Hello :) This is the recording of the eleventh edition of my semi-regular Twitter Space sessions. Following on from the previous Space, about Manners & Customs, it made sense to go over a bit of old ground and do a recording specifically on 'barefoot life. Because it's one of those subjects that it's kind of hard to get away from, given, you know, my online brand name, and my apparent hippy vibes. I'm aware that while the recording took place in early Autumn, I'm issuing it as a podcast...

Hello! Okay, let's start with a controversial statement: Everything you know about Detroit is wrong. Nothing like setting your stall out from the off, I guess. Well, not everything, but probably your first impression is. Certainly a couple of people I spoke to in Toronto were … somewhat confused when I mentioned I was off there, as if to say 'why would you want to go there', 'it's not safe', and, 'well, rather you than me'. But that's exactly why I visit some places, to prove to the world...

Hello :) This is the recording of the tenth edition of my semi-regular Twitter Space sessions. This was recorded back in August, as you can probably tell from the conversation at the start about the weather. We had a chat, a longer chat than usual, about Manners and Customs at home and across the world, a topic V originally suggested because of my preference for being barefoot much of the time. In general though, you can probably tell that while I like to think I do the right thing most of...

Hello! As some of you know, I spent four days in early January 2023 on Jury Service. Now, I don't know how many of you listening have ever been called, and in any case some of the concepts seem to work differently depending on legal jurisdiction, so I thought it might be interesting to talk about some of that on this podcast. Plus it beats me nattering about Reddit or something. I don't know. Although I don't talk too specifically about the case, I'd like to be open about potential content...

Hello :) This is the recording of the ninth edition of my semi-regular Twitter Space sessions. This was recorded back in July but I've only just got round to issuing it as a podcast episode. We had a long chat about hometown travel: how you can and why you should. And while it helps to have a sizeable hometown, something interesting can be found in even the smallest village. Usual disclaimer, be aware this conversation took place over the phone and is then recorded directly from playback...

Hello! Some while ago, I did a pod on beer around the world. Having just come back from a PressTrip to Plsen in Czechia, where I was paid to drink beer, I figured it was the right time to do another on the subject, but this time looking at beer in general. About different beer styles. About where my interest came from. And about quirky experiences and unusual beers I've had in my life around and about. So, why don't you settle down, open a beer (I will accept non-alcoholic ones though...

Hello! This episode, the first after my unexpected and unplanned hiatus, will be all about beer. Specifically, I talk about my Press Trip to Plsen in Czechia, where I spent 3½ days drinking beer for free, including touring a few breweries both large and small. This Press Trip was taken through the Traverse Organisation and in conjuction with Visit Czech Republic,,the Plsen Region, and Visit Plsen. Topics discussed in this episode are: * What I've been doing since my last podcast *...

Hello! This podcast was supposed to have been on beer. But I was waiting for a couple of contributions that never came. That will be coming soon. Instead, I thought I'd do something related to that very fact, and talk about podcasting. Since it's been over four years since I started this pod, since I've done nearly 70 episodes, and since I've recently passed 20,000 downloads. I'm going to talk about 'things I wish I'd known before I started'. Topics discussed in this episode are: * Having...

Hello :) This is the recording of the eighth edition of my semi-regular Twitter Space sessions. Today's episode was all about hiking, but specifically the Hike Across Great Britain I did with my hiking buddy Becky, in the summer of 2019. We're chattering about why I chose to do a hike of such length, how we planned it, the high and low points of the journey, and ponder on how people willingly do ultramarathons. Usual disclaimer, be aware this conversation took place over the phone and is...

Hello! My therapist would object to the way I was going to start this pod, so instead I'll say 'thank you for bearing with me and accepting the slightly less-than-regular issuing of this pod'. Anyhoo. I have an excuse this time, and it's very much the subject of this pod. I've been away from home, on a road trip around Ireland for a week and a half. My friend Anne-Laure wanted to visit Ireland and in summer 2020 we'd sketched out plans to do a 10-day trip there, but things kept getting in...

Hello :) This is the recording of the seventh Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V. This edition is on hiking; including: the sort of places I like to hike, what I take with me, problems I've encountered on my hikes, and a brief discussion on how apt my internet brand name is. We also discuss why cows are evil, and taking toilet breaks across internal national borders. Usual disclaimer, be aware this conversation took place over the phone and is recorded via my computer's internal...

Hello! This episode is a little delayed but that's because I needed to do a lot of research. There's quite a lot of statistics and information in it, but I hope it doesn't bore you too much. Last month was Pride Month in most of the world, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to look at how LGBTQIA+ culture and people are affected in various countries. I chose to look specifically at four, either because I had a connection with them through social media, or because I felt they had...

Hello :) This is the recording of the sixth Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V. This particular recording also saw a fair contribution from a Miranda, a mutual Tweep who lives in Netherlands. This edition is on Solo Travel; I usually travel on my own and here I explain why, and whether there are any problems associated with that - especially with relevence to my Mental Health or Personal Safety. We also discuss the benefits and malefits of group travel, whether my experiences of...

Hello! This episode is all about my recent trip to France. I've not long returned from around 10 days going around Annecy, Lyon, and Paris with my friend Laura, and I thought it made sense to do a pod about it. Partly this is because it was my first trip abroad since both Covid and full Brexit had kicked in. And partly because it was an easy episode to do that didn't require any real effort or sourcing contributions, because obviously I didn't record a pod in advance. Topics discussed...

Hello :) This is the recording of the fifth Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V, back in March. We're definitely getting a bit better with it, though we're still talking over each other a bit which makes it hard to transcribe. This edition is on Personal Safety While Travelling, and I must say a couple of times within the first 15 minutes we do talk about matters of a sexual and kink nature, where I may reveal a bit too much information about random hookups. But then given the cover...

Hello! This episode is all about myths & legends from around the world. Or at least, mostly around the UK, Ireland, and Michigan. Myths and legends might be hyper-local, specific to one town, or they might be known worldwide with the very name invoking an instant impression. They could even be the driving force behind an entire cultural identity and assumed history. Whatever they were, they're fascinating insights into a place and the people who live in it. Topics discussed include: *...

Hello :) This is the recording of the fourth Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V, back in March. I'm realising what a ball-ache they are to transcribe; it's the exact opposite of my normal pod episodes which take an age to prepare but actually issuing them is very quick and easy; these Spaces take little to no time to record but all the admin is post-production. You'd have thought having six weeks between recording and turning into a podcast episode would give me ample time to do...

Hello :) This is the recording of the third Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V, in late February. At this point, we're starting to get a feel for the format, and doing a bit more preparation in advance so I'm not so fazed by the questions. They're also getting longer – we allocate an hour when we plan it and we're pretty much now hitting that target rather than falling a few minutes short. This session is on Staying Healthy While Travelling, and I probably should give you a couple...

Hello! This episode is all about my impressions of Bangladesh, when I took a visit there in spring 2019. Though I wasn't there for that long, I found it a very interesting and remarkable country to visit as a tourist. It had always been a country 'on' my 'this might be interesting to see' list, and since few travel bloggers go there, it just made it more appealing, since I wouldn't be going in with any peer-related expectations. That said, I'd never really actively looked into going, it was...

Hello! This is the recording of the second Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V, in early February. As you probably know if you listen to my main podcast episodes, she decided after the first one that this was a really good use of social media that should work pretty well for my online style, so we've been doing them fortnightly since then. We followed the same format, and indeed that's the format we've been using since, of creating questions and then getting me to answer them, in a...

Hello! This episode is a little unusual. See, it's occurred to me that in the spring of 2014, I did a backpacking trip around the western edges of what when I was growing up was the Soviet Union. And it seemed like an apt time to talk about it, given not only events in that region at the time of recording, but also considering the background to the current situation in the region pretty much effectively started only a month or two before my trip. My visit took me from Romania, which...

Hello! This is not, strictly speaking, a Podcast episode, although it'll be the first of a regular series. As you may know, a couple of months ago, an old friend from Primary School days approached me with a thought. She's now a schoolteacher herself and her class was looking at travel writing, so she asked if I'd be willing to answer a few questions that her class would put to me, to help them in their lesson. I of course agreed, so they all went away and researched me, and she came back...

Hello! This podcast episode has a rather overly grand title, but it's really a continuation of Episode 48, about environmentalism. I look at topics like agricultural practices, diet, the concept of slow travel, accommodation, driving, office work, and fashion. All enveloped in a nice packet of privilege identification. Be thankful I didn't go into things like sustainability and greenwashing. Maybe that's something for another pod. Can we save the world? I guess that's up to us. Topics...

Hello! This podcast episode talk about my recent week-long backpacking trip to Northern Ireland. However, it's less about Northern Ireland specifically, and more about the practical side of backpacking for a week in off-season while there are still Covid pandemic restrictions and admin to contend with. Though I do talk a little about some of the places and museums I visited. That said, the 'T word' probably deserves its own podcast at some point so I only talk about that in passing; indeed...

Hello! This podcast episode follows on from Pods 15 & 16, from almost exactly two years ago, which were about luggage and packing. This time round, however, I'm talking about 'mistakes' you've made while packing. Things like whether you'd packed things you realised were pointless, or not packed things you realised were vital, and had to scramble about trying to find them. Maybe you'd accidentally packed something that became serendipitously useful. Or the opposite; you'd forgotten...