Mekong Boating Adventure Interview with Sam Bove | Vagabond TV Episode 1

Vagabond TV Episode 1: Boating down the Mekong with Sam Bove

Adventure is not dead, and Sam Bove is my living proof. It is rare that I meet another traveler who not only dreams up fantastic journeys, but actually does them. In the vein of Richard Halliburton, Bove seems to seek an understanding of the world through direct and close experience, and he is not hesitant to use unconventional means in this pursuit. Though only 21, he has already undertaken multiple adventures through the world, having ridden a bicycle from Oregon to Central America and back up to Florida, walked across Italy, sailed yachts through the Caribbean, built a boat by hand and sailed it down the Mekong River, and is currently planning to buy a horse and ride into the mountains of Chiapas.

In a time when “adventure travel” means going on some sporting tour, Bove smashes this dominant paradigm though seemingly not acknowledging that it even exists. He does things his way, a sentiment that is not only evident in his travels but in everything else about him: he dresses as though he stepped out of the 1970s, listens to Guns and Roses cassette tapes through a boombox, and writes books on a typewriter. Sam is not a man of his time, but rather a representative of a peculiar sort of traveler who lives by a timeless set of rules, knows that they need to make their own adventures, cut their own paths, and cultivate their own journeys. As with anything else in life, you only get out of your travels what you put into them, and Sam Bove throws a mix of heart, guts, and imagination into his as he takes up a position among a surprisingly small group of modern adventurers.

In the words of Halliburton:

“Discretion was nothing but a rich, ugly old maid wooed by incapacity. How much more entertaining it was to woo Folly.”

Sam Bove on the Mekong River

Throughout his travels, Bove also writes books, having already written Traveling Gentlemen— the tale of his misadventures in the south of the USA and Latin America — and is currently working on another in the south of Mexico.

Vagabondjourney.com is pleased to have Sam Bove as the first guest on our new video series which explores the deeper spheres of travel potential. In the following film, Sam talks about his journey down the Mekong River in a boat he built by hand with two friends last March, as well as his ideas about adventure and travel in the 21st century.

If you are reading this page in your email, go to Mekong Boating Adventure to watch the video.