The Gear: Radio Overseas

I've always been a big fan of radio. One of the things I like to do when I travel is to listen to different stations that aren't available back home. For example, I can remember Splash FM (and a few of the songs I heard on Splash FM) from when I spent the summer of 2004 in southeast England. When I lived in the Middle East, I enjoyed listening to the BBC World Service in English and Arabic, as well as the local stations (most of which were in Arabic). I also tend to listen to a lot of streaming radio - for example, Oman's Arabic General Channel, or the Around Orkney Listen Again stream - and podcasts. My old Walkman has a radio receiver in it, though I don't use it very often.

Here in Aberdeen, the two local radio stations I tend to listen to the most are Original 106 - what we'd call a "Top 40" station back in the States - and Classic FM. There's a wide range of BBC stations, but most of what they broadcast is rubbish. I also brought one of my Grundig Mini World 100 PE shortwave radios, and I've enjoyed listening to such long distance broadcasts as the English services of Radio Romania International and the Voice of Russia. Unfortunately, it's developed a loose connection, so since I don't have the resources here in Scotland to fix it, I went to ASDA - WalMart, except with a nonsensical British name - to get an expendable AM/FM set.

As I travel a bit during my remaining months here, I may post a couple of updates on what other stations I tune in.