Action Packed Travel

This week, we're exploring the fraught subject of taking small children skiing for the very first time. We're going to start and end with a warning to listeners: If you want to book a nanny service-inclusive holiday for the coming winter, there is really no time to waste. You need to book right now.  Support the show

Le Grand-Bornand is not a name like Morzine or Chamonix that trips easily off the tongue when we mention skiing, but it's typically and traditionally French.  Support the show

It's the twentieth anniversary of Arc 1950. The resort began as the idea of Canadian resort developer, Intrawest, creator of Mont-Tremblant in Quebec and manager of some 20 other resorts in North America – from Whistler to Mammoth.  Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

This week we're talking to someone who specialises in creating holidays that are entirely different – taking you to places you probably thought were out of bounds to all tourists.  Support the show

We caught up with Rory Dixon who organises skiing-touring trips off a boat in Norway and Greenland,  life-changing adventures to distant corners of the world. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

Jess Isbrecht is a digital nomad who travels full time with her horses.   Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

Harry Mitsidis has travelled to every country in the world, at least twice.  He's the founder of a website called NomadMania. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

To discover a little of what former Royal Marine, Sam Cox, will experience living alone at -30°C, podcaster Peter Hardy spends time in an industrial freezer. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

No, not the 1951 movie starring Gene Kelly and Lesley Caron... Jay Swanson moved from the USA and now lives in Paris where he calls himself: 'a YouTuber, writer, and puppy wrangler.'  He  publishes a guide to the city called Paris in my Pocket . Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

We're on the road exploring a thriving sector of the travel industry that continues to explode in popularity across Europe.  Music © Barney and Izzi Hardy  Support the show

Untamed Borders sets out to satisfy the hunger of that rare breed of traveller who's already been to the far corners of the earth, got the T-shirt but still wants more.  Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

This week, we're talking to travel guru, Amin Momen, whose London-based company Momentum Ski organises bespoke holidays.  Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

Turn your wildest travel dreams into reality, with superyacht voyages to the end of the earth, intrepid  journeys to deserts, jungles, polar regions and the oceans. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the show

We're in Vienna for an unusual episode of Action Packed Travel – unusual because our principal guest is Felice herself. She's just published a book about her grandparents' dramatic escape from Vienna to London on the eve of World War II.  Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

Chris and his girlfriend Phoebe are in the saddle, for what you might describe by any standards as a rather long bike ride. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

With the sunny weather outside, we felt it was time to republish this episode about Bath Thermae Spa. Bath in the southwest of England is famous for its Roman baths. In its Regency heyday, the supposedly curative waters attracted the cream of British society…and of course, Jane Austen. 2,000 years later, the  waters were re-harnessed in the magnificent thermal spa located just a soap bath's throw...

Tom Kevill-Davies has managed to carve a highly successful career for himself out of his twin passions, cycling and eating.  Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the show

Only a handful of  ski resorts in the Alps will in future offer reliable snow cover throughout the season. These include Val d'Isere, Tignes and Val Thorens in France, Cervinia in Italy, and Zermatt in Switzerland – not forgetting the Austrian glaciers. Support the show

Globally, there's just a handful of specialist operators who look after their guests on this giddy level. London-based Consensio is the leader of the pack.  Support the show

Cheryl B Engelhardt is a singer-songwriter who composed and recorded her album, Passenger, on a train journey from New York City to Los Angeles.  Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

Action woman extraordinary – mountain and ocean photographer, skier and freediver, Melody lives her life on the edge. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

It was three years ago that we launched our podcast and today we're in a village that dates back to 1930. It is now evolving into what should become one of the most important  future destinations for skiers in the whole of Europe.  Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

The island of Jersey's top five-star hotel is a very special place indeed.  Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

We went on a lightning tour of some of the crumbling coastal defences linked by a network of underground passages and even an underground German hospital. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show

A vast ski area, environmentally-friendly chalets, and birds of prey are just a few of the attractions of Morzine. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy  Support the show