What We Listen to on the Road

We recently just hit 20 000 km of travel on the trip odometre. As expected this is our longest road trip ever so this blog post is about what we listen to on those long stretches of highways?

1. Sirius Satellite Radio
Unfortunately whenever we were driving north (or were in the Yukon or Alaska), it really didn’t work all that well. When it does work, we listen to CBC Radio 1, The Verge. CBC Radio 3, Lithium, The Spectrum and The Coffeehouse. Funny how there are hundreds of channels on Sirius and yet we only scroll through six. 

2. FM Radio (Mainly CBC)
If we are near a town, we try and tune into the local CBC Radio station. This comes in handy for local weather because neither of us have a cell phone so the radio is one of our main sources for a weather forecast.

3. iPOD classic (seriously it is from 2005)
Prior to the trip we updated it with all the music we owned from CDs and iTunes. However, we actually haven’t listened to it all that often this trip. I think this is mainly because Mike does most of the driving and can drive listening to whatever is playing. When I am driving, I need something to sing to to keep me from getting tired and asking Mike if he could drive again.

4. Podcasts
Mike and I have sort of different tastes when it come to podcasts. For some reason, I like the true crime ones (even though I rarely read true crime novels) whereas Mike likes the adventure ones (which sometimes drive me crazy if there are questions like “If you were having a party, who would you invite, what would you serve and where would you be?”). Here are a list of some of the podcasts we have listened to in case you are planning a long road trip:

a) True Crime

Someone Knows Something (SKS)
A CBC podcast where the journalist looks into unsolved disappearances and murders. I liked Seasons 1 and 2 the best. I think they are currently working on season 5.

Missing and Murdered
Another CBC podcast which again looked into an unsolved murder (season 1) and a missing young girl (season 2). They do a really good job of not only telling the story of the person the podcast is about but also all the history that goes with it. Both seasons had really heartwrenching stories.

Serial
I think this one kind of kick started the whole true crime podcast genre. It was pretty popular both in US and Canada and there may even be some books about the case now as well. The case being a young woman who was murdered and the host looks back on the case and spends a lot of time interviewing the person who was convicted for the murder but continues to claim he didn’t do it.

b) podcasts for entertainment

My dad wrote a porno
We actually listened to this one before we left on this trip when we were back and forth between Kenora and Thunder Bay. The first couple of episodes are really funny but it starts to get a little old towards the end.

Because News
This CBC radio program is broadcast on Mondays at 11:30 am (I think) on local CBC stations but is also available as a podcast. It is a quiz show with comedians talking about the news. I used to watch This Hour has 22 Minutes all the time so I think this is now my 22 Minutes fix.

c) Adventure Podcasts

Wild Ideas Worth Living
This is the interviewer who asks questions about what kind of party would you have and what banner would you fly at the end of her interviews which are not my favourite quesitons but she has interviewed some intereresting people so I have been okay with Mike queuing her up.

Women on the Road
I think Mike subscribed to this one for me to be inspired about women travelling. We have only listed to a few episodes and they have been decent so far. 

The Rich Roll Podcast
We just started to listen to this guy and it is pretty good. Rich Roll is a decent interviewer and there are some interesting people he interviews.

d) Miscellaneous podcasts

Alone: A Love Story
Yes, I am a CBC nerd. This is another CBC podcast about a woman’s journey of falling in love, getting your heart broken and being alone. I binged listened to both seasons. I just find her storytelling really captivating and I love the music.

10% Happier with Dan Harris
I finished Dan Harris’ book 10% Happier book as well as his How to Meditate (for fidgety skeptics) book. This podcast is mainly Dan interviewing people about their experiences with meditation. There are also some guided meditations as well.

Financial Independence (FI)
We listened to a few of these until they made me a crazy person about our trip budget. They are basically about saving money now so you can become financially independent earlier in life (like not waiting till the normal retirement age).