Love them for freeing independent travelers with their wealth of information, or hate them for making everywhere accessible to the backpacking masses, the Lonely Planet guides have undeniably rempapped the face of travel.

Not content to simply smash records, scale imposing peaks, and cross the earth’s most forbidding terrain, a new breed of adventurer has emerged that’s determined to do it all without any mechanical help.

Couchsurfing.com is having a bit of a moment right now.

What do jagged, post-punky rock music and the oft stuffy discipline of food writing have in common? Listen to Terry Gross interview Alex Kapranos, frontman of Scottish group Franz Ferdinand, about his gustatory adventures on the road, to find out.