Listen to RV Radio Shows via Podcasts

If you haven’t discovered podcasts about RVing, you’re in for a treat!  Think of them like Blogs that you can listen to, rather than read.  I know of two personally, and I’m sure there are more.  RV Navigator is a show by Ken and Martha Wiseman.  They have been extended RV travelers since 2005.  Their home is in Chicago.  They also travel by cruise ship.  Ken is a gadget king and you will hear a lot about Macintosh computers, iPhones, iPads and all things Apple from Ken in addition to RV and Travel topics.  RV Navigator podcasts are produced once or twice each month when they are traveling. Each podcast is about an hour long.

Living the RV Dream is a show by John and Kathy Huggins.  They have been fulltime RVers since 2005.  Their goal is to visit all the US National Parks.  They also do a lot of volunteer work since hitting the road including working at the Escapees CARE center in Livingston, Texas. Living the RV Dream podcasts are produced weekly.  Make sure to check out the Jan 19, 2011 episode where they interview Geeks on Tour – the author of this article!

What is a Podcast?

The term ‘Podcast’ originated with the popular iPod device from Apple.  The iPod is a dedicated device for playing audio files.  However, you do not need an iPod to play podcasts.  Any computer will do, and most smart phones, as well as dozens of makes and models of ‘.mp3’ players.

A podcast is a computer file, usually in the .mp3 format.  What I’m talking about in this article is audio only, although podcasts can also include video.  Audio podcasts are great to listen to as you’re driving down the road.  You can listen to it from your computer, or you can download it to an MP3 player, or even to your smart phone.  We use our Droid cell phones and plug the audio into our radio so we hear the sound from the radio speakers. 

How do you Download the Podcast?

Every system will be a bit different.  Living The RV Dream, for example, uses a system called ‘Podomatic.’  When you click thru to a podcast on their website, you will see a list of links:

If you click the ‘Play’ button, the audio will start streaming thru your computer and you can listen as it goes.  You must be connected to the Internet for this to work.  If you click ‘Download’, it will download the complete file to your computer – or whatever device you’re using to access this screen.  After the file is completely downloaded, you can run it and play the complete file without an Internet connection.  This is very handy for listening to podcasts while you’re driving.

The RV Navigator podcasts don’t have the same list of choices, but you will see a big button that reads, “Listen Now.”  Click that and the podcast will start playing over your internet connection.  To download the file, you can right-click on the Listen Now button – then you will see a drop-down menu and you can click the option for ‘Save Target As …’ or ‘Save Link As …’  This way you can save the whole file on your device for playback later without an Internet connection.

Subscribing to Podcasts Using iTunes

iTunes is free software that you can download to your computer.  Once installed, it can be the manager of all the audio and video files on your computer.  It is also connected to the online iTunes store where you can buy all the music your heart desires and download to your computer to be played via iTunes.  iTunes also gives you tools to transfer files to a standalone audio players like an iPod, other .mp3 player, or a smart phone.

There is a category of files listed in iTunes for podcasts.  There are thousands of free podcasts available thru iTunes, including the two mentioned above.  Just use the search tool to find RV Navigator and Living the RV Dream.  Once you find them, you can ‘subscribe.’  That means, whenever a new episode comes out, iTunes will automatically download the episode to your computer so you can listen to it offline whenever you want.

How about you?  Have you found any good RV related podcasts?  And, what is your favorite method for listening?