Keep Going: An Unexpected Travel Podcast

I went to Vevčani festival in rural North Macedonia. It is perhaps the wildest village festival in the Balkans.   Every Orthodox Christian New Year period villagers get dressed up as pagan characters, monsters or political figures, drink large amounts of rakia, then perform rituals and parade around the village.   It’s supposed to be an expression of independent spirit and free speech, b...

Some bagpipes styles are intensely annoying, but Bulgaria’s kaba gaida style is low in tone, moody, spacey, almost gothic, and linked to rural life in the country for thousands of years.   Now new generations of Bulgarian bagpipers head deep into the Rhodope Mountains each year for a bagpipe festival and competition.   It’s part of a resurgence in folk arts in Bulgaria. Among the younger...

Costa Rica has positioned itself as a successful eco-tourism destination, and tourists cascade into the country with ambitions to see sloths in the wild.   As more tourist infrastructure gets built, more of the famously lethargic-looking animals are getting injured and killed due to the development. Sloths are susceptible to species isolation caused by new roads and buildings cutting off tree...

Every year around Christmas, massive bulls and “Improvisers” descend on bullrings around San José, Costa Rica’s capital city. The Improvisers are members of the public who get drunk, put on fluorescent t-shirts, leap into the ring then chase and annoy the bulls.   Bullfighting was brought to Costa Rica by Spanish colonisers and is still hugely popular in the small Central American country. Bu...

Mexico’s Tren Maya takes tourists around the Yucatán Peninsula, to cities, ancient Mayan ruins and jungle towns. It has displaced Indigenous locals, destroyed sacred sites and caused environmental carnage.   Mexican authorities have touted the Tren Maya as offering a Mayan adventure and providing jobs and transport for poor locals. I spent a month traveling around the railway route to see how...

Northwest Mexico’s Chepe train route is one of the wildest, most ruggedly-beautiful railway journeys in the world.   Starting in Chihuahua city and ending 418 miles later in Los Mochis, the train cuts through vast canyons, known collectively as the Copper Canyon, and stops at remote outposts.   Much of the region is home to the Indigenous Tarahumara people, many of whom are semi-nomadic...

The Tequila Express train runs from Guadalajara city to the town of Tequila in Mexico’s Jalisco state, and is loaded with bars and booze. The train spent nine years off the tracks, but recently returned.   You might expect alcohol-fuelled carnage on the train, but the Tequila Express offers a rather civilised insight into the culture and legends behind Mexico’s famous fiery spirit.   I b...

In 2019 the last prison island in the Americas closed down. Islas Marías was home to some of Mexico’s most feared criminals, and political prisoners, but was shuttered following reports of terrible conditions.   In 2022 Mexico’s navy began allowing tourists to visit the archipelago, showing visitors cells, parrots, graveyards, beaches, and explaining the islands’ dark past.   I took a lo...

Fuego Volcano in Guatemala is one of the most active volcanos in Central America, sometimes erupting multiple times an hour.   The eruptions have proved deadly for people living in the shadow of the volcano, but hiking Fuego has become popular with adventurous tourists. Locals have signed up serve them as volcano guides, risking their lives for better income.   I joined an overnight hike...

Every new year in Boruca, a remote Costa Rican village, Indigenous villagers wear garish masks and bull costumes for rituals commemorating their ancestors’ battle against Spanish colonisers.   Today Indigenous Borucan culture is still under threat, and over time the rituals have come to represent Borucans’ modern independent spirit.   I travelled to Boruca to witness Danza de los Diablit...

Keep Going: An Unexpected Travel Podcast is a new podcast from travel writer Jamie Fullerton. The first episode is out on January 6, 2026, then episodes will come out every two weeks.   Each episode features an on-the-ground travel story that’s in some way… unexpected.   There will be travel stories from Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, Germany, England, Albania, Bulgaria… and beyond. &nbs...