The World Awaits: travel tales to inspire your wanderlust

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• EP 151 Winter Series: The Hiking Episode - Walk the French Camino & Learn to Navigate 25.06.2026 58хв

  Welcome to our Winter Series! This week is all about hiking, from the French Camino to the wilds of Tasmania. But first, we have a winner for our competition! Truc Pham has won a night’s stay at the Moxy Sydney Airport hotel, buffet breakfast for two at the Moxy Kitchen, return airport shuttle transfers and up to 14 nights valet parking at the hotel! See marriott.com Onto our winter series, Kirstie is chatting with UTracks hiking guide Jaclyn Beagley, who leads guests along the Le Puy C...
• EP 150 Best travel movies & film festivals for the diary 18.06.2026 36хв

  Hey set-jetters, it's the movie episode, and Belle is teaming up with our entertainment reporter Alaisdair Leith to talk the best of travel films. We’re chatting movie destinations, because set-jetting is one of the hottest trends in travel at the moment, where you decide where to travel based on something you saw in a movie. But also, we want you to take this as a list of movies you should watch on your way to your next destination. Think New Zealand and Hobbiton, Game of T...
• EP 149 Cruising Japan with a local cruise company & we turn three! 11.06.2026 36хв

  This week, we are celebrating our third birthday! Yes, we're basically toddlers! Please indulges us as all three of us - Kirstie, Belle and our sound producer Alaisdair share their favourite interviews, from the woman walking the length of the earth to eating on the Amalfi Coast, and best travel fashion hits and misses. And to our interview this week, we merge two of the hottest trends in travel right now - small-ship cruising and Japan, as co-host Belle shares life on board the J...
• EP 148 Hear from the woman behind a blog where readers choose where she travels & the places billionaires holiday 04.06.2026 40хв

  Would you let readers of your blog choose where you travel? Carole Rosenblat did, and it’s seen her travel to 74 countries around the world. The freelance journalist, copywriter, and small-group tour operator started interactive travel site Drop me Anywhere in 2014, letting readers choose where she travels - and it can be anywhere in the world. This week, she talks to us about how she came up with the idea, and how it led her to starting up solo trips to empower women in their travels.&...
• EP 147 Six years on the Trans Canada Trail with filmmaker Dianne Whelan, worst airline experiences & Australia's best town 28.05.2026 52хв

  At 50, filmmaker Dianne Whelan set out to walk and kayak the longest trail in the world, the 24,000km-long Trans Canada Trail. Her film, 500 days in the Wild, opened recently in Australia and documents her extraordinary six-year journey. She tells Belle about the project, paddling 8000km of water trails and walking, biking and even snowshowing 16,000km across land on a journey that has defined an entire decade of her life. She tells of not seeing anyone for months at a time, of es...
• EP 146 The inspiring story of the first Tongan woman to become an airline pilot & the best wine regions to visit this autumn 21.05.2026 44хв

  You might need the tissues for this one. This is the heartfelt story of Silva McLeod, the first Tongan woman to become an airline pilot, who wrote about her incredible journey from 'Island Girl to Airline Pilot' in a memoir of that name. Silva always dreamed of becoming a pilot, but never imagined it'd come true until she met Ken, who she eventually married, but it wasn't until a near-death experience that she pursued her lifelong passion. As well as telling us about her remarkable sto...
• EP 145 Hot Take: Travel fashion - activewear on flights and what to wear on a cruise? We answer all the hard questions 14.05.2026 39хв

  White ski gear? Wearing pink on safari? Are shoes optional on flights? Hosts Kirstie and Belle ask the big questions about what to wear when you travel. We're talking dress codes on cruises, debate the merits of zip-off trousers and share a couple of our favourite savvy travel clothing buys. Should we make more of an effort to dress nicely for flights? Pyjamas in public? When are too many sequins never enough? Strong opinions, we've got 'em, from activewear on planes and the fashi...
• EP 144 The latest slow travel trend: barefoot hiking; the most instagrammable hotels & better sleep on planes 07.05.2026 40хв

  Slowing down, connecting with nature and managing mental health are all the benefits of barefoot hiking, says our interviewee this week. ​ Dale Noppers is a safety professional in Western Australia who has been taking people barefoot hiking for more than seven years. He talks this week about the reasons it's so important to get your shoes off, and explains some simple ways to get started in your own backyard. We also chat about the most Instagrammable hotels in Australia with Sovereign ...
• EP 143 South African safari by e-bike, car & in luxury; fuel-saving tips & the death of the working holiday? 23.04.2026 35хв

  How do you like to see wild animals? From the comfort of a guided safari vehicle? What about driving by yourself or perhaps by ebike? Host Belle Jackson tried all three options in South Africa recently, and shares her successes. We're talking the all-inclusive and exceptionally knowledgeable experiences provided by leading luxury safari company Sabi Sabi Game Reserve; sabisabi.com And also, what it's like to self-drive through Kruger National Park, with expert travel planner Trave...
• Ep 142 Japan's lesser-known regions, flights and fuel surcharges & Australia's prettiest national parks 16.04.2026 41хв

  Rob Goss is a UK-born, Tokyo-based writer who has lived in Japan for almost two decades and authored more than a dozen books about the popular island nation. His latest book, Another Japan (Gestalten, Sep 2026), with photographer Irwin Wong, looks at community, rejuvenation, and cultural preservation in non-urban Japan. Here, he talks to us about some of the best lesser-known places to go, and he has some top tips for first-time visitors. You'll find him at: https://www.tokyofreel...
• EP 141 Travelling in Afghanistan, keeping your eyes healthy on the road & why cash is still king 09.04.2026 57хв

  Come to Central Asia's forgotten country, Afghanistan. This episode, we are joined by Afghanistan’s first female tour guide, Fatima Haidari, and adventure travel company Untamed Borders' founder James Willcox, who is the author of the new Brandt Afghanistan guidebook. From Herat and now living in Italy, Fatima leads virtual tours through Afghanistan, a tribal country with enormous diversity. She talks not only about the tours, but the impact tourism has upon her country, from the natura...
• EP 140 Hot Take: Navigating the unknown – travel during the Middle East crisis & Australia's best airport hotels with a runway view 02.04.2026 36хв

  Travel has taken a huge hit with the Middle East crisis now entering its fifth week, and it can be challenging to keep up with what you should and shouldn't do with travel plans during these significant and devastating world events. This week on our Hot Take, hosts Belinda Jackson and Kirstie Bedford bring you the good and the bad news to help you navigate this uncertain time when it comes to travel plans – with some positive solutions. Our tip is for all the the aviation geeks out there. We’...
• EP 139 Fly flat-bed to Europe with Toby Venus of Point Hacks; biggest hotel rooms & how new EU border rules will hit travellers 26.03.2026 48хв

  Toby Venus of the Point Hacks podcast joins us this episode to demystify frequent flyer points – how to earn, how to burn and creating a checklist to keep your points in good shape and working for you. Coming to you from the Novotel Melbourne Airport, Toby shares some sneaky hacks, and we're talking gift cards, credit cards, hotel loyalty programs and the difference between rewards seats and the perils of the points-plus-pay scheme, so buckle up, avgeeks! We also have a giveaway...
• EP 138 Hiking and biking NZ's Queen Charlotte Track; the world's 50 top cities & the best places to travel with your pooch 19.03.2026 29хв

  New Zealand is renowned for its spectacular scenery, and the Marlborough Sounds on the northern tip of the South Island will not disappoint. Come with host Kirstie Bedford as she hikes and bikes the Queen Charlotte Track, and kayaks in the glassy waters of the Marlborough Sounds, where seals and dolphins are your only neighbours, then beds down in lodges only accessible via the track, boat or helicopter. She explains how to get there, why this is one of the best places to hike in New Zealand,...
• EP 137 Europe by motorbike with the Pillion Princess; getting home from the Middle East & should you cancel your Euro-trip? 12.03.2026 43хв

  She's the queen of the roadtrip, and bestselling author and travel writer Lee Atkinson joins us to talk about her latest adventure, motorbiking across the European Alps. A self-described 'pillion princess', Lee and husband Bill shipped their Suzuki V-Strom tourer to the UK to ride 10,000km through the mountains over three months. Lee shares the trials of ultra-light packing and the joys of kevlar jeans. Her latest book, Ultimate Backroads & Detours: Australia is for lovers of ...
• EP 136 Sordid and scandalous histories of famous hotels; how we're using frequent flyer points & the shocking cost of insurance claims 05.03.2026 38хв

  This week, we are taking you through the colourful, decadent, sordid, and scandalous histories of famous hotels with D'Etta and Yael, hosts of the Hotel History podcast. They launched the podcast to explore the history of hotels and their interplay with culture, society and politics. We talk about some of the most interesting hotels they have covered, from the haunted to the downright bizarre. Find the Hotel History podcast here: www.hotelhistorypodcast.com Also, Money.com research has ...
• EP 135 The Hot Take: climbing the Pyramids and smoking on planes, we chat lost travel experiences & keeping e-docs safe on the road 26.02.2026 26хв

  This week, we’re launching our new segment, Hot Take! Kirstie and Belle are hacking out lost travel experiences - things you may have done in a former travelling life but are now no longer possible. Let’s wallow in the nostalgia! Think climbing the Pyramids, or smoking on planes; just how golden was the Golden Age of Travel? What about animal interactions such as elephant rides, or scrambling up the metal poles that led to the top of Uluru. Some travel experiences are lost because they were s...
• EP 134 The author who bases her books on her expat life, the new trip planner & avoiding disease when you travel 19.02.2026 48хв

  Andrea Barton started her career as an electrical engineer, but when her husband was offered a job overseas, it changed the entire course of her career. Now award-winning author of the Jade Riley Mysteries, owner of a book editing company called Brightside Story Studio, and Vice President of the Mansfield Readers & Writers festival, Andrea bases all her books on the places she has lived around the world. From Nigeria, the US and Qatar to Melbourne, we chat about why these destinatio...
• EP 133 Hot springs bathing around the world, UK visa changes and inflight skincare tips 12.02.2026 43хв

  Support the pod on Ko-Fi, click here Before he founded the Peninsula Hot Springs on the Mornington Peninsula, 21 years ago, Charles Davidson began exploring thermal springs sites around the world. His quest has now taken him to 57 countries to explore their bathing cultures, from Iran to Japan, Tanzania to Yemen. "I really wanted to understand that hot springs had nothing to do with money or wealth, it was all to do with nature and human connection," says Charles of his experiences in Yemen, ...
• EP 132 Hiking the French Camino, Europe’s lesser-known regions you need to know about & what’s hot on the Sunshine Coast 05.02.2026 38хв

  This week, we're chatting with UTracks hiking guide Jaclyn Beagley, who leads guests along the Le Puy Camino, also known as the French Camino. Jaclyn talks about why you should consider the French section of the Camino, and what it offers that differs from other hikes in the network of ancient pilgrimage routes across Europe. We also chat about the historic house she bought in Umbria, and she has some top tips for those considering buying a European holiday home. Also, we cover the late...