TURNING TO OTHERS: THE MAGIC OF ANALOG TRAVEL
TRAVEL LIKE IT’S 1999!
Our Looney World is a project of Matlana Media, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Matlana Media’s mission is to revive our analog travel skills. Before smartphones, traveling anywhere meant turning to other people. You had to ask for help, pay attention, improvise, trust your instincts, and tolerate uncertainty. Through video podcasts, Ian & Justine model and celebrate these skills, showing what becomes possible when we engage directly with the world and the people around us.
30 years ago, Ian Wright & Justine Shapiro, the original hosts of the travel series Lonely Planet / Globe Trekker, backpacked through more than 100 countries appearing on camera unscripted and often unshowered, their intrepid spirits attracted tens of millions of viewers across the globe.
Their navigational tools were common sense, paper maps, phrase books, cash, and the help of strangers. That dynamic wasn't a by-product of the trip. It was the trip.
Those weren’t just travel skills. Those were human skills. And they’re worth bringing back.
Season 1 October 2025 - March 2026
Ian & Justine are still trekking—only now the bumpy backroads have given way to a couple of comfy chairs. The setting may be different, but the rules of travel still apply: ask, listen, have a laugh, stay humble, scratch at the unfamiliar, and follow someone else's train of thought.
Season 2 launches in September!
In Season 2, Ian & Justine reconnect with Globe Trekker colleagues and meet total strangers. They revisit adventures from their days on the road, and discover new territory alongside people they’ve never met—proving what they’ve always known: a good conversation can take you just about anywhere, for free!
Participate
We want YOUR stories. We really do! PARTICIPATE! Send us your video. We're all a little Loonie around here, and honestly… your stories are as good as ours.
Our Latest Episode
Episode 6: Part 2: Life After Globe Trekker
March 19, 2026
In Episode 6, Part 1, Ian and Justine pulled back the curtain on what it was really like to have "The Best Job in the World." Now, in Part 2, Ian & Justine are back to tell us what they've been up to since hosting Globe Trekker.
