Stories, video and podcasts about culture and places. Home of Gone Astray - Russell Johnson, the weekly culture and humor podcast. Clarke in Sri Lanka.
The Connected Traveler, one of the world’s first web travel magazines, was also a pioneer of podcasting and video on the web.
“It is all about telling stories, in whatever medium that works best,” says editor-publisher Russell Johnson. "We're not afraid of being a bit 'off the wall.'
A PIONEERING WEB SITE
Russell Johnson founded The Connected Traveler in 1994 on The Well, the pioneering online c
03/20/2026
A couple of weeks ago we took a trippy trip to the Gregangelo Museum, hidden in a San Francisco neighborhood, where we self-reflected as we slipped down a rabbit hole, contemplated life and death and yelled into a black hole.
See the video and pictures below.
02/13/2026
Language lesson for the week, from my Gone-Astray podcast.
https://connectedtraveler.com/the-language-of-bs/
01/06/2026
View from our hike: Los Angeles skyline from Griffith Park in winter.
01/05/2026
New Years Resolutions: What I learned from otters. My latest video/audio podcast.
Otter Ecstacy – Why I Vow to be Otterlike in 2026 An audio and video essay on why the author vows to be more like an otter in 2026. Hints: be more playful, eat more shellfish, watch out for Great White Sharks.
11/05/2025
Here is a video I did a few weeks ago of the mudpots, fumaroles, geysers, rising steam and swirling patterns at Yellowstone. A real moment of Zen. Our thanks to Beaver Dick for putting this on the map.
08/25/2025
Halloween pales to celebration of Day of the Dead in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We celebrated both there last year. Watch the video: https://connectedtraveler.com/day-of-the-dead-vs-halloween-san-miguel-de-allende-mexico/
08/08/2025
Will Trevor, the dabbling duck, remain faithful to the tender-breasted Lady Rosalinda of the Reeds or be tempted again by the Tatania, the comely Muscovy? What will the Dowager Duck, who has just undergone a beak sharpening procedure, say? Here is an exclusive preview of the coming season of Duckton Abbey. Should be interesting because it comes on the opening of duck hunting season. https://connectedtraveler.com/sneak-preview-duckton-abbey-the-new-season/
04/22/2025
To celebrate Earth Day: A few video clips we put together from around the world.
Celebrating Earth Day: Scenes from Around the World – Video Three minutes of Zen: Scenes and sounds I have captured around the world including the Amazon, Bali, Niagara Falls, the Merced bird migration, the Humboldt Redwoods,the Northern California Coast, the Sahara Desert, Sri Lanka, and the Mekong River in Laos.
02/25/2025
A radio memoir titled "Live from Camp Swampy: My Baptism Into the Realm of Radio: about Ducks, Border Blasters, and a Visit from Charlie Gr**go"
An audio story about my debut as a teenage radio DJ at a studio in a little house in a duck swamp under three radio towers. Link below.
10/24/2024
A reading from my new humor new book, Gone Astray, illustrated by the whimsical cartoons of Pat Meier-Johnson. The reading is from the audio book, which is also now available. Find the audio and links to where you can buy it here: https://russelljohnson.com/books
09/13/2024
Something from my photo shoebox: I made a print of The Potter's Hand. I took it in Morocco a few years ago.
09/04/2024
My new book, Gone Astray, is now breathing: 20 short essays that create Downton Abbey in a Duck Pond, offer a travel guide to where to go AFTER you die, explain opera, what happens when you mix the DNA of a standard poodle with that of a woolly mammoth, and other existential question and answers.
Illustrated by my treasure and Treasure Artist Pat Meier-Johnson
Available online on Amazon or your favorite bookstore.
https://russelljohnson.com/russell-johnson-books/