After a series of tragic losses Mariellen Ward took a giant leap of faith and headed to India. Her six month plan has seen her now be there for almost 20 years, setting up the inspirational travel site, Breathe Dream Go and also tour company India For Beginners. We explore the alternative music scene in Canada, her year with a film director in Tokyo, the healing power of a warm breeze on a rather dangerously open-doored train through the golden light of the Indian countryside and also how,...

Michael Palin describes Trevor Dolby’s book, One Place de L'Eglise, as "a timeless story of what it is that makes France irresistible”. Former publisher, Trevor, and his wife Kaz discovered a medieval house in virtual ruins in Languedoc, just off the local village square and the resulting book, widely known as the new ‘Year in Provence’, follows them as they navigate language difficulties floods and freezing winters, colourful characters in the local bar…all with the backdrop of the scent of...

Growing up in Northern Ireland, with his preacher father playing guitar and his granny always singing, for Foy Vance music and the nomadic lifestyle are somewhat ingrained. When Foy was a young boy his father moved the family to Oklahoma to build a church. Back in Northern Ireland he picked up the guitar and eventually immersed himself in the local music scene before moving to London (via a stint in Lanzarote!). He's travelled the US in search of music history, worshipped at the alter of...

During the pandemic Jamie Klingler, underwent an incredible transformation from heavy-drinking party girl to sober, and losing 7 stone along the way. But it was the murder of Sarah Everard that led to her becoming the activist her mother always felt she should be and having co-founded Reclaim These Streets you’ll now see her all over the news battling for justice, women’s safety and more.  She grew up in Philadelphia, travelling the world working in media and events and was in the heart of...

Jennifer Nand was just a young teen when the Beatles were at the start of their meteoric rise. Piling into her friend Jenny’s hearse to go watch the bands in The Cavern and other places across the city, hitching lifts home through the Mersey tunnel, being accidentally spat on the nose by none other than John Lennon, watching the debut performances of some of the UK’s most brilliant acts, rebelling on the Mersey Ferry, controversially dating then marrying Lisa's Indian-Fijian Dad and much...

You might have seen recently a story that went viral, the woman who for three months let a baby bird nest in her hair. Of course the real story is a little bit more nuanced and to hear it directly from nature writer and conservationist Hannah Bourne-Taylor might well bring a little tear to your eye, On this episode, and in her book Fledging, Hannah tells the heart warming story of how, lonely and confused in Ghana, she rescued the little finch who in many ways actually rescued her.  This...

Marc Araham, OBE, aka Marc the Vet, was inspired by his Holocaust survivor grandmother to change UK law and dramatically improve how we treat our pets. He’s vaccinated dogs in Mumbai slums, rescued dancing bears in Ukraine, operated in Buddhist temples in post-tsunami Thailand, battled dog-meat farms in South Korea, travelled deep into the Amazon Jungle and even rehabilitated inmates with pit bulls in US prisons. Marc's new book 'Be More Mosquito: How You Can Campaign & Create Change' is...

Stand-up comedian, star of comedy TV shows and host of the Namaste Mother******s Podcast, Cally Beaton, was a high flying TV exec until Joan Rivers noticed her comedic talent and gave her some life-changing advice. She’s partied at some of the world’s hottest events, knocked back Vodka with Madonna, refused to indulge Mariah’s puppies, narrowly avoided a panther on the loose in South Africa, almost been swallowed by a blizzard in Iceland after a boyfriend dumped her at the airport and much...

'Nanny Sharz’ as she’s known is an international Nanny for the rich and famous, work which has taken her all over the world looking after other people’s children. Growing up in Birmingham and London she comes from a big, musical, cooking Jamaican family and has jetted away in private planes, had a pool in her hotel room, been escorted to reception by the Masai...all.in the likes of Tanzania, Nigeria, Oman, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Caribbean, all across the States and...

On top of a building in Chernobyl, overlooking the destruction and devastation, Greg made a life-changing decision. From that moment on he would dedicate his life to exploring abandoned places, becoming 'Greg Abandoned'. He’s been shot at in Bulgaria, risked his life to trek to a Soviet-era abandoned space shuttle in Kazakhstan, explored countless deserted amusement parks in China and as a result has some of the most jaw dropping Instagram and YouTube footage and an incredible new book called...

Lisa is utterly delighted to have Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos on the podcast to talk about growing up half Greek, the rock and rolls side of cheffing, how Franz Ferdinand partly emerged from a kitchen, Ethiopian instruments, Colombian bull’s testicle maracas, getting arrested as a spy in Moscow, being rushed to hospital in Budapest, learning how to say 'I have a peanut allergy' in every language, breaking down in a Lada on his way to his first Glastonbury and so much more.  Franz...

A childhood divided between her father’s home in Barbados and the cold grey of a wintery London gave Hollywood actor Minnie Driver a love for the laid-back sunshine of the coast of California. Minnie and Lisa talk America’s contrasts of rich and poor, the philosophy of travel, the highs and lows of boarding school, taking the train across Europe, getting beaten up in a bar in Greece, delivering food to stranded neighbours during the Malibu fires, exploring the Middle East with her...

Peace Activist and Nuclear Disarmament Expert, Dr. Rebecca Johnson, grew up in a Hutterite community in the rural US. After living in Japan and visiting Hiroshima she was moved to join the women’s peace camp at Greenham Common, protesting against nuclear weapons. She’s driven supplies into war-torn Bosnia, sailed the seas on Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior, worked with the UN in Geneva and spent time with the Fidel family in Cuba. In 2017 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside her ICAN...

Growing up on a Peckham council estate with his musician mother and a 'Lizzie-Anne the transvestite' childcarer led to Pete Bennett’s own love of quirk and music  Now an actor, director, voice over artist and of course musician (with his band Lovedogz), he first came to public attention in 2006’s Big Brother and really opened up the conversation about Tourette’s Syndrome. Pete tells hilarious stories about the crazy acid trip at a psychedelic rave which gave him a vision that he would win Big...

A year spent camping out in the bush in Cameroon led Will Bolsover from Natural World Safaris make travel his life’s work. From tracking tigers in Siberia, to finding hidden corners of Madagascar and most recently spending 48 minutes in the Antarctic followed by 11 nights in hotel quarantine…it’s not always straightforward but it certainly sounds absolutely magical.  www.naturalworldsafaris.com On this episode we talk: Launching Will’s own travel podcast for Natural World Safaris Africa,...

Authors Anne Sebba on the Royal abdication, Sathnam Sanghera's dismal Christmas restaurant, Lisa Jewell's Boney M in Barbados, adventurer Jamie Douglas-Hamilton rowing to the Antarctic, satirist Matt Forde in an NYC Irish bar, podcaster Olly Mann’s disappointing LA Santa, artist Firouz FarmanFarmaian Muslim Catholic Christmas in Marrakesh, adventurer Sam McManus's ancient Spanish fiesta, Festival promoter Huw Win's Thai rainforest & Nobel Peace Prize winner Rebecca Johnson's Christmas at...

Born in Tehran, the descendent of a nomadic tribe, Contemporary Artist Firouz FarmanFarmaian's family scattered after the Islamic Revolution. He grew up trekking mountains and deserts, touring with his Indie rock band and now with his internationally acclaimed art. With a gallery in Tarifa, Spain, and a new base in Athens, he travels the globe sourcing ideas and materials with craftswomen in remote regions and will be representing Kyrgyzstan at the Venice Biennale with the exhibition Gates of...

A journey through the maze of Marbella's 16th Century cobbled lanes surrounding the old 'Orange Square', encountering flamenco singers and opera stars and sampling some of the coast's most wonderful tapas. With tour guide Javier Gonzalez and staying at the stunning Anantara Villa Padierna Palace, with its classical Italian design and sophisticated yet arty vibe. Lisa stayed at the Anantara Villa Padierna Palace https://www.anantara.com/en/villa-padierna-marbella in Marbella courtesy of...

Comedian, political satirist and Spitting Image star Matt Forde talks accosting Billy Connolly in New York, 'dying' on stage in Luxemborg, pints of Carling in ex-pat clubs in Bahrain, Nick Leeson's luxury hotel dash around the world, spending 3 months locked in a first floor flat, an emotional pilgrimage to the Ghostbusters fire station, being the voice of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump (yes he does give us some excellent impressions) and posh people behaving badly on the podcast British...

Just as the world was closing Sam McManus from YellowWood Adventures took a daunting gamble and hopped on a plane to Costa Rica. We talk about how the pandemic can change travel (even for the better), tourism being potentially a means for good, eco-tourism and re-forestation, surfing, small pueblos in the green hills of Northern Spain, his wonderful travelogue about his explorations - Wax and Gold Journeys in Ethiopia & Other Roads Less Travelled - and feeling the pull of friends, family...

Good news at least for those people who have had two UK administered vaccines. From 19th July we can now go to amber list countries without quarantining on return. BUT at the moment this is just for UK administered vaccines meaning the country is not yet open to inbound tourism. Travel needs to be two-way! We need people in the UK to support our business too. Whilst we are aware it needs to be done safely we also need to get aviation and travel moving even further.

A Big Travel Podcast special on the latest UK Travel Update; the new rules, the changes in the traffic light ratings, vaccinations soon to be taken into account and much more. A ten minute episode of essential listening.

Olly Mann, from Answer Me This podcast fame, his new The Retrospectors and much more, loves nothing more than researching trivia especially with travel. We talk Wrigley’s chewing gum and decapitation, leaving your baby outside a pub, people who get erections on public transport, a love for Luton Airport, the misleading American Dream, cocktails worth shortening your life for, having a bottom accident on an African roadside (yes this episode does feature the S word) and much more. 

Into The Wild Festival promoter Huw Wyn grew up in his mother’s hotel in Wales then moved to Spain. We talk growing up feral in Andalucia, hitchhiking across Europe, fish-packing in the Netherlands, Glastonbury, Arabian Nights in Cairo, the poetic side of being a London bin man, orphanages in India, Mother Theresa in Calcutta, meeting the Dalai Lama, studying Tibetan medicine in Scotland, the remote Buddhist kingdom in Ladakh, hitching 2000 miles through Nepal, Tom Hardy at his festival and much

The author of one of Lisa’s favourite books, Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s, Anne Sebba explores the lives of women ‘writers and fighters’. As a journalist and author she's worked in film-star-filled 70s Rome, moved to New York with a baby, camped in the Mexico desert with Wallis Simpson’s free-diving step-son, had her camera film thrown into the Ganges while tracing Mother Theresa and, for her most recent book on Ethel Rosenburg, to Belarus and...