Program 641: Finding Europe in America; Cruise Ship Nightmare; Iceland Backcountry

Get ideas and tips from TV host Samantha Brown for finding little corners of Europe in the New World, then hear an author's dramatic firsthand account of a near catastrophe on a cruise ship caught powerless in a freak winter storm off the coast of Norway. And a tour guide takes us to the wild, windy, and wonder-inspiring backcountry of Iceland.

• Samantha Brown, host of "Places to Love" TV travel series
• Travel writer Chaney Kwak, author of "The Passenger" (Godine)
• Tour guide Yorick Harker

• Samantha Brown hosts the "Places to Love" travel series on public TV.
• Sam offers advice for making plans to take a vacation this year.
• Chaney Kwak writes about his experience on the Viking Sky cruise ship, when it nearly ran aground off the Norwegian coast in a severe winter storm in March 2019, in his book "The Passenger."
• A Cruise Critic review of the "Viking Sky" cruise ship, now that it's been fixed up again.
• The Visit Iceland website has updated information on the country's Covid 19 rules for visitors.
• The safe.is website has information to help you venture safely onto the backroads of Iceland, and to help track your whereabouts on the country's gravel backroads.
• Yorick has used, and recommends, Iceland Camping Equipment in Reykjavik for arranging equipment rentals for the backcountry.
• Rick's senior writer/content director at Rick Steves' Europe, Cameron Hewitt, presented a one-hour talk in 2018 about planning a visit to Iceland.
• Yorick recommends exploring the sights of the Reykjanes Peninsula, near the main airport in southwest Iceland, and the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, north of Reykjavik, which includes the Vatnshellir Cave that inspired Jules Verne to write about the underworld.