Picture the scene... Lisa and Simon Hunter (Madrid based journalist) are in the centre of Madrid at the fabulous Ocean Drive Hotel with a balcony over- looking over the Opera square having a chat about politics, celebs, nightclubs, tapas and more before heading up to the rooftop pool for a Vermouth...On this episode we talk..the short trip that turned into a lifetime love of Madrid, becoming the go-to person for British news on Spanish TV, big stories in the busy newsroom in El Pais, the surprise abdication of King Juan Carlos, Spain’s mad politics, the eerie quiet over the city at the time of the 2004 bombings, the violent ETA period, spending ‘several years’ in Spanish nightclubs, beautiful beaches in Cadiz, arguing over sun loungers in Benidorm, old sherry bars and ‘la hora del Vermouth’ Simon’s fantastic ‘Walk & Eat’ tapas tours, oh and Simon’s new abs! So much to unpack there. Join us in Madrid now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barbara Buczek spent ten years in the management team at the Port of Dover but over two years ago moved continents to establish Saudi’s new cruise scene with Cruise Saudi. Born in Poland she felt that travelling at an early age to Kentucky to attend a US high school gave her the travel bug. On this episode we talk about the special relationship with the UK have with Dover, the emotional tug of those white cliffs, how travelling by sea gives you a different perspective, feeling like she is living through history witnessing the cultural changes in Saudi, climbing to Everest Base Camp, jogging through a Taiwanese forest, the unbeatable feeling of running the London marathon and much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Riley, Maths expert, Gadget Show & Countdown host, MBE for services to Holocaust education grew up in Essex by way of Manchester. We talk about the astonishing story of her Jewish mother’s family escaping from what’s now Russia, the family member who was stabbed by a mounted Kossack and ended up a Gaucho in Argentina, taking in Ukrainian refuge, spontaneously marrying her Strictly co-star, Russian dancer Pasha Kovalev in Las Vegas, roping in Robbie Williams for the entertainment, wildlife watching in the Galapagos…using maths to get good travel deals and so much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A solitary walk to the South Pole led to Erling Kagge writing best-selling book Silence; in the Age of Noise and this new book explores how walking can change and indeed save your life. He was the first person to reach ‘the three poles’, he’s explored New York’s sewers - sleeping in tunnels and meeting wonderful characters who lived there, he’s been attacked by a polar bear and won and confounded scientologists who thought he was crazy. His philosophies about life's great walk will really get you Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As one of the world's top specialists in counter terrorism, kidnap and personal security Will Geddes, aka ‘the Real James Bond’, has worked in hostile environments from Iraq and Afghanistan to… Hollywood. He felt most scared driving from Basra to Baghdad, most happy in New York City and a relaxing break form work turned into a rescue operation in the 2004 tsunami. With close and personal connections to so many famous people, none of whom he can tell us about it’s an insightful yet delightful convers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adventurer and ultra runner Jamie Maddison has run 100s of miles through vast deserts, lived with a nomad in Central Asia, raced on horseback with a crazy herder on the remote old postal roads in Kazakstan, pulled a camel through 100 miles of desert in Uzbekistan and lived with eagle hunters in Mongolia. With fascinating stories about how expeditions can challenge and change you and have a surprisingly lasting effect on mental and physical health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aged just 22 Kris Hallenga returned from a trip to Beijing to be told she had incurable cancer. Ditching plans to travel the world she threw herself into building Coppa Feel, her wonderful charity. ‘Passion can take you to some incredible places’ she says, and her message HAS taken her to wonderful places - literal and metaphorical. She recently celebrated her ten year 'cancerversary' and has some inspirational words for us all about enjoying travel, enjoying life, enjoying every moment.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When in Germany in the 80s Elli Radinger was refused a job in space law because it was supposedly man’s work she gave it all up to dedicate her life to wolves and is now a world expert on the subject. In this fascinating episode I talk to Elli about watching wolves in the wild in America’s vast national parks, close encounters with bears, the incredible bonds wolves share in the pack and about some of the really lovely stories in her book the Wisdom of Wolves.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Foreign correspondent and world affairs editor John Simpson has risked life and limb reporting for the BBC for over 50 years. The Tiananmen Square massacre, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Zimbabwe, Bosnia – you name it he was there. He’s been punched by a UK Prime Minister, bombed by US 'friendly fire', met Gaddafi in Bedouin tents in Libya, watched Saddam Hussein’s execution in court and whilst experimenting with tribal hallucinogenics in the deepest Amazon was once hugged by a six foot goldfish wearing sh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine rowing all the way from California to Hawaii, 2,400 miles over 62 days across the Pacific with nothing but two friends and some oars. Team Pacific Terrific broke records and came second in the Great Pacific Race. Megan Hoskin has such wonderfully evocative stories about what it feels like to be in the middle of the ocean when you’re closest fellow humans are the ones passing over in the plane and also about her mountaineering in Nepal, Ecuador and much more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Instagram a reading revolution has spurned many #Bookstagram stars 'Bookish Bronte' Huskinson, 22 year old author, visual storyteller and creator of beautiful book photography. A self-appointed champion of creative introverts she loves finding the best book-friendly villages and finds her happy place in a picturesque beach town on Lake George in New York State. We talk Instagram ethics, magical realism, feminism and feminine energy, travelling outside our comfort zones and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Around India in 80 Trains Monisha Rajesh decided to tackle the whole world in 80 trains on a journey that took in 45,000 miles across Europe, Russia, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Canada and America. Stopping at the world’s oldest lake in Siberia, taking the ‘death railway’ from Bangkok to Nam Tok and meeting Tibetan nuns with iPhones she has some wonderful, inspirational and entertaining stories for you in a conversation everyone who loves travel will just love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

British explorer, writer and photographer Levison Wood has travelled to over 100 countries, many of them in war zones, typically thought of as hostile or off the beaten track. His documentaries and best-selling books have enchanted people the world over. He’s walked the whole length of the Nile, walked the Himalayas where he survived a terrible car crash, diced with gang leaders when walking the Americas and recently returned from a 5000 mile circumnavigation of the Arabian peninsula from Iraq to Lebanon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Munns, CEO of sailing charity Oceans of Hope UK, left the graft and glamour of West End theatre for a life on the seas. He’d not long had a shock diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis when a chance encounter in a harbour changed the course of his future. Rob and Lisa talk West End theatre’s transformation, working with Madonna, happy days sailing the Med, the ‘raw shock’ of his diagnosis, the physical and emotional enormity of sailing across the Pacific (with or without MS!), committing to life again, watching other MS sufferers transform with sailing and how making conscious decisions (along with the more ‘floaty’ subconscious ones) can help us through even the most challenging of times.  You can find out about how to support Oceans of Hope by visiting their website www.oceansofhope.co.uk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paralympian Swimmer Liz Johnson often she says how fortunate she is. She IS of course fortunate in many ways, she’s won golds, silvers and bronzes all over the world, competed for her country and been able to turn her passion into her life. But it hasn’t been without its challenges and heartaches from being born with Cerebral Palsy to the sad loss of her mum. A truly inspirational conversation about the challenges and joys of travel with one of the UK’s most impressive athletes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A hungover conversation one day in Dublin between two best friends Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght led to the creation of a loveable character called Aisling, who quickly became a Facebook phenomenon, then two best-selling books is now being made into a film by an Oscar winning production co. This episode explores the quirks of life in every small town, moving to the big city, the wild days of the Irish Celtic Tiger, crazy nights in Berlin, even crazier ones in Las Vegas and so much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From a haunted hotel in the Cambodian jungle to a dry New Year's Eve in Kuala Lumper it's Lisa's New Year's Eve special. Taking in Belgium, Holland, London, Malaga in Spain, Goa in India, Koh Samui in Thailand, Sydney in Australia, Fiji, Cambodia, Vietnam and random musings on Prince, Shane MacGowan and various characters met along with way. Happy New Year from the Big Travel Podcast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the UK’s best-known food critic, writing columns for The Times and many other outlets as well as presenting TV programmes like BBC2's 'Amazing Hotels', Giles Coren has travelled to over 100 countries. He is, in his own words - an icon of foodie ponceyness so don’t ask me how we get on to McDonalds, Nandos and frozen fish blocks in Billericay. A highly entertaining episode in which we discuss the world's best restaurants, plastic boobs in Nice, roast guinea pig in Ecuador and so much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A wonderful collection of Christmas stories with Edith Bowman's perfect Californian Christmas, Jane Garvey getting stoned on Christmas Day in Liverpool, Helen Zaltzman and the lady in plastic bags at the Grand Canyon, author Isabelle Broom being punched in the nose in Lake Como, Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark having her crackers confiscated, Loose Women’s Andrea McLean on childhood Christmases in the Caribbean and The Times restaurant critic Giles Coren on why Christmas should never, ever be abroad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surviving cancer at just 25 changed the course of Lizzie Carr’s life, ditching corporate life to become an adventurer, travelling the world on her paddleboard to battle plastic pollution. She’s the first person in history to solo paddleboard the length of England, the first woman to solo paddleboard the English channel and in 2018 paddle boarded the whole of the Hudson River from Albany to New York City. An inspirational story of what we can do if we put our minds to it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warning: After listening you might just find yourself booking a ticket and heading off on a train adventure. One murky afternoon in 2001 London station manager Mark Smith bought a 'teach yourself HTML' guide & the Main in Seat 61 was born. Mark has journeyed all over Europe and the US, Tunisia, Syria, Marrakech, Istanbul, Ukraine & the Crimea, Petra & Aqaba, Moscow, Vladivostok, Tokyo & Nagasaki via the Trans-Siberian Railway, all over Burma & so much more. Unmissable travel inspiration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Music and football photographer Sharon Latham has the most brilliant stories about travelling with some of the world’s most famous footballers, rock stars and movie stars. She’s just published a book with Noel Gallagher, has worked with Bruce Springsteen and was even recognised Bradley Cooper on the red carpet. Her latest venture is the Selfie Guide, exploring the world for the best selfie spots in New Zealand, New York, Paris, London, Rome, Berlin, Canada, Tasmania, Fiji, Hawaii, Bali, Tokyo and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Lonely Planet’s Editorial Director, travel is a rather fortunate occupational imperative for Tom Hall, who started off packing boxes in the warehouse 20 years ago and now has the top editorial job at the world’s favourite guidebook publishers. Tom tells us about breathtaking rock-carved churches in Ethiopia, exploring Chilean Fjords on a ferry, conquering crusader castles in Syria and we discuss the nomadic spirit in all of us that makes travel part of our very being. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world’s most iconic and historic travel and map bookshop, Stanfords in London’s Covent Garden, is a magical place that has delighted visitors for over 165 years with one of the world’s largest collection of maps, globes and travel books - creating cartography for everyone from the British Army to James Bond. The lady at the helm, Vivien Godfrey, is the granddaughter of the family who took over 100 years ago and joins us on this episode to talk about the wonders of books, maps and travel.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Freya Ridings’ beautiful, heartfelt music, gives you a wonderful sense of her warm and open personality and you’re going to LOVE Freya’s stories here on the podcast; Learning to play on her Nana’s piano, growing up in a musical, talented family (her Dad is the voice of Daddy Pig!), Lost Without You being played on Love Island, getting engaged in Lake Como, battling back from Australia before lockdown, struggling to allow herself to travel for fun, but, how the beauty of travel allows for (and I quote) ‘time outside your environment to think new thoughts and have new ideas’. Full of wonderful thoughts, ideas and indeed music for the release of her new album Blood Orange, we are delighted to have Freya Ridings on the podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The founder of the Anne Frank Trust and author of The Legacy of Anne Frank, Gillan Walnes Perry, talks about the incredible legacy left by Anne and her famous diary, written when hiding from the Nazis in occupied Amsterdam. Gillian's travelled all over the world spreading Anne’s message to help combat prejudice, was once chased by the KGB for her human rights work in Russia and now has the cushiest job in the world giving lectures on luxury cruise ship across the globe.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The son of political refugees, Malawian Comedian Daliso Chaponda had a truly fascinating upbringing in exile in Kenya, Somalia, Swaziland, Thailand, Bangladesh, Austria and Switzerland following his UN Diplomat father. Returning to Malawi was a culture shock as were the sexually liberated comedians in Canada who inspired him! He came third on Britain’s Got Talent and says Simon Cowell is a actually a really nice guy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sitting in a piazza in the sun, coffee at hand, writing your latest novel is a dream for many of us and one Isabelle Broom has made a reality – with best-selling books based on Greek Islands, Prague, Italy’s Lake Como, Andalucia, Sri Lanka, Canada, New Zealand as well as a career in popular magazines. As well as exotic locations Isabelle's books encompass heart-melting romance and a beautiful emotional as well as geographical journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Life’s not always been full of laughs for comedian Phil Nichol, being he Britain’s no2 crap town, banned by Born Again Christian parents from wearing jeans until 17 and once had a terrifying encounter with wild dogs whilst searching for a Nazi –themed-socialist-folk-music bar in a dark field outside Bangkok. Don’t even ask about ‘Trough Man’. Talking Canterbury, Brighton, Newcastle, Toronto, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Australia, Rio, Jamaica, South Africa, New Zealand, Toky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Femi Oluwole, spokesperson for Our Future Our Choice, a group of young people campaigning to stop Brexit, has gone head to head with key pro-Brexit figures including Nigel Farage and Katie Hopkins and it’s only a matter of time before he’s invited onto Question Time. The son of Nigerian doctors he grew up in the North East of England and had moved 14 times by the age of 14, later studying EU law in Brussels and Vienna and loves nothing more than skiing in a cape and swimming shorts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From a council estate in East London, the son of Afro-Caribbean immigrants, Eddie Nestor talks Hackney hipsters, Windrush, tracing African roots, hanging with Idris Elba, getting accosted in a dark alley in Thailand and ‘being the first black guy to do a Persil ad in South Africa’. Covering Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, Dominica, St Lucia, The Gambia. Ghana, Thailand, Goa, British Colonialism, racism, DNA tests, Brexit, football and much more in Eddie’s wonderful dulcet tones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark is famed for her no-nonsense attitude. She’s arranged her working life around her love of Scotland, was inspired by the Isle of Arran to write novels, accidentally stumbled into the fall of the iron curtain on honeymoon and feels her spirit soar driving a convertible in New York State. A passionate advocate for working smarter, she feels that overnight trains are the most effective use of travelling time and has the best Mallorcan fashion tip you'll ever need. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surprisingly for a conversation that encompasses death, intensive care, cannibalism, Colonial guilt, poverty, the Holocaust and being kicked in the shin by small children Helen Zaltzman and Lisa manage to laugh their way through this episode with one entertaining story after another from ‘The Benign Dictator of the Podcasting Republic’. Travel highlights include Hawaii, Australia, Tasmania, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Peru, Utah, Vegas and a hot tubs-taxidermy themed hotel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spending much of her teens wiped out with Chronic Fatigue meant when Felicity Morse DID get better she wanted to get out and travel, first working on super yachts in the South of France - from which time she has the craziest of stories. From sailing with the world’s richest, to travelling solo and finding discovering a surprising Native American heritage Felicity is all about the human connection. We talk travel, mental health and her book Give a F**K – on how to care without burning out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The bailiffs took their family home in the same week Raynor Winn and husband Moth were told – completely out of the blue – Moth had a terminal illness. Destitute and homeless, they decided to backpack along the windswept cliffs of the South West Coast Path that runs the length of the west coast of England. 630 miles of steep, unforgiving terrain. With very little money for food and only a tent for shelter they began to walk and walk and walk… this is their story.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was a passion for birding and indeed podcasting that lead Suzy Buttress to establish the wonderful Casual Birder podcast, for which she travels extensively, tracing birds and indeed other wildlife around the world. We discuss her recent expedition cruise to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica, dealing with anxiety when having heard two people sadly lost their lives on the same journey, how whale-watching in Baja California brought her to tears, the truly awesome experience of witnessing a solar eclipse in Oregon, feeling the fear and doing it anyway and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antarctica stores enough frozen water to raise global sea levels by 58 metres. Why wait for this to melt when it could provide much needed water to drought-ridden areas and save lives? This is a question doctor-turned-author Paul Stidolph asks in his new book Forests in the Sahara. Paul talks harvesting ice, surviving mudslides in Nepal, the Japanese Hiroshima survivor he worked with in the monsoon, Cape Town, Australia, Sri Lanka, Uganda and singing sweet nothings on a schooner in the Seychelles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether reporting on the Brazil World Cup, the Canada Women’s World Cup or dodging tear gas in a football brawl in France Kait Borsay takes everything in her stride. Her podcast – the Offside Rule – has been voted one of the best sports podcasts in the UK and she’s travelled extensively - Brazil, Canada, Bali, Kenya, Australia all over Europe and much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A funny, raw, open chat with Anna Hart, whose untameable adventurous spirit was ignited by a childhood in the back streets of Singapore. She’s seen Shakespearean scenes amid gorillas in Rwanda, lived as a digital nomad in Bali and New Zealand, been transformed by a shamanic haircut in LA and even been an ice road trucker. For Anna, travel, with the power to heal and transform, is fuelled by wanderlust yet also seasonal depression when life lacks adventure and sunshine. Unmissable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BBC Radio 4’s Jane Garvey has travelled extensively, albeit under duress. She went backpacking as far as Belgium, didn’t have a great time reporting from the Olympics in Atlanta and really doesn’t fancy going anywhere exotic like India. She does however have some brilliant stories to tell about her surprisingly extensive travels - taking in Ghana, South Africa, seeing her beloved Liverpool play in Istanbul and plenty of Greece. A lively and entertaining conversation with one of the UK’s best broadca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

School’s out for summer meaning fun, sun, getting locked in a kids club and left behind in Mexico, falling off a slide and needing stitches in Turkey, free Pringles in Greece and going to Spain because 'we can't afford to go anywhere else'! This is travel from the kids’ point of view, travelling to Belgium, France, Spain, Wales, Mexico, Turkey, Greece, India and more. What they like about their holidays might just surprise you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Based in London, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco award-winning reputation management consultant and host of the popular Media Masters Podcast Paul Blanchard has the dream life of business travel. He loves driving across the USA, listening to podcasts, notching up 26 states and counting. When he’s not hot-footing it around the globe (Tajikistan, Pakistan, Tblisi Georgia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda...) or hanging out with the rich and famous he lives on a farm near Milton Keynes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As one of the most famous women on UK TV, at the helm of one of our most poplar daytime shows, Andrea McLean is the Glasgow girl with the accent that no-one can quite place. Witty, warm and highly entertaining, Andrea grew up on a sugar cane plantation in the Caribbean, has hitchhiked through remote forests in Kenya and is so well travelled she started her career as a travel writer.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up in a small town on the Sussex coast was idyllic for children’s author and musician Giles Paley Phillips until tragedy struck and changed the course of his life. As a teenager in a small town he found the dodgiest clubs, yet soon learned his guitar was his ticket to ride. He’s travelled the breadth of the UK playing in Paul McCartney’s studios in Liverpool, at Glastonbury and his latest book is inspired by the gardeners of Syria.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travel guru, guide-book author, journalist and the man to the whom world turns for anything travel related; Simon Calder is the Man Who Pays His Way, has hitchhiked all over the world and is also the man who over 12 years ago gave podcast host, Lisa, her first official travel writing commission after she interviewed him on her radio show. A travel packed episode with 'Mr Travel' himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brought up in the family hotel in Fife, Scotland, Edith Bowman has travel running through her veins. She’s hung out in New York with the world’s biggest bands, been caught in a snowstorm in the salt flats of Bolivia, shot guns in Texas (which she hated), presented TV travel shows from all over the globe and loves nothing more than waking up in a new place a day with her kids and rockstar husband on a tour bus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With… Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos in New Zealand, podcaster & author Iszi Lawrence in Australia, charity founder Kevin Chaplin in Cape Town, celebrity vet Marc Abraham building a sand Christmas tree in Thailand, author Hannah Bourne-Taylor rescuing a pangolin in the rainforest in Ghana, Hollywood actor Minnie Driver on beach Christmases in California, comedian & podcaster Cally Beaton ice skating in Central Park, singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt’s winter wonderland in Iceland, contemporary artist Firouz Farman Farmaian in the family riad in Marrakech, campaigner Jamie Klingler remembering Philadelphia book stores with her mom, Ibizan DJs The Mambo Brothers drinking cold beer on the beach in Rio, Hotelier Marc Rahola on family Christmas in Ibiza, international travel nanny Nanny Sharz in Jamaica, singer-songwriter Foy Vance wishing he’d not gone to Lanzarote, abandoned places explorer ‘Greg Abandoned’ on a Christmas nightclub romance in London and Big Brother star Pete Bennett with a drunk Santa in the Caribbean. What’s not to love??? Happy Christmas from us here at The Big Travel Podcast xx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fascinating insight into the South Pacific and what is was like to grow up under British Colonial rule. Living in a house made of bamboo the kids' playground was the lush fields of the sugar cane plantation, mango trees, the winding river where they swam as their mums washed their clothes and of course the beautiful Fijian beaches. Taking us to Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, 1960s Liverpool (meeting the Beatles!) to Spain and more. Amid lots of laughter there are also a few tears! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travelling the breadth of the UK in her enviable job as the presenter of BBC1’s Escape to the Country is more calming than Sonali Shah’s previous travels which included making a ‘kidnap plan’ when filming in Afghanistan, needing armed guards at her wedding in Kenya and being stuck in a military coup in Bangkok. With family from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and India she’s a true child of the Commonwealth and also a Londoner through and through.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From humble beginnings in a slum tenement in Scotland, George Galloway has risen to become one of the UK’s most well known and also most controversial politicians. His self-confessed radical views have seen him banned from Canada, arrested in Cairo, meeting with Saddam Hussein in Iraq, spending time with Fidel Castro in Cuba and on first name terms with Nelson Mandela, Benazir Bhutto and Yasser Arafat. The travels of 'Gorgeous George' are as fascinating and as intriguing as the man himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices