Unravel Travel

Send us Fan Mail Is Paris worth the hype? From the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre to café culture and a night at the Moulin Rouge, Malcolm and David revisit the French capital with humour, hazy memories and rather different levels of enthusiasm. This week on Unravel Travel, we look back on Paris city breaks, an Interrail adventure and business trips that involved rather more eating than sightseeing....

Send us Fan Mail Planning a York city break or a holiday in Yorkshire? Malcolm and David explore things to do in York, walking in the North York Moors and places to visit along the Yorkshire coast — with personal travel stories, childhood memories and plenty of humour. David reports back from a weekend in York, while Yorkshire-born Malcolm explains why his home county deserves its “God’s Own Count...

Send us Fan Mail Which Thai island should you visit—and is James Bond Island really worth the journey? Malcolm and David return to Thailand to share memories from Koh Tao, Koh Chang, Koh Lanta, Phuket and the spectacular limestone scenery around Krabi and Phang Nga Bay. David recalls a stormy journey to Koh Tao, learning to scuba dive in three and a half days, spending Christmas walking through th...

Send us Fan Mail Havana is a city of glorious contradictions: elegant Spanish colonial squares and grand hotels, crumbling balconies and improvised daily life, vintage American cars kept running with replacement engines—and music, rum and conversation around every corner. In this episode of Unravel Travel, Malcolm takes David back to his 2016 visit to Havana, Cuba. From the bureaucratic chaos of t...

Send us Fan Mail How did we travel before smartphones, Google Maps, WhatsApp and instant online booking—and was it actually better? In this nostalgic and frequently funny episode of Unravel Travel, Malcolm and David climb aboard a metaphorical TARDIS and return to the days when independent travel involved physical travel agents, paper maps, enormous guidebooks, travellers’ cheques and a considerab...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a summer of UK walking holidays turns into plans to spend most of the winter travelling around Asia? Malcolm and David pause their usual destination-led episodes for a catch-up on where they have been—and where they are heading next. David looks back on walking holidays in the Yorkshire Dales, Peak District and Mendip Hills, including Whernside in glorious sunshi...

Send us Fan Mail Perth may be one of the world’s most isolated major cities, but Western Australia is anything but empty. In this episode, Malcolm returns to 1997, when he travelled from Singapore to spend two weeks with friends living near Scarborough Beach. Dave wasn’t on the trip, so he supplies the questions, reactions and occasional disbelief as Malcolm retraces his journeys around Perth and...

Send us Fan Mail A trek to K2 Base Camp is difficult enough with an organised expedition and a team of porters. In 1994, aged just 21 and with very little overseas travel experience, Stewart set out with four university friends to carry everything they needed through Pakistan’s Karakoram mountains. In this episode, Malcolm and David are joined by Malcolm’s brother Stewart, who recounts an extraord...

Send us Fan Mail A cabin in the woods sounds wonderfully romantic—but what is everyday cabin life really like when there is no mains water, electricity or sewage, and the nearest regularly occupied neighbour is around two miles away? In this episode of Unravel Travel, Malcolm takes us inside the remote cabin he has owned for around nine years in the Czech Republic. David, who has visited the cabin...

Send us Fan Mail Can a music festival replace a traditional summer holiday? In this episode of Unravel Travel , Malcolm and David revisit more than three decades of festival travel, free concerts and trips built around live music. Their festival memories begin at Glastonbury Festival in 1992 , reached from North Lincolnshire in an ageing Mini with camping equipment—and a portable toilet—strapped t...

Send us Fan Mail Peru and the Inca Trail: Lima, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Amazon In this episode of Unravel Travel , we revisit an organised group trip to Peru , built around the legendary four-day Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu . The full journey lasted around 17 days and took in several of Peru’s most memorable travel experiences: the humidity and history of Lima , the altitude...

Send us Fan Mail Alcohols of the World: Beer First, Then Spirits of Travel Specific episode mentions Hook Norton Brewery tours -  https://www.hooky.co.uk/visit-us/book-a-brewery-tour/ That bar in Bratislava - ZilVerne Craft beer pub  - https://www.beer4you.sk/zil-verne/  El Floridita  - The Hemmingway bar - https://www.barfloridita.com/ The Raffles Long Bar - https://www.raffles.com/singapore/dini...

Send us Fan Mail Bath vs Bristol: Two Cities, Two Worlds Episode summary In this episode of Unravel Travel , we compare two of the great West Country city breaks: Bath and Bristol . They sit close together on the map, yet they feel like completely different worlds. Bath is elegant, Georgian, polished and deeply historic. Bristol is colourful, creative, messy, musical and restless. We start with a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode 27 we go back to Sri Lanka to discuss how Malcolm visited in the early 2000's with a very young family.  Many shared perspectives and a few differences and an exploration of a different side of Sri Lanka.  This has much more cricket in it, not all of it good. A guide to the nicest and most unusual p;aces to stay in Sri Lanka, look around there are some absolut...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode 26 we thought we would address the backlog of questions from listeners leading a to a diverse episode covering a range of topics, some on which we agree and some on which we don't. How different is it to live overseas, rather than just to visit? How often do you still travel together and what trips are you planning? How to progress from snorkeling to scuba div...

Send us Fan Mail Join Malcolm and David on this first episode of a double header as they explore the incredible island nation of Sri Lanka. From the bustling streets of Colombo to the scenic tea-covered hills of Ella and the wildlife-rich national park of Yala, they uncover the diverse experiences that make Sri Lanka one of Asia's most captivating destinations. Along the way, they discuss the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, David & Malcolm are joined by Izzy to take you on a tropical journey through Bali and Gili Trawangan, two of Indonesia’s most captivating destinations. The adventure begins in Ubud on Bali, where lush rice terraces - such as Tegallalang, ancient temples, waterfalls, white water rafting on the Ayung river near Ubud  and a coffee plantation specialising in Kopi...

Send us Fan Mail In this third episode of the New York Trilogy we look into some of the details of food and gallery visits. We talk shopping in New York, Old buildings and new concepts like trip planning with AI, when to trust it and when to ask again. In episode 26 we will be catching up on questions from the first 25 episodes, so if you have that burning question on the tip of your tongue then j...

Send us Fan Mail In this second episode of the New York Trilogy we are joined by Izzy for a slightly different take on New York.  All the deep and meaningful culture that Malcolm didn't bother with. We talk about Dumbo, the best sort of Diner breakfasts and why the big apple is obviously Green. The highline, Twin towers memorial and we finally settle the dilemma about what is an acceptable Br...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we take our first bite out of the big apple. We talk about musical influences, first impressions and getting around. Walking is good, too much walking is bad. Visa applications pitfalls, the worst immigration (unless you have had the rubber glove treatment). Bridges and other assorted architecture and David's love of South Park. If you have a story to share or...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we continue our review of Cornwall, this time with more of a focus on the cultural, covering: St Ives (Tate and the Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden). Tremenheere Sculpture gardens The Minack Theatre The Eden project CharlesTown St Michael's Mount Tintagel We also discuss accomodation, Victorian hotels, Fawlty Towers, tiny AirBnBs and where and where not,...

Send us Fan Mail To celebrate the May Bank Holiday and the inevitable forecast of rain, what could be more appropriate than a discussion of Cornwall?  The A30 will be packed with visitors eager to get away for some summer sun, walks, fish and chips and the inevitable seagull attack.  This will at least give you something to listen to as you crawl down the A40 or scour St. Ives for the mythical par...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode David and Malcolm discuss the basics of trekking, including how best to avoid and deal with altitude sickness. They talk about how the gear is transported on a trekking expedition and they fall down the rabbit hole of what actually is a mule!! The correct answer obviously being: a mule is the sterile offspring of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse (mare).  The...

Send us Fan Mail In the 2nd part of this episode on Scottish Canoe Expeditions we explore some of the practicalities like travel and hire.  Also tents, sleeping and the usual juvenile toilet topics. We talk about how to work your way up to a trip like this, what the kit might cost and who sits where in a Canoe. https://snowgoosecentre.co.uk https://www.rockhopperscotland.co.uk/ This episode is bro...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we are joined by Malc's brother Stewart to talk about Canoe expeditions in the wilds of Scotland. This is part one of a two part topic where we cover some basics: - Canoe vs Kayak - Preparation and planning - The importance of Weather - Weather making or breaking a trip - Safety and weather - Yes, weather (Just in case you missed it) - The  www.windy.com app -...