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.)
Pinned
Our holiday gift to you..
Travel plans gone to rubbish? Flight delayed again?
Listen to our latest episode on travel plans gone horribly wrong. Your flight might not take off faster, but you'll feel better knowing you didn't bankrupt Scotland.
Link below.
Travel plans gone to rubbish? Flight delayed again?
Listen to our latest episode on travel plans gone horribly wrong. Your flight might not take off faster, but you'll feel better knowing you didn't bankrupt Scotland.
Link below.
It’s our holiday newsletter in which we look back on 2025, muse about holiday travel, and in which Sarah schools Jeremiah in the proper pronunciation of certain Scottish cities.
The link to the latest edition of The Compass Dispatch Newsletter is below.
The link to the latest edition of The Compass Dispatch Newsletter is below.
December 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
It’s our holiday newsletter in which we look back on 2025, muse about holiday travel, and in which Sarah schools Jeremiah in the proper pronunciation of certain Scottish cities.
The link to the latest edition of The Compass Dispatch Newsletter is below.
The link to the latest edition of The Compass Dispatch Newsletter is below.
Our holiday gift to you..
Travel plans gone to rubbish? Flight delayed again?
Listen to our latest episode on travel plans gone horribly wrong. Your flight might not take off faster, but you'll feel better knowing you didn't bankrupt Scotland.
Link below.
Travel plans gone to rubbish? Flight delayed again?
Listen to our latest episode on travel plans gone horribly wrong. Your flight might not take off faster, but you'll feel better knowing you didn't bankrupt Scotland.
Link below.
December 18, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Our holiday gift to you..
Travel plans gone to rubbish? Flight delayed again?
Listen to our latest episode on travel plans gone horribly wrong. Your flight might not take off faster, but you'll feel better knowing you didn't bankrupt Scotland.
Link below.
Travel plans gone to rubbish? Flight delayed again?
Listen to our latest episode on travel plans gone horribly wrong. Your flight might not take off faster, but you'll feel better knowing you didn't bankrupt Scotland.
Link below.
New bonus episode: Sarah Keenlyside talks with Tina Kanagaratnam from @historicshanghai.bsky.social about Emily Hahn's 1930s world and what remains today.
What happened to Emily's Shanghai? Listen now. Link to the full episode in the replies.👇
What happened to Emily's Shanghai? Listen now. Link to the full episode in the replies.👇
December 15, 2025 at 9:26 AM
New bonus episode: Sarah Keenlyside talks with Tina Kanagaratnam from @historicshanghai.bsky.social about Emily Hahn's 1930s world and what remains today.
What happened to Emily's Shanghai? Listen now. Link to the full episode in the replies.👇
What happened to Emily's Shanghai? Listen now. Link to the full episode in the replies.👇
Jazz, gibbons, and the ghost of the Cathay Hotel.
In this special bonus episode, we sat down with Tina Kanagarathnam of @historicshanghai.bsky.social to map out Emily Hahn’s 1930s Shanghai.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/bonus-epis...
#Shanghai #History #Travel
In this special bonus episode, we sat down with Tina Kanagarathnam of @historicshanghai.bsky.social to map out Emily Hahn’s 1930s Shanghai.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/bonus-epis...
#Shanghai #History #Travel
Bonus Episode: Emily Hahn’s Shanghai
A travel companion for finding the ‘Mickey Hahn’ era today with Historic Shanghai.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Jazz, gibbons, and the ghost of the Cathay Hotel.
In this special bonus episode, we sat down with Tina Kanagarathnam of @historicshanghai.bsky.social to map out Emily Hahn’s 1930s Shanghai.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/bonus-epis...
#Shanghai #History #Travel
In this special bonus episode, we sat down with Tina Kanagarathnam of @historicshanghai.bsky.social to map out Emily Hahn’s 1930s Shanghai.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/bonus-epis...
#Shanghai #History #Travel
Today is the birthday of writer Bill Bryson, born December 8, 1951:
"I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything... Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses."
"I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything... Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses."
December 8, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Today is the birthday of writer Bill Bryson, born December 8, 1951:
"I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything... Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses."
"I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything... Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses."
In this episode, we're following the travels of Emily “Mickey” Hahn in 1930s China. Mickey Hahn was a writer, an adventurer, and a rule breaker whose wanderlust remains an inspiration for travelers in no hurry to get home.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/emily-hahn...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/emily-hahn...
Emily Hahn
We’re following the travels of Emily “Mickey” Hahn in 1930s China. Mickey Hahn was a writer, an adventurer, and a professional rule breaker whose wanderlust remains an inspiration for travelers in no ...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:51 PM
In this episode, we're following the travels of Emily “Mickey” Hahn in 1930s China. Mickey Hahn was a writer, an adventurer, and a rule breaker whose wanderlust remains an inspiration for travelers in no hurry to get home.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/emily-hahn...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/emily-hahn...
New Compass Dispatch featuring Kate Simon, born December 5, 1918, who spent decades telling tourists where to find a decent meal before finally publishing the stories she really wanted to write.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
December 3, 2025 at 11:10 AM
New Compass Dispatch featuring Kate Simon, born December 5, 1918, who spent decades telling tourists where to find a decent meal before finally publishing the stories she really wanted to write.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
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