Gap Year Diaries

In this first episode of series 3, Rachel and Emily recount their fraught and anxiety inducing border crossing from Peru to Chile, featuring an unnerving and frantic taxi driver, and entire three-generation Peruvian family. We also hear of their first night in the border city of Arica, which they spend high on Nutella and fermented pineapple,  being rampantly annoying to fellow hostel guests.  

In this special episode, Emily and Rachel wrap up their Peru series by answering a series of pertinent and astute questions from listeners, friends and family, on all manner of topics related to this leg of their 5 month trip. Among a myriad of other things, we find out the pair's best advice for those looking to travel to Peru, how they managed to look so excruciatingly fashionable whilst ex...

In this week's episode, Emily and Rachel read back over the last blog entry from their time in the second country of their trip, Peru, which was spent living the high life in the elegant Southern city of Arequipa. We hear about new travelling friends, how the pair stop at nothing to demand cheesecake at any hour of the day or night, and are treated to a detailed recount of the most bizarre an...

In this week's episode, Rachel and Emily read over the blog entry documenting their time sandboarding around Peru's tiny oasis town of Huacachina, as well as recounting the severe financial traumas that began to plague them. We also hear of yet another near-death experience, some choice sandboarding eyewear, and the surreal setting in which the pair discovered the result of the infamous...

In this week's episode, Emily and Rachel recount the beginning of their journey through the south of Peru, spending a few nights in the desert city of Nasca, home of the world-famous 'Nasca Lines'. We hear of the trip the pair took in a tiny aircraft to view the lines from above, find out why Emily so deeply regretted making the most of the hostel's incredible breakfast buffet,...

In this week's episode, Rachel and Emily re-read the blog entry from their last days spent in Cusco, which involved a raucous night clubbing, a top-bunk pillow fight and the most bizarre breakfast in living memory. We also hear of how they used an outdated and discarded copy of Lonely Planet's South America on a Shoestring and an A5 piece of paper to plan the 3 week journey south to the...

In this week's episode, Rachel and Emily continue to reminisce on and re-read blog entries about their time in Cusco, exploring the enchanting Saqsaywaman ruins on horseback. We also hear about the intense feud that two of the horses were in the midst of throughout the trek, and, later on, what happens when you mix inappropriately behaving tour guides, grimy clubs and banging tunes.  **note**...

In this week's episode, Emily and Rachel recount the culmination of their Inca Trail trek - reaching the world-famous Machu Picchu. We also hear tales of hot spring fun times, gifts of lifelong friendship, and the most fractious bus journey known to man...

In this week’s episode, Rachel and Emily relive their last full day of trekking on Peru’s iconic Inca Trail, which of course includes many gaffes, giggles and grim toilet experiences. We also hear of the after-dark campsite incident that involves a stinky foot, angry outburst and a very tender moment…

This week, Rachel and Emily continue re-reading their blogs from Peru's famed Inca Trail Trek, tackling the hauntingly named 'Dead Woman's Pass' at 4,200m above sea level. We also hear about the bizarre branding of certain Peruvian breakfast items, Rachel's insane approach to completing the day's trek, and the terrifying, ghostly presence that allegedly haunts the cam...

In this week's episode, we hear of Rachel and Emily's long-awaited first day of trekking the world-famous Inca Trail, led by what might be the world's surliest tourguide. We also hear about the terrible realisation that results in extreme rationing of photo taking, the truly incredible camp site in which the pair spent their first night, and the astounding and unsettling lengths to...

In this week’s episode, Rachel and Emily recount the tense and anxiety-ridden day before embarking on the Inca Trail, which they spent prepping for the trek in Peru’s glorious Sacred Valley. We hear about, in detail, the pair’s shamefully low levels of fitness, encounter with a traditional (and incredibly heady) Incan beer called ‘chicha’, and deeply unfortunate trip to the world’s most disgusting...

In this week's episode, Rachel and Emily relive their bus journey to the vibrant, lively ancient Inca capital of Cusco, stopping off at a bustling roadside market en route. They recall what it was like to be literally thrust a live lamb each upon exiting the bus,  to have to listen to another member of their tour group honing his beginner's panpiping skills for much of the residual journ...

In this week's episode, Rachel and Emily visit the community living on Lake Titicaca's Uros Reed Islands, making giant nuisances of themselves, as we've now all come to expect. We also listen in as the pair relive the historic evening meal whereby they and their wider tour group sample traditional Peruvian cuisine, including baked flan, alpaca meat and, of course, guinea pig. 

In this special episode, Rachel and Emily sit down with their respective mums and a nice cuppa to talk about the gap year from their perspective. We hear about what it was like for Yvonne and Jane to wave off their stupidly young offspring, only to hear nothing from them for several weeks, and have to listen to tales of lost passports, inaccessible travel funds and secret skydiving excursions from...

In this week’s episode, Rachel and Emily meet their homestay family on Lake Titicaca’s Amantani Island, and manage to utterly disgrace themselves by performing a meticulously choreographed rendition of an obscure song from a cult British sit-com. We also hear of the wonderful evening the pair spent trying to communicate with their host family using only a worksheet of Quechua phrases, as well as t...

In this episode, Rachel and Emily set sail across Lake Titicaca,  en route to meet the local family hosting them for the night. On the way, they further bond with their tour group mates through liberal amounts of Peruvian rum, truly take the plunge by going for an icy swim, and make the grave error of forgetting to apply sunscreen during a cloudless day on ‘The lake at the roof of the world’. 

In the second episode chronicling their adventures in Peru, Emily and Rachel travel south to the city of Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Here, their low levels of fitness reveal themselves just days before tackling the world-famous Inca Trail, as altitude sickness takes its toll, and the pair hit the city streets, only to encounter a religious parade fronted by a Michael Jackson impersonating...

In the first episode of series 2, Rachel and Emily re-read and relive the first blog from their time in Peru, the second country of their trip. We hear of the abrupt gear change from budget hostels and chaotic happenings, to chic luxury and seamless organisation set to characterise the 12-day, guided tour of southern Peru the pair are about to embark on, which begins with taking full advantage of...

In this special episode, Emily and Rachel wrap up their Costa Rica recount by answering insightful and brilliant questions from listeners, on all manner of things related to this leg of their epic trip. We find out what advice the pair would give budding travellers, how they coped with each other’s most annoying habits while on the road, and, most pressingly of all, whether or not they ever saw th...

Rachel and Emily read through the last blog entry written in Costa Rica, before moving onto the next country of their trip, Peru. In this episode, we learn about the deplorable behaviour the pair resorted to on discovering their food had been stolen from the communal hostel fridge, and hear the two small lines Emily’s blog dedicated to the only day of exploring cultural attractions during their en...

In this episode, Rachel and Emily reread blog entries describing their zip-lining canopy tour in the beautiful cloud forest reserve of Monteverde, which had unsurprisingly disastrous consequences. We also learn about the average mating season of the Costa Rican tree frog, and are treated to our first delve into the incredibly surreal and abstract handwritten diary that Rachel kept during the trip....

Rachel and Emily travel further into Costa Rica along hazardous mountain roads, rereading blogs from their first day in the cloud forest reserve of Monteverde. In this episode, Rachel visits a magical (and unnerving) world of insects, as the only participant on a deeply intense guided tour, and Emily busies herself with unwittingly making new friends in the hostel kitchen. 

In this special episode, Rachel and Emily take time to remember and celebrate the life of Jairo Mora Sandoval, the conservationist, volunteer and valued community member they had the pleasure of working with during their time in Gandoca, who was tragically killed in 2013.  Further resources mentioned in the episode: WIDECAST website https://www.widecast.org Information on leatherback turtle poachi...