The Travel Diaries

On today’s episode we’re joined by one of the UK’s most successful singer-songwriters. He’s collaborated with everyone from Kylie Minogue to Bob Dylan and Nile Rogers, and recently sold out Wembley Arena - we’re joined today by the utterly delightful and extremely talented Jack Savoretti. Jack had a truly international upbringing, moving from London to Switzerland, and spending idyllic childhood s...

Welcome to Season 8 of The Travel Diaries! And who better to kick off the season than national treasures Si King and Dave Myers, a.k.a. the Hairy Bikers. My first duo on the pod, they’ve been entertaining Britain with their TV shows and books for over twenty years. Their unique blend of foodie expertise, humour and motorbike enthusiasm has earned them national treasure status. And part of their su...

Today, I’m joined by a legend of stage and screen. Britain’s naughtiest national treasure. It’s the award-winning actress, Miriam Margolyes.   Miriam’s movie roles have included the BAFTA award-winning Mrs Mingott in Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Age of Innocence’ and of course Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films. She’s appeared in a host of hugely popular TV shows from Blackadder and Miss Ma...

On this week’s destination special we are heading to one of the world’s most popular travel destinations. We're off to the South East of Europe, to a country of thousands of islands dotted throughout the Aegean and Ionian Seas. The cradle of Western civilization, its capital, Athens, is home to ancient landmarks dating back to the 5th-century B.C. like the Acropolis and the Parthenon. A country of...

Today’s guest is Britain’s undisputed Queen of breakfast telly. A national treasure, who for the last 12 years has been the host of her self-titled show on ITV, Lorraine - it is, of course, Lorraine Kelly. Lorraine became a journalist the hard way, working on local papers before working as a researcher on BBC Scotland, where bosses told her that, because of her Scottish accent, she’d never get a j...

Today is a Travel Diaries first - a Listener Special where you, my amazing listeners, are this week’s special guests. I’ve interviewed many a star over the past seven seasons, but the real stars have been you, the listeners. Your incredible support has allowed the podcast to grow as quickly as it has, so it only felt right that I turn the tables, and the microphone, back on to you to tap into your...

On today’s episode I’m joined by Mr Blue Eyes himself, our favourite judge from the Great British Bake Off, and making a very rare podcast appearance, I’m thrilled to be joined by Paul Hollywood. Paul began his career as a baker, quickly ascending to become Head Baker in some of the world’s most exclusive hotels. His talent caught the eye of TV producers who snapped him up for cooking shows and be...

Today, I’m joined by one of the world’s most successful adventure and nature photographers, Chris Burkard. Nearly 4 million people follow Chris’s work throughout the year on Instagram as he travels to some of the world’s most remote destinations and extreme environments, often requiring Chris to take on immense challenges to capture his work. His stories inspire us to consider our relationshi...

Today, I’m joined by Raven Smith, the best-selling author and Vogue columnist who’s been hailed as the funniest man on Instagram and dubbed London’s fashion world philosopher. His first book, Raven Smith’s Trivial Pursuits, captured readers as a witty and irreverent guide to modern life and he’s back with a new book, part memoir part commentary on masculinity, called Raven Smith’s Men. As you’ll s...

Today’s guest is one of the UK’s most loved chefs, Gennaro Contaldo. A key player in bringing his native Italian cuisine to British shores over recent decades, Gennaro’s written over a dozen best-selling Italian cookbooks and is the mentor to his protege Jamie Oliver, who credits Gennaro with teaching him everything he knows about Italian cooking, and Gennaro calls him his sixth child. You’ll have...

Today, we’re being transported to an island paradise. An archipelago of nearly 700 coral islands, 100,000 square miles of the world’s clearest turquoise ocean, secret sandbars, private coves, secluded pink sand beaches, and undisturbed wildlife. We’re heading to The Beautiful Bahamas.  There are 16 main islands in the Bahamas, and no two islands are alike with their own culture, history, cuis...

Today, we’re heading to a mountainous island nation in the Pacific Ocean, with two main islands, the North and the South. A land of mammoth national parks, epic biodiversity, dynamic Māori culture and world-class adventure sports. One of the most popular destinations to be picked by my guests as top of their travel bucket list. It is of course, New Zealand. Today’s episode is a bumper celeb guest...

Hello and welcome to The Travel Diaries Season 7! I’m starting this season with a Destination Special mini series - three incredible destinations, all on my travel wish list, with some great celeb guests and destination experts helping us bring them to life, and today is no exception.  We are heading on a journey to South East Asia, to a small but mighty thirty mile long tropical island, surr...

On today’s destination special we’re travelling far away to the warmer climes of South East Asia. To a country renowned for its opulent monuments, ancient ruins, floating markets, palm-fringed tropical beaches, turquoise seas, lush jungle, sumptuous cuisines and a people so friendly that the country is nicknamed The Land of Smiles. Of course, today we’re heading to Amazing Thailand. I’m thril...

Today, we’re embarking on a journey to the far north of Europe. To a place of summer midnight sun and the magical northern lights of the winter. The Land of a Thousand Lakes. A place where saunas are as common as cafes. And, with just a few days to go until Christmas, I imagine it’s a hive of activity given that Lapland in the north of the country is the home of Santa Claus and his...

Today’s guest is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, an interview that has been years in the making, and a real honour. For billions of us, including myself, Airbnb has completely changed the way we travel. It opened up people’s homes, creating an army of Superhosts in the process, bringing tourists and locals far closer together. It’s no short of lie that Airbnb created a travel revol...

Today, I’m joined by a legend of the culinary world, the chef, restaurateur and broadcaster, Michel Roux Jr . Michel was practically born in a kitchen when his mother went into labour during service at his father’s restaurant. He’s the son of Albert Roux and the nephew of Michel Roux, brothers who revolutionised the restaurant business in the UK when they opened Le Gavroche in 1967, famously becom...

Today I’m joined by the much loved comedian, musician and actor, Bill Bailey. Known for his hugely inventive stand up, he’s of course such a familiar face on our TV screens, spending several years as team captain on the long running music and comedy BBC panel show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks , making regular appearances on QI and Have I Got News For You , and most recently being crowned the cha...

Giovanna Fletcher is one of the UK’s most successful women’s fiction authors. She's the host of Happy Mum, Happy Baby , the chart-topping podcast which sees her interview celeb guests about the highs and lows of parenting. She and her husband Tom Fletcher , from the band McFly have a huge YouTube presence where they perform together; and she’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ s reigning champio...

Steve Backshall is a BAFTA-winning presenter, writer, explorer, naturalist and all round daredevil. His big break as a broadcaster arrived when National Geographic offered him the post of Adventurer in Residence and he’s been taking on some of the toughest challenges on earth ever since, gracing our TV screens with shows like Deadly 60 , Expedition , and The Lost Land series. On this episode...

Jessica Nabongo is the first black woman in history to have visited all 195 countries in the world. On top of that, she travelled to 89 of these countries solo. All by the age of 35. She’s an influencer, photographer and businesswoman, and shares with us what she learnt throughout this epic journey.  From Tuvalu and Eritrea to Turkmenistan and Djibouti, Jessica’s travel diaries literally take...

Today’s guest is a broadcasting legend. Whether it’s the Olympic Games, Paralympics, horse racing, Crufts, Wimbledon or so much more, Clare Balding has risen to national treasure status. She’s also a best-selling author, radio presenter and podcaster, in case you didn’t think she was busy enough! Covering so many major TV events has taken Clare around the world, and then some. Her travel diaries t...

We’re back for Season 6 (how did that happen?!) and what an honour to be joined on our first episode by the Oscar-nominated actor and writer, Stanley Tucci. You’ve seen him in The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games, Julie and Julia, Supernova, Fortitude, and The Lovely Bones. He’s directed four movies, and recently won an Emmy for his new food and travel TV series, Stanley Tucci: Searching for It...

Today, we’re embarking on a journey to the east of Africa, to a country of spectacular wild and natural landscapes, where the wildlife is abundant, the famous Big 5 roaming free. A country of great plains, mountains, lush forest, and white sand beaches. It has captivated and travellers adventurers the world over. It is of course, Kenya. On today’s episode, we’ll be hearing first from some of my pr...

We're going Completely Caribbean here on The Travel Diaries this week. On today's bonus destination special, we’ll be heading on a sun-soaked tour of the Caribbean islands, in partnership with the British Airways American Express Credit Card. Unsurprisingly, it’s one of the most popular destinations to be picked each week on the pod, and in today’s episode lots of my lovely guests from the last fi...