Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) Last year I released a podcast episode called "How Not To Run An Ultramarathon". I was reminded of that a couple of times recently, partly because this year's running of the Calderdale Way Ultra happened recently, and partly because over the last couple of months I've finally hiked all the sections of it that I never completed. Including the bits I missed out when I got lost. After record...

Hello :) For a variety of reasons I'm a week late with this podcast, conceptually, but also, this episode was going to have additional content about my second attempt at an Ultramarathon, which I did last September but never got around to talking about. I've written a lot of that already so all I'll do is publish that next week, and then I'll be back on schedule. This also means I'll do a housekee...

Hello :) Earlier this week, I had a chat with my friend V, because she'd recently gone on a trip abroad for the first time this millennium, and she wanted to talk about how it felt on her YouTube channel. I said, well that might make a good podcast episode, you know, the whole 'this is what it's like to travel abroad properly for the first time as an adult', might be useful for other budding world...

Hello :) It was one of those ideas that suddenly came to me when I was lying in bed, having been seeded I think by a conversation I'd had with one of my travel content creator friends, Hayley , about how much it cost to live at home in the UK and how much less expensive it is to travel. I said I'd written a blog post about that very issue back in 2015 but that it probably needed updating and anywa...

Hello :) Last year, off the back of my 100th country visit to Norway, I spent three nights in Svalbard, one of the most northern archipelagos in the world. Though I wasn't there for long, I felt it was an interesting place to do a podcast about, covering history, wildlife, culture, and of course the ethical aspect of travelling to somewhere like that in the first place. Not a spoiler: I did not se...

Hello :) In a recent podcast episode, I talked about aesthetics a lot, and I occasionally touched on the idea of 'senses'. I figured it made sense therefore to do a full podcast on it, on how you, I, everyone uses their senses while travelling, and whether our senses affect how we travel, and the experiences we gain through them. Consider, too, how our memories of a place, of a trip, live in the s...

Hello :) So this podcast is mostly concerned with my recent introduction to, and experience of, stand-up comedy, and includes the audio recording of my actual performance. Topics discussed in this episode are: Part One: Overview and an Interview with V * Who came to watch me perform * The difference between spoken word and stand-up comedy * The difference between practice and performing live * Wha...

Hello :) Another really obvious podcast episode, and one I'm surprised I hadn't yet done, though it did, of course, require finally reading the novel. I live about 6 miles south of Wuthering Heights, over the wily, windy moors, and the recent movie adaptation, the thousandth of many, has brought it all back into the public eye, so it made sense to talk about the moorland setting, the location and...

Hello :) Well, this isn't going to be the most cheerful episode I've ever produced, but we are where we are. Oh, not me, I mean the topic. This episode talks about the German Occupation of the Channel Islands in World War II, a couple of museums that go into detail about it, and how a combination of unexpected effects led accidentally to creating a story which became a really obvious episode to re...

Hello :) Yeh, it's been a while. There's reasons for that. So here's a brief overview of what I've been up to. I talk about places I've been, things I've done, medication I haven't taken, and people I haven't snogged. Topics discussed in this episode are: Part One: Housekeeping * WTM and Traverse Creator Awards * Premier Inns are how much?!? * Trips to Freiburg, Nottingham, and Jersey * An introdu...

Hello :) Here's another episode where I run with three ideas and make a small to-microphone editorial. This one's all about Travel Blogging - the ethics, aesthetics, and social culture of it. It was inspired partly by a trip to WTM London, and partly by a post on Instagram. Topics discussed in this episode are: Part One: The Politics of Travel Blogging * The layout of WTM * The stalls that went bi...

Hello :) Back in June 2025 I travelled to the Caribbean for the first time, along with my regular travel companion Laura. Now, one might ask, why is a non-swimming easily-bored less-than-aesthetic enby with Celtic skin (and all the sun resistance *that* doesn't entail) spending two weeks in the Caribbean? Wasn't four days in Maldives enough to satisfy the tropical beach itch? Well, apparently not....

Hello :) Back in June 2025 I travelled to the Caribbean for the first time, along with my regular travel companion Laura. Now, one might ask, why is a non-swimming easily-bored less-than-aesthetic enby with Celtic skin (and all the sun resistance *that* doesn't entail) spending two weeks in the Caribbean? Wasn't four days in Maldives enough to satisfy the tropical beach itch? Well, apparently not....

Hello :) So, in August I hit both my 100th country and my 50th birthday - I arrived in Norway with three days to spare. Given these two momentous milestones, I figured it made sense to do a podcast that covered, well, at least my country count. We don't need to talk about my ever-advancing age. I had originally planned to do a pod looking at each of my countries by first visit, and a brief synopsi...

Hello :) Laura has been bugging me to talk about our trip to India earlier this year for a while, and because Past Me was always intending to pod it, they did travel diary voice recordings on a near-daily basis to provide a basic framework, or in fact to just use as the pod. Anyway, the trip was across a little of Southern India, starting in Kochi and taking in the Kerala Backwaters, an overnight...

Hello :) This episode is the first example of something new I'm going to develop - storytelling vignettes. Three or four little pieces, connected only by the vaguest of theme, telling little stories about my travel past that are too short for a full episode. Over time I hope they'll develop and become much more 'storylike' rather than what feel like 5-10 minute podcast extracts. The three vignette...

Hello :) This episode (a bit delayed) is all about the Ultramarathon I entered and attempted in May 2025. It is, very much, an example of 'I do these things so you don't have to'. Topics discussed in this episode are: * Why I thought about doing an Ultra-Marathon * What *is* an ultra-marathon anyway? * How I trained for my ultra, and how you *should* train for an ultra * Obligatory kit to take on...

Hello :) A month or so ago, Amanda Kendle had a natter with me, so she could make an episode of her Thoughtful Travel Podcast. Now that's gone live, I'm using the same interview to make my own version. We chatted for about 100 minutes in total - both our episodes are edited highlights! The discussion we had was a general one around travel, framed by a Buzzfeed quiz she found online. Because we're...

Hello :) So, this podcast is all about comfort zones, primarily but not exclusively, in travel. I look at what they are, why people stay in them, how you can break them comfortably, and talk about times I've broken my own comfort zones, with both good and bad outcomes. Because that's what makes good travel experiences, right? Topics discussed in this episode are: * The British Guild of Travel Writ...

Hello :) In March 2025, me and my travel buddy Laura surprisingly went to Maldives for four nights. Given I'm a budget backpacker who can't swim and gets bored easily, we figured it would make a great concept for a podcast. Very few people think of Maldives as a budget backpacker destination, and we thought we'd talk about how we managed to visit without spending the world. Topics discussed in thi...

Hello :) This podcast is on Festivals, and as we're coming up to the season where people are likely planning their summer, this feels quite pertinent. It came off the back of my episode from last year about Travelling For Music, where I got a couple of contribs that made me think a dedicated episode on festivals would be a good idea. Topics discussed in this episode are: * The weather in 2012 * Th...

Hello :) This episode details the second half of my 2-week backpacking trip around South America in October 2024 - this one covers Iguzau Falls and Paraguay. Because everyone wants to go to Paraguay. Topics discussed in this episode are: * Admin caused by a lost phone * The Jesuit Ruins of Argentina and Paraguay * The German influence of SE Paraguay * Iguazu Falls (both sides) * Ciudad del Este an...

Hello :) This episode details the first half of my 2-week backpacking trip around South America in October 2024 - this one covers Uruguay and Buenos Aires. The rest of the trip will follow in my next episode. My voice doesn't really sound that great today, and I'm not quite sure why. Topics discussed in this episode are: * I went to Chester to meet my mother! * Why did I go to South America? * Fir...

Hello :) This episode is about Luxury Travel. This isn't a topic that comes naturally to barefoot backpackers in general, but sometimes even we put on our metaphorical shoes and drink free champagne. Topics discussed in this episode are: * Running Training & Rate of Percieved Exertion * Future potential backpacking trips * What it means to be a 'barefoot' backpacker * Flying business class on Air...

Hello :) This podcast comes off the back of another press-trip I was sent on by Jet2. This time me and Laura went to Austria to explore the Christmas Markets. While we were there we did a few other things, not all of which involved alcohol. Topics discussed in this episode are: * Pills and Snow * What is a Christmas Market anyway * Our impressions of six of them * Things to eat and drink * Things...