Program 576: Budget Travelers; Beginner's Guide to Japan; Ireland Today

Travel writer Seth Kugel offers eight tips for enjoying global travels with minimal expense. Then author Pico Iyer tells Rick how he keeps discovering new things about Japan and its people, even after living there for more than 30 years. And tour guides from Ireland share what's new in Dublin.

• Travel writer Seth Kugel, author of "Rediscovering Travel" (Liveright – W.W. Norton)
• Pico Iyer, author of "A Beginner's Guide to Japan" (Knopf) and "Autumn Light" (Knopf)
• Declan Field, tour guide/sculptor, originally from Cork and Dublin, Ireland
• Kieran O’Hare, Irish-American tour guide and musician

• Seth Kugel is the author of "Rediscovering Travel: A Guide for the Globally Curious."
• Seth writes occasional travel articles for the New York Times.
• The two books Pico Iyer has released in 2019 are about Japan. Just-released (Sept. 5, 2019) is "A Beginner's Guide to Japan."  Earlier in the year, he released a memoir on his life in a suburb of Nara, Japan, called "Autumn Light."
• Pico gave a ten-minute TED talk about his "identity" in Japan, called "The Beauty of What We'll Never Know."  
• Declan Field displays some of the sculptural art he makes on his blogspot page.
• Kieran O'Hare plays Uilleann Pipes with the ensemble Open the Door for Three, and co-founded the Irish-themed Eirways magazine.
• Declan Field recommends visiting the National Gallery in Dublin for Irish and contemporary art, and the Impressionist art at the Municipal Gallery at Parnell Square.  Rick and Declan add that the National History Museum, National Library, and the Book of Kells display at Trinity College, are also must-see sites in Dublin.  For hikes, he suggests the Wicklow Way, trails in County Kerry, and the Beara Peninsula in West Cork.  Kieran adds that the limestone Burren in County Clare and a new greenway in County Mayo, at Westport, are noteworthy hikes.
• The Croagh Patrick hike requires about an hour and a half to reach the peak.
• Among Dublin sites, the guests recommend Trinity College, the new Epic Museum about the Irish diaspora, and the Jeanie Johnston tall ship exhibit.