Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

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 big ...
* ... the stalls that went sm...

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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.

Apart from getting to 100 Countrie...

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.

Apart from getting to 100 Countrie...

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 synopsis of how I felt on that first visit...

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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 train, and the two temple-centric c...

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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 vignettes this time are:
* My first interna...

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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 an ultra, and why you need it
* How...

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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 both Gen-X and still surf the web l...

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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 Writers AGM
* Standing on a stage, bare...

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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 this episode are:
* Why on earth would...

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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
* The delights of camping 
* My history...

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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 and the absence of the Brazil border
...

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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?
* First impressions of Montevideo
* The ...

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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 Europa from South America
* Short-h...

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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 to do at and around the markets
* S...

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Yeh, I've not podded for a while. Had an existential crisis. Still have. It's fine. Conditional normal. With fog patches. Rising slowly.

This episode is all about me, a couple of events I've been to in the past couple of months, and how my content might change in scope going forward. Because I am the UK's leading AroAce Non-Binary Gen-X Travel and Lifestyle Blogger. Arguably.

Topics discussed in this episode are:
* Small t...

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This is an episode I've been meaning to do for about three years, but for mainly logistical reasons, this is the first chance I've had.

The original idea came from the lifestyle podcast Sounds Fake But Okay; whenever they get stuck for content they scour the AITA forums on Reddit, and similar content in other places, to highlight allonormativity and generally go 'NTA, dump him'. I figured I could do the same for this pod, ...

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I often say "Everywhere Is Interesting", but what do I mean when I say that? What makes a place 'interesting'? Or rather, given any random place in the world, what can make you 'key in' to that location over and above any other? Of course, this could be very personal, or at least subjective, so when I say 'Everywhere Is Interesting', what I mean is that there is something everywhere, in every place, that someone is going t...

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So, despite recently moving out of Salford, I felt it was an interesting enough place to do a podcast about. Partly because 'Everywhere is Interesting' and my VA wanted me to prove it. And what could be more interesting than the location of the world's first municipal public park, the world's first bus route, the world's first street lighting, and the world's only canal swing bridge. And the UK's most polluted river, but l...