The Adventure Story Podcast: For lovers of Adventure, Archaeology, and Historical Mysteries.

Inspired by Iceland with Monika Pronczuk

There's a volcano on the western tip of Iceland where, according to one of the greatest adventure stories ever written, the journey to the centre of the earth begins. Jules Verne knew what he was doing. Because Iceland isn't just a travel destination — it's a feeling, a pull, something that gets under your skin and doesn't let go, even when you're back home, even when months have passed, even when you've already been four times. For Monika Pronczuk, though, Iceland isn't just a destination she covers on her travel blog, Plan Pack Explore. It's the one place she can't stop going back to. She first planned a family trip there in 2022 — badly, by her own admission, against a backdrop of cancelled flights, sick kids, and a volcano that erupted days before she landed. Four trips later, she still hasn't run out of places to show her family, or herself. In this episode, we go from the touristy Golden Circle to the honor-system campsites of the highlands, from troll legends written into the landscape to the one moment that actually rattled her. If a place needs to earn its "adventure" credentials, Iceland does it in the first five minutes off the plane. In This Episode, We Explore: * Folklore as daily life — trolls, hidden people, and the Yule Lads aren't tourist material in Iceland; they shape where roads get built and how locals talk about the landscape. * Going off the well-trodden path — a warm river you can bathe in after a 45-minute hike, Iceland's oldest swimming pool tucked into an empty valley, and a working farm with a resident reindeer named Tova. * Driving into the highlands — beginner-friendly F-roads, camper van life, and why renting a car (not a tour bus) is Monika's top recommendation. * The one time it got scary — not the remote wilderness, but a yellow wind warning five minutes from a hotel, and what it taught her about trusting the locals. Episode Timestamps: * 03:52 – Planning Backwards: A Cancelled Trip, a Volcano, and a Leap of Faith * 07:34 – Trolls, Hidden People, and Roads Built Around Legends * 11:04 – The First-Timer's Route: Golden Circle, Secret Lagoon, South Coast * 15:03 – Camper Van Life and the Honor-System Campsites * 18:02 – Off the Guidebook Path: A Warm River and a Farm Called Home * 20:53 – Into the Highlands: Beginner F-Roads and Epic, Empty Landscapes * 22:38 – The Only Time It Got Scary (and It Wasn't the Wilderness) * 29:33 – The Twelve-Volume Mystery Series That Started It All Links Referenced in This Episode: * Monika's Website [https://planpackexplore.com/] * Monika's Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/planpackandexplore] Got a Story Idea? If you have a mystery, legend, or adventure you’d like me to explore, drop a comment or email me at hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com [hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com]. I’d love to hear from you! Join the Adventure Society! Need more adventure in your life? (And let’s be honest, who doesn’t?) Join The Adventure Society, my weekly newsletter, where I share real-world explorations, book updates, and exclusive podcast insights. Sign up at: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/AdventureSociety [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/adventuresociety] Get a Free Adventure Thriller! A missing Picasso... A master thief... A thrilling race against time! When a priceless Picasso disappears in Paris, legendary thief Bernard Moreau is the prime suspect. But as two unlikely allies—Eden Black and Adriana Villa—hunt him down, the chase turns deadly. It’s a race through the shadowed streets of Paris, where every twist is as unpredictable as the city itself. Grab your FREE COPY of The Paris Heist here: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/Paris [https://www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/paris] Love Adventure Stories? If you enjoyed today’s episode, you’ll love my books—fast-paced thrillers packed with action, history, and mystery. Check them out at LukeRichardsonAuthor.com [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/] Thanks for tuning in! See you in the next episode of The Adventure Story Podcast. 🏆🎙 Mentioned in this episode: Join us on the trail of the Knight's Templar www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour For the first time ever, we're inviting you to join us on one of our adventures. And what better place to start than one of my favourite destinations… Portugal. But we’re not just going for the beaches and the wine, we’re following in the footsteps of one of history's most enigmatic organisations... the Knights Templar. We're going on the trail of the Templars in Portugal! Over five days and four nights, we'll guide you from the winding streets of Lisbon to the hilltop castle of Almourol, the sacred halls of Tomar's Convent of Christ, and the enchanting esoteric grottoes of Quinta da Regaleira—the very place that inspired my book The Templar Enigma. www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour

The Truth Behind the Knight's Templar with Tony McMahon

Imagine an order of warrior monks so devout they prayed like priests, so wealthy that kings owed them money, and so mysterious that eight centuries on, we're still arguing about what they found beneath Jerusalem. That's the Knights Templar, and in this episode, Templar historian Tony McMahon takes us from their founding as pilgrim bodyguards to their afterlife in Freemasonry, Nazi occultism, and Assassin's Creed. Tony has written three books on the order and hosts the Talking Templars podcast. Nine knights from Champagne built a monastic army out of Europe's landless second sons; popes showered them with privileges; and when the French crown turned on them in 1307, the charges became a template for the witch trials that followed. If you're drawn to stories where history and legend never quite settled, this one's for you! In This Episode, We Explore: * Born as bodyguards — after the First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1099, nine French knights formed a monastic order to protect pilgrims on the roads — and built the template for a new kind of professional, celibate soldier. * Relics, real and rumored — the Templars' Jerusalem headquarters sat on Temple Mount, root of centuries of speculation linking them to the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Shroud of Turin. * The fall — in 1307, King Philip IV had the order's leaders arrested for heresy and devil-worship, pressured the Pope into compliance, and burned the last Grand Master at the stake in 1314. Tony argues it was really about money and a dry run for the witch trials to come. * Did they survive? — from the disputed Larmenius Charter to Portugal's Order of Christ to Otto Rahn's doomed grail-hunt for Himmler, the Templars' afterlife runs through Freemasonry, the Age of Discovery, and pop culture from Walter Scott to Assassin's Creed to the Jedi. Check out Tony's book on the Knight's Templar here [https://geni.us/tonymcmahon] Have you read my, the Templar Enigma? Read it here [https://geni.us/templars] A TEMPLAR CURSE AN ANCIENT PROPHECY A PULSE-POUNDING RACE AGAINST TIME In 1314, Jacques de Molay, the last Templar Grand Master uttered a curse as he burned at the stake. Within months, both men responsible for his downfall, the King of France, and the Pope, lay dead. Centuries later, a Templar descendant discovers the key to unleashing the curse's power: The legendary Seal of Solomon. Learning of the relic’s power, he plans a cataclysmic event which will return civilization to the Dark Ages. Enter Eden Black. As the countdown begins, Eden is thrust into a web of intrigue that spans centuries, from the final days of the Knights Templar to the shadowy activities of a modern secret society. But, learning just how deep this conspiracy goes, and who exactly is involved, Eden realizes things are much more deadly that she first thought. From the crypt of a long-dead templar knight, to the shifting sands of the Sahara, and on to the palaces of Portugal, she uncovers shocking truths about her own destiny and the role she must play in the coming apocalypse. With heart-pounding action, characters you’ll fall in love with, and a plot that will leave you breathless, The Templar Enigma is a must-read for fans of Dan Brown, Steve Berry, Ernest Dempsey, and Nick Thacker. Episode Timestamps: * 02:03 – Ground Zero: Who Were the Knights Templar and Why Were They Formed? * 07:00 – Jerusalem Falls, Pilgrims Die, and the Templars Get a Mission * 10:00 – Temple Mount and the Birth of the Treasure Rumours * 12:00 – The Holy Grail, Wolfram von Eschenbach, and the Templizer * 16:56 – Otto Rahn, the Nazis, and the Doomed Hunt for the Grail * 19:38 – 1307: King Philip IV Moves Against the Order * 22:52 – Did the Templars Survive? The Larmenius Charter and the Neo-Templar Split * 26:26 – Templars in Pop Culture: Walter Scott, Assassin's Creed, and the Jedi * 31:52 – The Order of Christ, Henry the Navigator, and the Age of Discovery * 33:41 – Tony's Favorite Legend: Joseph of Arimathea and the Grail at Glastonbury Links Referenced in This Episode: * Tony's Website [https://tony-mcmahon.com/] * Tony's Books [https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0083WHKWS] Got a Story Idea? If you have a mystery, legend, or adventure you’d like me to explore, drop a comment or email me at hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com [hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com]. I’d love to hear from you! Join the Adventure Society! Need more adventure in your life? (And let’s be honest, who doesn’t?) Join The Adventure Society, my weekly newsletter, where I share real-world explorations, book updates, and exclusive podcast insights. Sign up at: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/AdventureSociety [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/adventuresociety] Get a Free Adventure Thriller! A missing Picasso... A master thief... A thrilling race against time! When a priceless Picasso disappears in Paris, legendary thief Bernard Moreau is the prime suspect. But as two unlikely allies—Eden Black and Adriana Villa—hunt him down, the chase turns deadly. It’s a race through the shadowed streets of Paris, where every twist is as unpredictable as the city itself. Grab your FREE COPY of The Paris Heist here: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/Paris [https://www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/paris] Love Adventure Stories? If you enjoyed today’s episode, you’ll love my books—fast-paced thrillers packed with action, history, and mystery. Check them out at LukeRichardsonAuthor.com [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/] Thanks for tuning in! See you in the next episode of The Adventure Story Podcast. 🏆🎙 Mentioned in this episode: Join us on the trail of the Knight's Templar www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour For the first time ever, we're inviting you to join us on one of our adventures. And what better place to start than one of my favourite destinations… Portugal. But we’re not just going for the beaches and the wine, we’re following in the footsteps of one of history's most enigmatic organisations... the Knights Templar. We're going on the trail of the Templars in Portugal! Over five days and four nights, we'll guide you from the winding streets of Lisbon to the hilltop castle of Almourol, the sacred halls of Tomar's Convent of Christ, and the enchanting esoteric grottoes of Quinta da Regaleira—the very place that inspired my book The Templar Enigma. www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour

Finding the Garden of Eden with David Rohl

What if the Garden of Eden was a real place and someone actually went looking for it? David Rohl is an Egyptologist, historian, and bestselling author who didn't just theorize about the location of Eden, he visited… seven times! Through Iran, across the Zagros Mountains, through seven mountain passes the ancients called the Gates of Heaven, following rivers, ancient texts, and Neolithic clues to a valley in northwest Iran that he believes is the real place behind the oldest story ever told. In this conversation, David takes us on that expedition: from the oil fields of Khuzestan to the cave-dwelling village of Kandovan, carved into volcanic lava on the slopes of Sahand volcano. He traces the four rivers of Genesis to their headwaters, explains why the red ochre mountains surrounding the Achi Chai Valley connect directly to the name Adam itself, and shares the moment he knew that he'd found it. We also get into what it actually means for ancient legends to be real. David makes a sharp distinction between myth and legend, argues that stories like the Garden of Eden, the Great Flood, and Cain and Abel preserve genuine cultural memory passed down through oral tradition for thousands of years and explains why the academics who disagree have probably never left their offices. It's part archaeology, part adventure story, part detective work across millennia. And it starts with a single question: what do you do when you follow the rivers? In this Episode, We Explore: * Following the Rivers — why tracing the four rivers of Genesis leads directly to northwest Iran, and how David proved it on the ground * The Neolithic Connection — why the first crops, first domesticated animals, and the beginning of civilization all happened in this exact region * The Red Earth — why the name Adam literally means "man of the red earth," and what the red ochre burial practices of this region have to do with it * Myth vs. Legend — why David believes ancient stories like Eden preserve real cultural memory, and what that means for how we read them Episode Timestamps: * 03:08 - Iran Road Trip Begins * 06:53 - Why Eden Might Be Real * 08:05 - Following Rivers to Eden * 08:46 - Boots On the Ground * 10:21 - Through Seven Gates * 15:34 - Kandovan and Volcano River * 17:22 - Academic Pushback Theories * 19:17 - Neolithic Clues and Red Earth * 25:39 - Myth Versus Legend Links Referenced in This Episode: * A Test Of Time [https://amzn.eu/d/0chVUtZS] * Legend: The Genesis of Civilisation [https://amzn.eu/d/0b91oq8o] Got a Story Idea? If you have a mystery, legend, or adventure you’d like me to explore, drop a comment or email me at hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com [hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com]. I’d love to hear from you! Join the Adventure Society! Need more adventure in your life? (And let’s be honest, who doesn’t?) Join The Adventure Society, my weekly newsletter, where I share real-world explorations, book updates, and exclusive podcast insights. Sign up at: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/AdventureSociety [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/adventuresociety] Get a Free Adventure Thriller! A missing Picasso... A master thief... A thrilling race against time! When a priceless Picasso disappears in Paris, legendary thief Bernard Moreau is the prime suspect. But as two unlikely allies—Eden Black and Adriana Villa—hunt him down, the chase turns deadly. It’s a race through the shadowed streets of Paris, where every twist is as unpredictable as the city itself. Grab your FREE COPY of The Paris Heist here: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/Paris [https://www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/paris] Love Adventure Stories? If you enjoyed today’s episode, you’ll love my books—fast-paced thrillers packed with action, history, and mystery. Check them out at LukeRichardsonAuthor.com [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/] Thanks for tuning in! See you in the next episode of The Adventure Story Podcast. 🏆🎙 Mentioned in this episode: Join us on the trail of the Knight's Templar www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour For the first time ever, we're inviting you to join us on one of our adventures. And what better place to start than one of my favourite destinations… Portugal. But we’re not just going for the beaches and the wine, we’re following in the footsteps of one of history's most enigmatic organisations... the Knights Templar. We're going on the trail of the Templars in Portugal! Over five days and four nights, we'll guide you from the winding streets of Lisbon to the hilltop castle of Almourol, the sacred halls of Tomar's Convent of Christ, and the enchanting esoteric grottoes of Quinta da Regaleira—the very place that inspired my book The Templar Enigma. www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour

When the Adventure Becomes Your Story with Kim Frank

What happens when a story grabs you and won't let go? For writer and explorer Kim Frank, the answer meant years of return trips to the Eastern Himalayas, nights out in the field with wild elephants, and a close encounter with a male elephant in musth that she describes as life changing. The result? A book, a documentary, and a cause she now says she is responsible for the rest of her life to tell. Kim is the author of Elephants in the Hourglass — a sweeping, deeply personal account of the complex relationship between wild Asian elephants and the human communities they share land with along the India-Nepal border. In this conversation, we explore the nature of curiosity, the power of obsession, and what it really means to surrender to a place and a story. In this Episode, We Explore: * How the story found her — Kim wasn't looking to write about elephants; she wanted an adventure she could inhabit herself. A conversation on a hike changed everything. * The human-elephant conflict — Wild Asian elephants are destroying crops, raiding homes, and occasionally killing people along the India-Nepal border. Kim explains why it's not a story with heroes and villains; you end up rooting for everyone at once. * An elephant who moved a child to safety — A first-hand account from a local ranger: an elephant gently carried a six-year-old girl out of the house he was raiding, set her down safely in the street, and went back in for the rice beer. * The Dalai Lama's trail at 9,700 feet — Tracing a 2,300km ancient elephant migration route, Kim walked a Himalayan trail lined with Buddhist prayer scarves and discovered it was the same path the Dalai Lama used to escape Tibet. Episode Timestamps: * 02:05 - First Time Visiting India * 06:16 - Surrender and Travel Lessons * 08:52 - Elephant Conflict Spark * 11:14 - Finding the Story Angle * 15:19 - Empathy Over Headlines * 17:28 - Unseen Himalaya Magic * 22:51 - Returning and Building Trust * 24:20 - Outsider Perspective Challenges * 29:01 - Finishing Book and Film * 33:11 - When Stories Choose You * 40:24 - Advice for Creators * 42:47 - Childhood Adventure Influences Links Referenced in This Episode: * Elephants in the Hourglass [https://amzn.eu/d/01P561gJ] * Kim's Website [https://www.kimfrankwriter.com/] Got a Story Idea? If you have a mystery, legend, or adventure you’d like me to explore, drop a comment or email me at hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com [hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com]. I’d love to hear from you! Join the Adventure Society! Need more adventure in your life? (And let’s be honest, who doesn’t?) Join The Adventure Society, my weekly newsletter, where I share real-world explorations, book updates, and exclusive podcast insights. Sign up at: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/AdventureSociety [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/adventuresociety] Get a Free Adventure Thriller! A missing Picasso... A master thief... A thrilling race against time! When a priceless Picasso disappears in Paris, legendary thief Bernard Moreau is the prime suspect. But as two unlikely allies—Eden Black and Adriana Villa—hunt him down, the chase turns deadly. It’s a race through the shadowed streets of Paris, where every twist is as unpredictable as the city itself. Grab your FREE COPY of The Paris Heist here: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/Paris [https://www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/paris] Love Adventure Stories? If you enjoyed today’s episode, you’ll love my books—fast-paced thrillers packed with action, history, and mystery. Check them out at LukeRichardsonAuthor.com [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/] Thanks for tuning in! See you in the next episode of The Adventure Story Podcast. 🏆🎙 Mentioned in this episode: Join us on the trail of the Knight's Templar www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour For the first time ever, we're inviting you to join us on one of our adventures. And what better place to start than one of my favourite destinations… Portugal. But we’re not just going for the beaches and the wine, we’re following in the footsteps of one of history's most enigmatic organisations... the Knights Templar. We're going on the trail of the Templars in Portugal! Over five days and four nights, we'll guide you from the winding streets of Lisbon to the hilltop castle of Almourol, the sacred halls of Tomar's Convent of Christ, and the enchanting esoteric grottoes of Quinta da Regaleira—the very place that inspired my book The Templar Enigma. www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour

The Silk Road with Colin Falconer

What did it really take to cross the world before modern travel? In this episode, I'm joined by adventure novelist Colin Falconer, whose book Silk Road follows a Templar knight, a sharp-tongued priest, and a Mongol princess on a journey where survival is never guaranteed. Colin has traveled much of the route himself and brings the 13th century vividly to life — the politics, the dangers, and the ideas that crossed continents long before anyone thought to call it globalization. We get into what the Silk Road actually was, who used it, what they feared, and why it mattered far beyond the goods being traded. From the Pamir Mountains to the Taklamakan Desert, a name that roughly translates to go in and you won't come out — this was a journey no one took lightly. We also get into what made the Silk Road so important, not just for trade, but for the movement of ideas, religions, and technologies. From silk and gold to Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, this was one of the earliest connections between East and West. If you love history, adventure, and stories about a world more connected than we give it credit for, you’ll enjoy this conversation! In this Episode, We Explore: * The Silk Road was never a single path — it was a sprawling network of trade routes that no single merchant ever traveled end to end * Ideas moved as freely as goods — Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam all spread along these routes, which is why Islam reaches as far as Indonesia today * The physical dangers were extreme — the Pamir Mountains, the Taklamakan Desert, bandits, and a weather phenomenon called the black hurricane * Mongol women could ride, hunt, choose their own husbands — a cultural contrast that still surprises readers today * History was never as isolated as we assume — even in BC, Rome knew about China, and China knew about Rome * Episode Timestamps: * 02:13 - What The Silk Road Was * 03:22 - Goods and Ideas Exchange * 05:09 - Mongols and Brief Peace * 07:43 - Deadly Journey Hazards * 10:39 - Time and Logistics * 11:52 - Connected Medieval World * 13:39 - Researching The Silk Road * 15:22 - Decline and Maritime Route * 18:05 - Surprising Cultures and Tech * 21:36 - Writing History into Story Links Referenced in This Episode: * Silk Road — Colin Falconer [https://amzn.eu/d/01opZKjC] * Colin's Website [https://www.colinfalconerbooks.com/] Got a Story Idea? If you have a mystery, legend, or adventure you’d like me to explore, drop a comment or email me at hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com [hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com]. I’d love to hear from you! Join the Adventure Society! Need more adventure in your life? (And let’s be honest, who doesn’t?) Join The Adventure Society, my weekly newsletter, where I share real-world explorations, book updates, and exclusive podcast insights. Sign up at: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/AdventureSociety [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/adventuresociety] Get a Free Adventure Thriller! A missing Picasso... A master thief... A thrilling race against time! When a priceless Picasso disappears in Paris, legendary thief Bernard Moreau is the prime suspect. But as two unlikely allies—Eden Black and Adriana Villa—hunt him down, the chase turns deadly. It’s a race through the shadowed streets of Paris, where every twist is as unpredictable as the city itself. Grab your FREE COPY of The Paris Heist here: LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/Paris [https://www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/paris] Love Adventure Stories? If you enjoyed today’s episode, you’ll love my books—fast-paced thrillers packed with action, history, and mystery. Check them out at LukeRichardsonAuthor.com [https://lukerichardsonauthor.com/] Thanks for tuning in! See you in the next episode of The Adventure Story Podcast. 🏆🎙 Mentioned in this episode: Join us on the trail of the Knight's Templar www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour For the first time ever, we're inviting you to join us on one of our adventures. And what better place to start than one of my favourite destinations… Portugal. But we’re not just going for the beaches and the wine, we’re following in the footsteps of one of history's most enigmatic organisations... the Knights Templar. We're going on the trail of the Templars in Portugal! Over five days and four nights, we'll guide you from the winding streets of Lisbon to the hilltop castle of Almourol, the sacred halls of Tomar's Convent of Christ, and the enchanting esoteric grottoes of Quinta da Regaleira—the very place that inspired my book The Templar Enigma. www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/templartour