Unpacked by Afar
Unpacked by AFAR tackles one tricky topic in travel each week. Whether you want to hack your points and miles, figure out where to travel next, or need advice on an ethical dilemma, we're your expert travel guides. Because the travel world is complicated. We're here to help you unpack it.
Episodes
March 20, 2025 • 38 mins
These locals are blazing a trail back to the legends that made Mississippi, specifically the Delta, a region that was (and is) vital to the development of modern music.
On this episode of Unpacked, British writer and fiddle player, Emma John, takes you on a musical odyssey through the Mississippi Blues Trail and its role in reviving a blues heartland and connecting travelers to the soul of the genre.
A special thanks to the lat...
Mark as Played
March 13, 2025 • 41 mins
Looking to avoid the crowds and make the most of summer travel in 2025? On this episode of Unpacked, Afar contributor Mark Ellwood—a seasoned traveler who has spent most of his life living out of a suitcase—shares the off-the-beaten path summer adventures you can enjoy, again and again.
Looking for the Best Places to Travel in Summer?
On this episode you’ll discover:
How to find the best summer travel deals and get the most o...
Mark as Played
March 6, 2025 • 48 mins
This year—2025—is a holy one in Rome. But you can still avoid the crowds.
On this episode of Unpacked by Afar, Rome local and journalist Laura Itzkowitz, takes us off the tourist trail and into the lesser-visited places that make Rome worth visiting, all year round.
How To Experience Rome Like A Local, Not a Tourist
On this episode you’ll learn:
How to beat the crowds in hot spots like the Vatican and the Colosseum.
Where to ...
Mark as Played
March 4, 2025 • 17 mins
Welcome to Unpacked Minis, our new Unpacked series. Throughout the year, over the course of four bite-size episodes, we'll dig into the biggest themes in travel. This month, we're tackling cruising, specifically those who are new to cruising—or think it's not for them.
In our inaugural episode, Michelle Baran—Afar’s deputy news editor and resident cruise expert—sits down with host Aislyn Greene, a former cruise skeptic, to unpack t...
Mark as Played
February 27, 2025 • 45 mins
“How soon can you put this baby on a plane?” When No Reception Club founders Gemma and Daniel Ng became parents, they vowed not only to keep traveling, but to create solutions for others braving travel with kids.
And so they went on to create “The Getaway Bag,” which went on to become a cult favorite.
On this episode of Unpacked, they share the terrible flight that inspired their first bag, hard won advice for traveling parents, a...
Mark as Played
February 23, 2025 • 33 mins
Welcome to a special bonus from our sister podcast, Travel Tales. In it, Antoni Porowski, our favorite culinary expert from Queer Eye, takes you behind-the-scenes of his new National Geographic show, No Taste Like Home (premiering February 23, 2025). In this episode, he shares the connection that sent him crying off camera with Awkwafina, the dish that defeated his adventurous palate with Henry Golding, and how his Polish roots ser...
Mark as Played
February 20, 2025 • 44 mins
Stop making these common travel mistakes and start maximizing credit card points and airline miles with these tips from The Points Guy, Brian Kelly, author of the new book How to Win at Travel. In this episode, he chats with host Aislyn Greene about the mindsets, practices, and guidelines to help both beginners and seasoned fliers win at travel in today’s economy of points and miles.
** New Opportunity: What's one tricky travel to...
Mark as Played
February 13, 2025 • 27 mins
Step aside cheesy ghost tours, “tombstone tourism” is so much more than visiting cemeteries to hear about local legends. In this episode of Unpacked, a seasoned traveler shares why graveyards and tombstones are at the top of her “must-see” list—no matter the destination.
** New Opportunity: What's one tricky travel topic you want us to unpack? Send us a voice message here, for a chance to weigh in and be featured in an upcoming e...
Mark as Played
This year in luxury travel, customization is king. Afar’s resident hotel expert, Jennifer Flowers, and editor in chief, Julia Cosgrove, go behind the scenes of ILTM, the International Luxury Travel Market, in Cannes, France. They sat down with leaders from three of the world’s biggest hotel brands—Hilton, IHG, and Hyatt—to hear how trends, technology, and travelers' changing desires will shape luxury hotels in 2025.
Featured Guest...
Mark as Played
December 23, 2024 • 18 mins
This podcast episode is part of Afar, A Retrospective. As part of Afar’s 15-year anniversary celebration, this episode from our sister podcast, Travel Tales by Afar, was selected as one of our favorites. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do—and stay tuned for more archival Travel Tales episodes from September - December 2024. Explore more of our favorite stories over the years at afar.com/fifteen.
“If I travel to you, will you gi...
Mark as Played
December 19, 2024 • 33 mins
Who needs a travel planner when you could consult the cosmos? According to astrologer Adama Sesay, your astrological chart can be the key to an ideal travel year.
On this episode of Unpacked, she breaks down the astrological events to look out for in 2025, shares travel suggestions based on each sign and helps you navigate traveling during a dreaded Mercury retrograde.
Wait, When is Mercury in Retrograde in 2025?
In this episode...
Mark as Played
December 16, 2024 • 27 mins
In our annual Travel Vanguard awards, Afar honors nine companies that are working to improve the world and how travelers experience it. We launched the Afar Travel Vanguard in 2016 to celebrate organizations that are making travel a force for good. This year, we received more than 100 nominations from travel professionals and organizations around the world. Narrowing down the list was no easy task since, fortunately, there are more...
Mark as Played
December 12, 2024 • 29 mins
Winter is the best time to visit the Yukon territory. Follow one writer as she travels by dog sled and snowmobile, dons snowshoes for a hike through Tombstone Territorial Park and witnesses the beauty of the northern lights and communal reclamation alongside locals. In this episode of Unpacked by Afar, we follow the infamous “call of the wild” into the Canadian Yukon.
How To Plan a Winter Trip to the Yukon Territory
In this episo...
Mark as Played
December 5, 2024 • 28 mins
Wondering when, where and how much to tip when you travel? Since the pandemic, tipping requests show up in places they never have before, such as farmers' markets and fast-food counters. In this episode, two experts help you navigate the changing landscape of tipping so you can tip with respect to the people who serve you and to your wallet, wherever you go.
Tips to Improve Prompt Service
In this episode you’ll learn:
Typical t...
Mark as Played
December 3, 2024 • 16 mins
This podcast episode is part of Afar, A Retrospective. As part of Afar’s 15-year anniversary celebration, this episode from our sister podcast, Travel Tales by Afar, was selected as one of our favorites. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do—and stay tuned for more archival Travel Tales episodes from September - December 2024. Explore more of our favorite stories over the years at afar.com/fifteen.
Two months after her house burne...
Mark as Played
November 28, 2024 • 38 mins
What happens to suitcases that can’t be reunited with their owners? It’s not something we think about that often, but for Bryan Owens, it’s an entire business. He’s the CEO and now-owner of the Scottsboro, Alabama–based Unclaimed Baggage, the only store in the United States that sells lost luggage. As you’ll hear in today’s episode, his dad launched the business more than 50 years ago with an old Chevy pickup and $300. And now the ...
Mark as Played
November 18, 2024 • 35 mins
Mark our words: 2025 will be the year of crowd-free travel. That’s why our editors and contributors spent months seeking out 25 incredible, undertouristed destinations to explore next year. Our annual Where to Go list spotlights under-the-radar escapes, alternatives to popular hotspots, and interesting places around the world you may have been overlooking for too long. And in this episode of Unpacked by Afar, four editors share how...
Mark as Played
November 14, 2024 • 20 mins
This podcast episode is part of Afar, A Retrospective. As part of Afar’s 15-year anniversary celebration, this episode from our sister podcast, Travel Tales by Afar, was selected as one of our favorites. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do—and stay tuned for more archival Travel Tales episodes from September - December 2024. Explore more of our favorite stories over the years at afar.com/fifteen.
A pet orangutan, a 106-year-old g...
Mark as Played
November 7, 2024 • 36 mins
Wendy Mak, the author of The Capsule Wardrobe: 1,000 Outfits From 30 Pieces, shares how to pack with ease by using the philosophy she mastered to help countless clients create capsule wardrobes. From how to create your own capsule travel wardrobe, no matter the weather to multifunctional footwear and space-saving essentials—conquer your packing woes once and for all.
How To Create a Travel Capsule Wardrobe.
In this episode you’l...
Mark as Played
November 5, 2024 • 20 mins
This podcast episode is part of Afar, A Retrospective. As part of Afar’s 15-year anniversary celebration, this episode from our sister podcast, Travel Tales by Afar, was selected as one of our favorites. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do—and stay tuned for more archival Travel Tales episodes from September - December 2024. Explore more of our favorite stories over the years at afar.com/fifteen.
Can a train be a travel destinat...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
How do the smartest marketers and business entrepreneurs cut through the noise? And how do they manage to do it again and again? It's a combination of math—the strategy and analytics—and magic, the creative spark. Join iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman as he analyzes the Math and Magic of marketing—sitting down with today's most gifted disruptors and compelling storytellers.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.