It’s sort of embarrassing how the Apple iPod has invaded our home.
Sainted Husband got a Shuffle when an in-law upgraded, we got our teen daughter a Nano for her birthday, then I pouted so much that I got one for Mother’s Day.
Although I use mine extensively to keep from losing my mind during today’s abysmal air travel experience, I have yet to download travel-related podcasts like audio tours.
Since I’m heading back to Chicago for my favorite blogging conference, I decided to experiment, and check out a download or two on my iPod.
I’m new at this, so I went super-basic….I Googled “Chicago travel podcast.”
Promising returns included The Amateur Traveler Chicago podcast, featuring Mark Peacock from Travel Commons to talk about the city. However, when I did my thing at “click here to download,” my laptop booted up the QuickTime player (which I thought was only for movies.)
The audio played just fine from the box on my laptop screen, but how to put the blasted thing onto my own iPod had me flummoxed (and I like to think I’m not a total tech idiot.) Right click, fiddle, poke….nothing.
So, I went on a hunt on the Amateur Traveler site for a tab labeled something like, “What To Do If You’re All Messed Up And Can’t Download Stuff Without Getting a Giant Blue Q.”
When I tried “Subscribe in iTunes,” my iTunes software booted up and I landed on the Amateur Traveler Podcast page in the iTunes Store, where I could download to my heart’s content.
Well, alrighty then.
The same thing happened when I tried to download the Indie Travel Podcast’s Planning a Road Trip episode; I got The Blue Q. When I punched the site’s widget labeled “Free Video and Podcast in iTunes,” I landed in the Indie Travel Podcast iTunes store, no problem.
Now, you’d think I’d take a hint and stay in the iTunes store and use their Search box to locate travel podcasts. I tried that, but I don’t have confidence that I can actually find relevant material there, because when I searched for “Chicago travel podcast” directly in iTunes search, nothing came up from Amateur Traveler.
[Insert one of my salty Navy expletives here.]
So, readers, where do YOU go for quality travel-related podcasts and audio tours (and what’s with the danged Blue Q?)
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m glad Indie Travel Podcast is one of the shows you were after, but I’m kind of biased
The problem isn’t with you, it’s with your browser! When you see the “download” button it’s linked to an mp3 file. Your browser tries to be smart and open the file for you.
If you right-click on that link, you’ll be able to “save file as” and put it on your desktop. If you’ve got a Mac, you should have the option to open audio files directly in iTunes.
The best way to follow podcasts though, is through subscribing in the iTunes store. Just visit the page (through the big purple button on our site) and then hit “subscribe”. It’s all free and your computer will search for and download the latest episodes of any shows you like. You can set iTunes to download everything, or just the most recent show. It’s so easy and they’ll transfer directly over to your iPod too.
Hope that helps! I’m half way through editing a video to help people subscribe right now. I’ll publish it on Indie Travel Podcast tomorrow.
Hi Craig,
Gosh, thanks, that was really helpful! I’m on a PC with Firefox, and will try the right click option that you’ve described.
I appreciate you dropping by so quickly; I hadn’t even tweeted about the post yet.
rapidly writing a blog post called “What To Do If You’re All Messed Up And Can’t Download Stuff Without Getting a Giant Blue Q”
Besides the frustration of getting the Big Blue Q, your other point — the inability to find what you really want in iTunes through search — is spot-on. With the explosive growth (and subsequent abandonment)of podcasts, I think iTunes has degenerated to just a “podcatcher” — a tool to manage podcast subscriptions, to move podcasts on and off your iPod.
Hi Chris – Thanks, I’ll be first in line to click that post!
Hi Mark – Yes, I was surprised that my iTunes searches returned such a mess, but I didn’t spend much time at it, I’ll admit. Since I’ve never uploaded a podcast myself, I don’t know if they can be tagged or made more searchable in some way.
I did notice that some “big names” in travel publishing did a bunch of uploads 2005-2008 and then mostly came to a roaring halt. Interesting.
There are plenty of excellent downloadable audio tours ready & available, in a point & shoot kind of way. The problem is (once you’ve figured out the download), the quality. Most are produced by amateurs, often offered even for free. Quality audio comes from content production companies who know how to show you things in an interesting way.
Incredibly, the audio experience should be a highly visual one, so, listening to audio passively on a plane (many are made for that), is actually a very unengaging and unpleasant experience (akin to having someone read aloud a travel guide while you’re in flight). So Caveat Emptor (listen to the demo files first).
Having said that, here are a few pointers:
- In Chicago, http://www.downloadchicagotours.com was produced by Acoustiguide, the leader in the field. It’s an excellent video tour too.
- Lodingo.com has developed a software which works seamlessly for direct download to iPods, which is really what you need. Again, they offer everything audio including tours and books.
- My own tours (touringtracks.com) can be downloaded with a simple click to your computer. Each file is numbered and titled so you don’t lose your way. Once on your pc or mac, it can be uploaded in a playlist to your iPod.
Hope this helps.
Lisa R. Tucci
Chief Creative Officer
Artineraries Tours
Wow, Lisa, thanks VERY much for such a long and helpful comment about where to find podcasts and what to look for in terms of podcast quality.
I feel a follow-up post a-brewing….