is it? It is here! It is here!” Yossi continues today traveling the world in his unique style seeking out tribal cultures-befriending the Bedouin, traveling through the Sahara, and living among the islanders on Carteret Island in Papua New Guinea.Hosted by Michael J. ReinhartMichaelJReinhart.comWhiskey and a Map: Stories of Adventure and Exploration as told by those who lived them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.