The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast

Anisha Patel lived in Kenya with her grandparents until she was four, and flew back alone every summer as a kid. This summer, she took her own children. What started as a trip for her family of four turned into five weeks with fourteen relatives, ages four to seventy-seven, and Anisha planned every piece of it. In this episode, Anisha takes me from a cottage on a sanctuary farm at Lake Naivasha, w...

Dan Wake was 28 and litigating at a big Washington, DC law firm when he walked away to backpack through Asia with one deadline: whenever the money ran out. On his first day in Manila, he wandered into a political rally and ended up 50 feet from Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. A few weeks later, the Philippines had a revolution. He wrote the whole trip down when he got home, saved it to a floppy disk,...

Marion Cazes has been obsessed with food since she was three years old, demanding oysters while her sister asked for French fries. She grew up in Toulouse, spent eight years in PR and communications for luxury Paris hotels and then for chef Alain Ducasse, and somehow still didn't know much about wine until she left that world behind for the one she actually wanted: leading private food tours...

Pauline Frommer's dad wrote a book for broke GIs stationed in Berlin so they'd stop being afraid to leave base. It became Europe on $5 a Day, the best-selling guidebook of all time. Seventy years later, Pauline runs the company he built, and she's still making his case: you don't need money to travel well, you need real information. In this episode, Pauline breaks down exactly...

Think traveling the world with kids is too complicated, too expensive, or just… not realistic? This episode might change your mind. I'm joined by Rebecca Ryell, a family travel coach , travel podcast host , doctor, and mom of three boys, who has spent the past 25 years figuring out how to make long-term, meaningful family travel actually doable. We start with the moment that hooked her on tra...

Lia Heath tried to book the Tour du Mont Blanc for her family in early February. She got laughed at. Some huts on that route open reservations at 7 a.m. and sell out in five minutes flat. What she booked instead turned into eight days and 70 miles across the Swiss Alps with her husband, Tad, and their two teenagers, William and Damen, hut to hut from Martigny to Zermatt on the Walker's Haute...

If you want a better trip, pick a wine region first and build everything else around it. That's the travel philosophy of Liz Barrett, Certified Specialist of Wine and the writer behind What's In That Bottle . In this episode, Liz and I trace her path from a job interview where she admitted she knew nothing about wine, to teaching herself the industry alongside Master Sommeliers, to passi...

If you want to really know a city, skip the landmarks and find the people feeding it. That's the philosophy behind Edible Excursions , the Bay Area's original walking food tour company — and the life's work of founder Lisa Rogovin. In this episode, I sit down with Lisa to talk about how a conversation with a Four Seasons hotel GM launched a 20-year business, what a seven-month solo...

If you want to know where to eat in Oakland, ask someone who moved there knowing no one and used food to figure it out. That's exactly what Kahja Elliott did — and it turned into Kay in the Bay , a platform that goes beyond where to eat and gets into why a place exists, who it's for, and what it represents. In this episode, Shannon sits down with Kahja to talk about Oakland's eclect...

Some conversations make you want to pour a glass and never stop listening. This is one of them. Kimberly Noelle Charles is the founder of Charles Communications Associates, one of the most respected wine marketing communications firms in the country — and one of the most passionate storytellers I've ever had the pleasure of sitting down with. She started her career as a part-time sommelier at...

Some conversations stop you in your tracks. This is one of them. Karin Warnelius-Miller is the proprietor, winemaker, and winegrower at Garden Creek Vineyards in Sonoma County's Alexander Valley — and her story is remarkable. Born on a dairy farm in Sweden, she immigrated to California in 1975, eventually falling in love with her childhood friend Justin Miller and building one of the most int...

What happens when you spend your life teaching others how to cook — and finally give yourself permission to start living? That's exactly where Amanda Haas finds herself. A cookbook author (four books in, with a fifth on the way), former culinary director at Williams-Sonoma, and founder of the Substack community House of Hass, Amanda has spent decades helping people fall in love with cooking....

What happens when you stop chasing the “perfect” life and start building one that actually feels like yours? Jen Ruiz did just that. While working full-time as an attorney, she challenged herself to take 12 trips in 12 months—and that decision changed everything. In this episode, we talk about how Jen turned that experiment into a career as an award-winning travel journalist, best-selling author,...

If you’ve ever dreamed of taking a classic American road trip through the national parks with your family, this episode is for you. In this episode of The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast, Shannon sits down with her friend Julie to talk about an unforgettable two-week road trip through Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National Park —with three kids, including teens, in tow. Julie shares how they pl...

In this episode, Shannon Gomes sits down with Gregangelo Herrera—artist, storyteller, and founder of the Gregangelo Museum in the Balboa Terrace neighborhood of San Francisco—a one-of-a-kind immersive art house that blends creativity, storytelling, and human connection in the most unexpected ways. Born and raised in San Francisco, Gregangelo shares what it was like growing up in the city during a...

New York City is one of the most visited destinations in the world—but how much of it do we actually understand ? In this episode, I sit down with Dana, founder of Vibe Tours in New York City, to uncover the stories hiding in plain sight across Lower Manhattan. A Brooklyn native and former Wall Street trader, Dana brings a unique insider perspective to the city’s history, culture, and energy. We t...

What would it be like to pause your everyday routine and spend an entire month traveling with your family? In this episode, Shannon sits down with Anisha, a pharmacist, podcaster, and mom of two, who took her family on a 30-day adventure across Thailand. Traveling with children ages 3 and 8, they explored quiet islands, jungle landscapes, and vibrant coastal towns while learning how to slow down a...

What happens when you visit 130+ countries… and really connect with people along the way? In this episode, I sit down with travel journalist, speaker, and nonprofit founder Sucheta Rawal to talk about what she’s learned from a life spent exploring the world, and how those experiences have shaped the way she sees humanity.  We talk about her journey from working in finance to becoming a full-time t...

Dreaming about Portugal? This episode will make you want to go… and eat everything . I’m joined by chef, cookbook author, restaurant owner, and culinary tour operator  Joanne Weir to talk about why Porto and the Douro Valley might be one of the most magical food and wine destinations in the world.  We dive into what makes this region so special, from the terraced vineyards along the Douro River (a...

Ever wondered what your teens are really thinking on family trips? In this special episode, I sit down with two of my favorite guests, my own two teens, to get their honest take on traveling as teens… and let’s just say, they don’t hold back.  We talk about everything from how involved they want to be in planning (spoiler: they want a say) to what actually makes a trip fun from their perspective....

What does it really take to move your life to Switzerland… and start a family there? In this episode, I sit down with my friend Kassie Borreson, who moved from San Francisco to Zurich with her husband, brought along their two cats (yes, really), and had her first baby shortly after arriving.  We talk about what inspired the move, from a desire to live abroad again to the opportunity through her hu...

What would make someone walk hundreds of miles across Spain… and then go back and do it again? In this episode, I sit down with my friend Sofie Dolan, who has hiked the Camino de Santiago not once, but twice, to talk about what makes this experience so powerful, addictive, and honestly… life-changing.  If you’re not familiar, the Camino is a network of ancient pilgrimage routes that lead to Santia...

Thinking about Budapest? This episode will put it on your list. I sit down with Lori Wright, who recently traveled to Hungary on a photography tour, to talk about why Budapest might be one of the most beautiful (and underrated) cities in Europe.  From the moment she arrived, it was the architecture that stood out, dramatic Gothic buildings, castles perched above the Danube, and bridges stretching...

Thinking about Puerto Vallarta? This episode will make you want to book the flight. I sit down with Kathleen, who splits her time between the U.S. and Mexico, to talk about what makes Puerto Vallarta and the greater Banderas Bay such a special place to visit… or even live.  We zoom out first, because Puerto Vallarta is just one part of a much bigger, vibrant region filled with beach towns, jungle...

Want to travel lighter, stress less, and actually feel good when you land? This episode is packed (pun intended) with tips. I’m joined again by seasoned traveler Sylvia Klinger, who has visited 50+ countries and logs over 200,000 miles a year, to break down how to pack and fly like a pro.  We start with packing, and Sylvia’s biggest rule: start early. Like… two weeks early. She shares how to build...