My own star-struck moment: Guest-speaking on Amateur Traveler podcast!

Those who know me well know that I love to travel. I’ll take every opportunity I get to go somewhere new - so it’s no surprise that one of my favorite podcasts is about traveling.

I discovered the Amateur Traveler podcast after moving to Lincoln this summer. Since I have a much longer commute than I used to, I took up listening to podcasts on my way to and from work. I immediately latched onto Amateur Traveler as it let me dream about all the places I hope to visit one day, and provided me with useful information about those places if and when I do visit them.

I was scrolling through the backlog of episodes one day when I found an episode on my home state of Nebraska. I was so excited that “the middle of nowhere” was given a chance to shine on this travel podcast. However, listening to it, I was slightly disappointed, as many of the things I know and love Nebraska for were not mentioned. So I took it upon myself to reach out to the host, award-winning travel journalist and podcaster Chris Christensen.

I sent him an email saying that as a longtime and current Nebraska resident, I felt another episode on Nebraska was in order. I pitched an episode following the historic Oregon Trail through Nebraska, as it would hit a lot highlights throughout the state.

I wasn’t really expecting my email to go anywhere, but the next day, Chris responded saying he was intrigued. I told him more about the many things that were left out of the first Nebraska episode, and he offered me a chance to speak on the show.

The rest is history, as they say. I spent several days preparing for this big opportunity, and on Saturday, Dec. 10, the episode “Nebraska Road Trip” was released. Give it a listen below, or wherever you get your podcasts!

*I will provide one disclaimer, particularly for those from my home area: I didn’t get to spend any time talking about Northeast Nebraska. I had originally wanted to, but I just ran out of time, and it didn’t fit with the rest of the itinerary following the Oregon Trail. I guess that means there could be another podcast on our beautiful state in the future to cover all the amazing things in Northeast Nebraska!