By Their Own Compass
@bytheirowncompass.com
Historian Jeremiah Jenne and journalist Sarah Keenlyside bring you stories of historical travelers, the places they went, and the people they encountered.
(After all, one person's frontier is another person's front door.)
(After all, one person's frontier is another person's front door.)
November 27, 2025 at 9:10 AM
On this date in 1922.
It was the spark that lit global Egyptomania.
Howard Carter peers through a small hole in a sealed doorway in the Valley of the Kings.
The tomb of Tutankhamun.
Lord Carnarvon: “Can you see anything?”
Carter: “Yes. Wonderful things.”
#ThisDayInHistory
It was the spark that lit global Egyptomania.
Howard Carter peers through a small hole in a sealed doorway in the Valley of the Kings.
The tomb of Tutankhamun.
Lord Carnarvon: “Can you see anything?”
Carter: “Yes. Wonderful things.”
#ThisDayInHistory
November 26, 2025 at 8:47 AM
On this date in 1922.
It was the spark that lit global Egyptomania.
Howard Carter peers through a small hole in a sealed doorway in the Valley of the Kings.
The tomb of Tutankhamun.
Lord Carnarvon: “Can you see anything?”
Carter: “Yes. Wonderful things.”
#ThisDayInHistory
It was the spark that lit global Egyptomania.
Howard Carter peers through a small hole in a sealed doorway in the Valley of the Kings.
The tomb of Tutankhamun.
Lord Carnarvon: “Can you see anything?”
Carter: “Yes. Wonderful things.”
#ThisDayInHistory
Happy birthday to Captain James Cook (b. 1728), who proved the Pacific wasn't as empty as Europeans imagined...mainly because millions already lived there. Brilliant cartographer, complicated legacy. Both can be true.
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Happy birthday to Captain James Cook (b. 1728), who proved the Pacific wasn't as empty as Europeans imagined...mainly because millions already lived there. Brilliant cartographer, complicated legacy. Both can be true.
In this week’s Compass Dispatch, your correspondent visits the Swiss Alps and ponders the relationship between mountains and the people who climb them. Also cocoa. Lots of cocoa.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Compass Dispatches: Eiger Dreams and Overpriced Cocoa in the Swiss Alps
Of humans, heights and the reliably beautiful but historically tragic alpine vistas of Central Switzerland
bytheirowncompass.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:56 PM
In this week’s Compass Dispatch, your correspondent visits the Swiss Alps and ponders the relationship between mountains and the people who climb them. Also cocoa. Lots of cocoa.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Reposted by By Their Own Compass
On the latest episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we look at the 15th-century voyages of the Chinese admiral Zheng He. It’s giraffes, medieval globalization, and what might have been if Zheng He had decided Europe was worth the trip.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
October 24, 2025 at 2:49 AM
On the latest episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we look at the 15th-century voyages of the Chinese admiral Zheng He. It’s giraffes, medieval globalization, and what might have been if Zheng He had decided Europe was worth the trip.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
Imagine responding to a LinkedIn job offer with "Great! I'll be there for the interview in 2 years. Just need to hang with some sultans, visit a khan, tour Constantinople, and see Central Asia." In this episode of By Their Own Compass, we follow the wanderings of Ibn Battuta.
October 15, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Imagine responding to a LinkedIn job offer with "Great! I'll be there for the interview in 2 years. Just need to hang with some sultans, visit a khan, tour Constantinople, and see Central Asia." In this episode of By Their Own Compass, we follow the wanderings of Ibn Battuta.
Today is the birthday of explorer Ann Bancroft, born 1955. First woman to reach both North and South Poles on foot. Walked through conditions that would kill most of us in about 90 minutes. Decided sitting still was for people without frostbite goals. An absolute travel legend.
September 29, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Today is the birthday of explorer Ann Bancroft, born 1955. First woman to reach both North and South Poles on foot. Walked through conditions that would kill most of us in about 90 minutes. Decided sitting still was for people without frostbite goals. An absolute travel legend.
William Adams didn’t set out to become the first Englishman in Japan, a confidant of a warlord, or the inspiration for James Clavell’s Shōgun. It just all rather happened.
Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
September 25, 2025 at 3:05 PM
William Adams didn’t set out to become the first Englishman in Japan, a confidant of a warlord, or the inspiration for James Clavell’s Shōgun. It just all rather happened.
Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Reposted by By Their Own Compass
After years teaching and leading educational travel in Asia, I moved to Geneva and had an existential crisis about medieval Swiss politics. What I learned about communication after 20+ years of making history interesting to strangers:
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
The Three Pillars of Great Guiding
Studying a lot of facts is important, but so is the ability to curate that information and deliver a compelling narrative.
open.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:31 PM
After years teaching and leading educational travel in Asia, I moved to Geneva and had an existential crisis about medieval Swiss politics. What I learned about communication after 20+ years of making history interesting to strangers:
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
Junko Tabei would be 86 today. First woman up Everest, but she didn't stop there. Climbed the Seven Summits, cleaned up mountains, took tsunami survivors up Fuji. There's literally an asteroid named after her. "Do not give up. Keep on your quest." What a life.
September 22, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Junko Tabei would be 86 today. First woman up Everest, but she didn't stop there. Climbed the Seven Summits, cleaned up mountains, took tsunami survivors up Fuji. There's literally an asteroid named after her. "Do not give up. Keep on your quest." What a life.
This week's Compass Dispatch includes observations from Sicily on the intersection of film tourism and historical reality. The Godfather locations reveal how Hollywood mythology can overshadow complex local histories.
Also mosquitoes.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Also mosquitoes.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
September 19, 2025 at 9:30 AM
This week's Compass Dispatch includes observations from Sicily on the intersection of film tourism and historical reality. The Godfather locations reveal how Hollywood mythology can overshadow complex local histories.
Also mosquitoes.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Also mosquitoes.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Pest is your great-aunt who started vaping at age 68 and still outdrinks rugby players at her local. Buda is the great-aunt who summers in Margate with her cats and her collection of Royal Worcester. We picked a side.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Compass Dispatches: Budapest
A brief missive from the banks of the Danube, where your correspondents contemplate the fine art of graceful deterioration
open.substack.com
September 12, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Pest is your great-aunt who started vaping at age 68 and still outdrinks rugby players at her local. Buda is the great-aunt who summers in Margate with her cats and her collection of Royal Worcester. We picked a side.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Every traveler shares one universal experience, regardless of era: digestive challenges far from home. Our latest newsletter dives into how archaeologists track ancient journeys through the "evidence" left behind. (1/2)
September 5, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Every traveler shares one universal experience, regardless of era: digestive challenges far from home. Our latest newsletter dives into how archaeologists track ancient journeys through the "evidence" left behind. (1/2)
Co-host Jeremiah is on holiday in his homeland, and we offer some thoughts on that most American of travel institutions: The Interstate Highway System. Infrastructure designed for Cold War logistics, now fully weaponized for family vacations.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
July 31, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Co-host Jeremiah is on holiday in his homeland, and we offer some thoughts on that most American of travel institutions: The Interstate Highway System. Infrastructure designed for Cold War logistics, now fully weaponized for family vacations.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
From horses to moon landings in 75 years. Meanwhile, it still takes 4 hours to get to Brighton via the M25 on a Friday afternoon. Progress is relative. 🚀
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
July 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
From horses to moon landings in 75 years. Meanwhile, it still takes 4 hours to get to Brighton via the M25 on a Friday afternoon. Progress is relative. 🚀
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
July 15 is the birthday of Chinese scholar and geographer Gu Yanwu (1613-1682). When the Ming dynasty fell in 1644, rather than serve the new Manchu conquerors, Gu Yanwu chose early retirement and a life of study and travel throughout northern China.
July 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
July 15 is the birthday of Chinese scholar and geographer Gu Yanwu (1613-1682). When the Ming dynasty fell in 1644, rather than serve the new Manchu conquerors, Gu Yanwu chose early retirement and a life of study and travel throughout northern China.
Henry Dunant's unsuccessful business trip to Solferino on June 24, 1859, inspired the founding of the International Red Cross. How a traumatic travel experience ultimately saved millions of lives.
#ThisDateinHistory #RedCross #HenryDunant #ICRC #BattleofSolferino
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
#ThisDateinHistory #RedCross #HenryDunant #ICRC #BattleofSolferino
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Compass Dispatch: How One Man's Terrible Business Trip Inspired the Red Cross
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Solferino
open.substack.com
June 24, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Henry Dunant's unsuccessful business trip to Solferino on June 24, 1859, inspired the founding of the International Red Cross. How a traumatic travel experience ultimately saved millions of lives.
#ThisDateinHistory #RedCross #HenryDunant #ICRC #BattleofSolferino
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
#ThisDateinHistory #RedCross #HenryDunant #ICRC #BattleofSolferino
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Reposted by By Their Own Compass
It’s 50 years today that Jaws was released.
Here’s the USS Indianapolis speech which (I believe anyway) Robert Shaw mostly improvised.
It gets a few of the factual details wrong. But in terms of history as storytelling it remains utterly compelling.
youtu.be/4kmMwQ6i6TU
Here’s the USS Indianapolis speech which (I believe anyway) Robert Shaw mostly improvised.
It gets a few of the factual details wrong. But in terms of history as storytelling it remains utterly compelling.
youtu.be/4kmMwQ6i6TU
USS Indianapolis Scene | JAWS (1975) Movie CLIP HD
YouTube video by JoBlo Movie Clips
youtu.be
June 20, 2025 at 11:30 AM
It’s 50 years today that Jaws was released.
Here’s the USS Indianapolis speech which (I believe anyway) Robert Shaw mostly improvised.
It gets a few of the factual details wrong. But in terms of history as storytelling it remains utterly compelling.
youtu.be/4kmMwQ6i6TU
Here’s the USS Indianapolis speech which (I believe anyway) Robert Shaw mostly improvised.
It gets a few of the factual details wrong. But in terms of history as storytelling it remains utterly compelling.
youtu.be/4kmMwQ6i6TU
We’re not only about Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta. We also do the impact of famous beach movies on the travel industry, plus BONUS explorations of our co-host’s childhood traumas. Enjoy!
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Compass Dispatch: Jaws at 50
How the first summer movie blockbuster changed beach travel forever
open.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 12:52 PM
We’re not only about Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta. We also do the impact of famous beach movies on the travel industry, plus BONUS explorations of our co-host’s childhood traumas. Enjoy!
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
It’s the 700th anniversary of one of history’s wildest adventures. By Their Own Compass Co-host @jeremiahjenne.com recaps the incredible story of Ibn Battutah.
June 13, 2025 at 11:36 AM
It’s the 700th anniversary of one of history’s wildest adventures. By Their Own Compass Co-host @jeremiahjenne.com recaps the incredible story of Ibn Battutah.
On this day in 1868, Robert Falcon Scott was born. His race to the South Pole with Amundsen became a lesson in how local knowledge and planning (like dogs and skis) can be the difference between triumph and tragedy.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Compass Dispatch: Polar Exploration Special – When Getting Lost Becomes Legendary
News from the world of historical travel and past journeys for June 3-10, 2025
bytheirowncompass.substack.com
June 6, 2025 at 9:41 AM
On this day in 1868, Robert Falcon Scott was born. His race to the South Pole with Amundsen became a lesson in how local knowledge and planning (like dogs and skis) can be the difference between triumph and tragedy.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Our weekly newsletter from the archives of travel history, notes about historical travelers, and other random travel-related thoughts jotted down while waiting at the intersection of distance and time.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Compass Dispatches: Brexit Queues soon to be a thing of the past? Exploring the world without leaving your house, and the joys of (nearly) instant communication
Thoughts and notes from around the world of historical travel (and travel history)
open.substack.com
May 27, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Our weekly newsletter from the archives of travel history, notes about historical travelers, and other random travel-related thoughts jotted down while waiting at the intersection of distance and time.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Reposted by By Their Own Compass
"They weren't stowaways. They didn't dress as women." Steven Schwankert joins us to discuss his book 'The Six' about the Chinese Titanic survivors. A detective story spanning continents, challenging misinformation, and reclaiming erased history. #Titanic #TheSix
blubrry.com/barbarians/1...
blubrry.com/barbarians/1...
May 20, 2025 at 5:26 AM
"They weren't stowaways. They didn't dress as women." Steven Schwankert joins us to discuss his book 'The Six' about the Chinese Titanic survivors. A detective story spanning continents, challenging misinformation, and reclaiming erased history. #Titanic #TheSix
blubrry.com/barbarians/1...
blubrry.com/barbarians/1...
Our weekly roundup of history, travel, and things that made us chuckle over the past week.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
May 16, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Our weekly roundup of history, travel, and things that made us chuckle over the past week.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Compass Dispatches: An overlooked Italian city (impossible, but true), travel stories that connect generations, and the anniversary of the "Golden Spike"
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Compass Dispatches: An overlooked Italian city (impossible, but true), Travel stories that connect generations, and the anniversary of the "Golden Spike"
Thoughts and notes from around the world of historical travel (and travel history)
open.substack.com
May 9, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Compass Dispatches: An overlooked Italian city (impossible, but true), travel stories that connect generations, and the anniversary of the "Golden Spike"
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...