The Escape Artist Travel Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Today’s guest is one of the world’s greatest living photographers. So, in this very special season finale, we’re going to look at travel through the lens of the legendary visual storyteller Steve McCurry. 

We’ll delve into the story behind the photograph that defined his career: the portrait of a young Afghan girl (Sharbat Gula) with her torn shawl and piercing green eyes that appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in June 1985. It’s one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century and easily one of the most recognizable magazine covers ever printed. The portrait is likened to a modern-day Mona Lisa due to her captivating gaze.

Steve McCurry has captured many powerful and poetic photographs over an exceptional career that spans five decades. He’s devoted a lifetime to documenting the essence of humanity with a sharp focus on conflicts, vanishing culture and ancient traditions, as well as scenes from contemporary life.

His long-held fascination with photographing far-off places began when he quit his job at a local newspaper and bought a one-way ticket to India. In this episode, you’ll get a snapshot of Steve’s most memorable travel moments as we hitchhike across the USA, pick fruit on a kibbutz in Israel, swim with sea lions in the Galapagos and accidentally spend the night in a Buddhist monastery in Ladakh.

Of course, some of Steve’s adventures aren’t for the faint-hearted – he’s covered extreme weather events and warzones, survived a plane crash in Slovenia and got his big break as a photojournalist in 1979 after crossing the border into Afghanistan disguised as a mujahideen rebel.

STEVE McCURRY’S CULTURE GUIDE

Monsoon photo-essay in Life Magazine (1961) by Brian Brake

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Ragusa, Sicily

Philadelphia

South Carolina

London

Stockholm

Amsterdam

Israel

India

Slovenia

Afghanistan

Chitral, Pakistan

Peshawar, Pakistan

The Galápagos Islands

Ladakh, India

Cuba

Mandalay, Myanmar

Iran

For a real visual treat visit stevemccurry.com or look out for Steve’s brand-new book In Search of Elsewhere, which is a unique and brilliant collection of previously unseen images from over forty years of travel. Buy it here.

You might also like to follow @stevemccurryofficial on Instagram.

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com

Thanks so much for listening to the podcast over the past few months. See you soon for more wild and whimsical adventures in 2021 for Season Two of The Escape Artist!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli) 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is British travel journalist and author Sophy Roberts.

It takes a special kind of person to hear the sentence ‘the lost pianos of Siberia’ uttered in casual conversation and have those words ignite an obsession that eventuates in a three-year odyssey across the vast, white wilderness of Siberia in search of a piano.

Sophy’s self-described ‘oddball quest’ is documented in her debut book The Lost Pianos of Siberia, which has been received with critical acclaim.

Sophy Roberts is one of the finest travel writers of our time, having carved out an exceptional career as an editor-at-large for titles such as Condé Nast Traveller and Departures magazine, and a columnist for the Financial Times' How to Spend it.

In recent years she’s felt a call to the wild, trading the glitzy hotels and glamorous getaways for a chance to tell untold stories from remote parts of the world, reporting on wildlife conservation, threats to eco-systems and fragile cultures.

SOPHY ROBERTS’ CULTURE GUIDE

The Road to Oxiana (book) by Robert Byron

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (book) by Laurie Lee

In Patagonia (book) by Bruce Chatwin

The Magic Faraway Tree (book) by Enid Blyton

The Story of Doctor Dolittle (book) by Hugh Lofting

The Secret Garden (book) by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Sakhalin Island (book) by Anton Chekhov

The Princess of Siberia (book) by Christine Sutherland

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

West Dorset, England

Andalucía, Spain

Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Varanasi, India

Ladakh, India

Dal Lake, Kashmir

Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo

Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan

The Ennedi Desert, Chad

The Happy House, Nepal (See Sophy's review for CNT here)

The Orkhon valley, Mongolia

Siberia (using Anton Chekhov's description: 'The plain of Siberia begins, I think, from Ekaterinburg, and ends goodness knows where’)

Kamchatka, Russia

The Altai Mountains, Mongolia

Lake Baikal, Russia

The Kuril Islands

Taiga, Russia

The Trans-Siberian Railway

Socotra Island, Yemen

Curious to know if Sophy finds the piano she’s been searching for? Visit thelostpianosofsiberia.com or you can buy the book here.  

Please support your local bookshop if you can! Independent bookstores are really struggling at the moment, let's keep them in business this Christmas!!

You might also like to follow sophy_roberts on Instagram, she takes spellbinding photographs on her travels.

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com

Join me next week for the final episode of The Escape Artist Season 1!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli) 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is one of the world’s most successful travel bloggers, Brooke Saward.

Brooke’s journey began when she started documenting her holidays on her blog World of Wanderlust back in 2012. The adventures of the Australian-born blogger have been followed by millions of readers across the globe.

Brooke’s travel tales will take you on a whirlwind journey from her quiet life in Tasmania to the electrifying city of Hong Kong, where she first caught the travel bug. Since then she’s visited over 70 countries and has relocated to Cape Town as a result of a storybook-style romance on an African safari.

BROOKE SAWARD’S CULTURE GUIDE

Cirque du Soleil (live show)

Into the Okavango by Neil Gelinas (film)

Out of Africa by Karen Blixen (book)

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Tasmania, Australia

Hong Kong

Cape Town, South Africa

The Cape Winelands, South Africa

Chapman’s Peak Drive, South Africa

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Kalahari Desert, Botswana

andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge

Skybeds, Botswana

San Camp, Botswana

Stone Town, Zanzibar

andBeyond Mnemba Island

Danakil Depression, Ethiopia

Simien Mountains, Ethiopia

Hunza Valley, Pakistan

Attabad Lake, Pakistan

Fairy Meadows, Pakistan

Nihiwatu resort, Sumba Island, Indonesia

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit escapeartistpodcast.com

See you next week for another episode of The Escape Artist!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli) 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest launched an incredible culinary career from a tiny Parisian apartment.

Rachel Khoo is a British cookbook author and TV chef who packed up her life in London to pursue her dream of studying pâtisserie at the world-famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris.  

In 2012, Rachel became a household name with her bestselling cookbook, The Little Paris Kitchen, but it was her hit BBC TV show that had us falling head over heels for Rachel’s vintage style, Parisian lifestyle and simple French fare served with creative flair. Numerous cookbooks and television shows have since followed.

In the latest chapter of her gastronomic adventures, Rachel has bid au revoir to France and traded croissants for cardamom buns as she’s now settled in Stockholm. Her culinary journey takes us from the snow-capped Austrian Alps to deep within the Malaysian jungle. She also shares her fascination with Tokyo’s convenience stores and her love of long summer days spent foraging for cloudberries in the Swedish forests.

RACHEL KHOO’S CULTURE GUIDE

Amelie by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (film)

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Shakespeare and Company, Paris

Vienna

The Austrian Alps

Malaysia

Paris

Le Cordon Bleu

Marché d'Aligre, Paris

Tokyo

7-Eleven, Japan

Stockholm

Lillebrors Bageri, Stockholm

If you’re interested in exploring whether going vegan will save the planet, you can find Rachel Khoo's new 8-part podcast series A Carnivore’s Crisis available on Audible. You can also keep up to date with her latest projects at rachelkhoo.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com

See you next week for another episode of The Escape Artist!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli) 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is internationally-acclaimed architect Bill Bensley.

It’s very likely that at some point on your travels you’ve come across a hotel that was dreamt up by the innovative Bangkok-based hotel designer. Bill Bensley’s work spans over 200 resorts and hotels in more than 30 countries, and he is famous for his eclectic, extravagant and eco-conscious designs. His signature style features flamboyant flourishes, up-cycled antiques and lush gardens. 

Recently, Capella Ubud in Bali was named as Travel + Leisure’s ‘best hotel in the world’ for 2020, and his own Bensley Collection – Shinta Mani Wild won ‘best new hotel in Asia’ in Conde Nast Traveler’s Hot List last year.

He’s a self-described “wide-ranging explorer” and his travel adventures will take you from the bustling streets of Bangkok to the endless expanse of Mongolia. Be warned, you better buckle up for this episode, as we ascend to dizzying heights with a haphazard hot air balloon journey across Burma and a flight over Peru’s mysterious Nazca Lines that doesn’t quite go to plan!

BILL BENSLEY’S CULTURE GUIDE

Don’t Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Khao Yai National Park

Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok

Sing Sing Theater

Yellowstone National Park

Mongolia

Bali

Capella Ubud, Bali

Four Seasons Koh Samui

Bensley Collection – Shinta Mani Wild, Cambodia

Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle

Myanmar

Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto

Hoshinoya Kyoto

Antigua, Guatemala 

Newark Market, Newark-on-Trent

Sapa, Vietnam

Hotel de la Coupole, Sapa

Rosewood Luang Prabang

Peru

AZULIK Tulum

You can learn more about Bill Bensley's design portfolio, conservation efforts and philanthropic projects at BENSLEY.

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com

See you next week for another episode of The Escape Artist!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm excited to announce that our very first escape artist for the inaugural episode of the podcast is the 'Queen of Scents', perfumer Jo Malone CBE.

Most of us immortalise our favourite travel moments with a photograph, but my guest today captures the essence of a place... by bottling it as a fragrance.

Jo Malone’s extraordinary sense of smell and passion for perfume made her one of Britain’s most iconic figures in the beauty industry. Her travel stories take us from the jasmine-scented streets in the South of France, to the spice souks of Dubai, the mountains of Montana, and Jordan’s ancient ruins. Jo’s breathtaking fragrances are directly inspired by her aroma-fuelled adventures all over the world.

JO MALONE’S CULTURE GUIDE

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

An Elephant in my Kitchen by Françoise Malby-Anthony

Gustav Klimt's The Woman in Gold

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Elizabeth Street, Belgravia

Peggy Porschen Cakes

Havana, Cuba

Grasse, South of France

International Perfume Museum

La Bastide Saint-Antoine

COMO Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos

Mountain Sky, Montana

The Neue Galerie, New York

Hotel Danieli, Venice

Dubai, UAE

Thula Thula, South Africa

Amanpuri, Phuket

Jerash, Jordan

The Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur

You can visit the Jo Loves store online.

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com

See you next week for another episode of The Escape Artist!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Escape Artist, a brand new podcast for the culturally curious traveller.

Each week, join Australian travel journalist and photographer, Edwina Hart, in conversation with a special guest who has mastered the art of escape. Season 1 promises an exciting line up of artists, tastemakers and travel insiders whose love affair with travel will transport you to exotic, far-flung corners of the globe.

We’ll unpack how travel has influenced their lives and creative endeavours. Each episode takes you on an enchanting journey through the guest's most memorable travel encounters, as they share the destinations that spark their imaginations and the ways in which travel inspires them.

Of course, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com.

This podcast is pure escapism for those always dreaming of their next destination, so be sure to subscribe! 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest Rhiannon Taylor is one of Australia’s most sought-after travel photographers. With a keen sense of style and an eye for design, she’s been a go-to editorial photographer for glossy magazines for almost a decade contributing to titles such as Condé Nast Traveler, Gourmet Traveller, Time, Vogue Living and Architectural Digest.

Meanwhile, her wildly successful blog, In Bed With, beautifully curates the most unique hotels from around the world.

If you’ve ever scrolled through Pinterest and found yourself in a daze of dreamy hotel suites in exotic locations – you’ve probably come across Rhiannon Taylor.

Name any extravagant form of accommodation and she’s probably stayed there - African safari lodges, fairy tale palaces in India, Greek villas, Italian villages and ranches in Texan cowboy country. Then add Hong Kong high-rises, overwater bungalows in the Maldives and luxury tented camps set in the Australian outback. She’s certainly seen her fair share of canopied beds, French freestanding bathtubs, infinity pools and buffet breakfasts.

Just wait until you hear her pick for the most romantic hotel on the planet!

CULTURE GUIDE

The Darjeeling Limited (film) by Wes Anderson

Murder on the Orient Express (book) by Agatha Christie

The Great Railway Bazaar (book) by Paul Theroux

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Melbourne

Chin Chin, Melbourne

Supernormal, Melbourne

Pt. Leo Estate, Mornington Peninsula

Jackalope Hotel, Morington Peninsula

The Ghan

Coober Pedy, South Australia

Aman-i-Khás, Rajasthan 

Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan

Taj lake Palace, Udaipur

The Kimberley

Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef

Gibb River Road, Western Australia

Hotel Esencia, Yucatán 

Cenotes, Yucatán

Tulum, Yucatán

Coqui Coqui Perfumerìa, Merida

Istanbul, Turkey

Bodrum, Turkey

Roscioli, Rome

Austin, Texas

Lord Howe Island, Australia

Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Lake Como

Finca Cortesin, Casares

Restaurante Sarmiento, Casares

I thoroughly recommend visiting Rhiannon's blog In Bed With for a dose of escapism or keep up with the latest in boutique hotels on Instagram at @inbedwith.me

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com

See you next week for another episode of The Escape Artist!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli) 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is the tea-loving Londoner Henrietta Lovell, also known as 'The Rare Tea Lady’. Who, for the last 20 years, has traversed the globe in search of the world’s most exquisite teas.

Henrietta’s love of loose-leaf tea was awakened when a highflying corporate job took her to the dazzling harbour of Hong Kong, where a single sip of oolong transformed her life. She was seduced by the extraordinary flavour and set out to revolutionise the way we drink tea in the West by starting the Rare Tea Company.

Since then she has worked alongside the most celebrated chefs, such as Noma’s René Redzepi, Heston Blumenthal and Momofuku’s David Chang – who all seek her expertise in tea.

Henrietta’s quest to source leaves directly from farmers and connect with tea growing communities has enticed her to estates in some of the most remote and unlikely of places. Pop the kettle on and make a cuppa because I can feel a rather enchanting episode brewing!

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Copenhagen

Noma, Copenhagen

South West Scotland

Hong Kong

Fujian, China

Sikkim, India

Satemwa Tea Estate, Malawi

La Paz, Bolivia

Coroico, Bolivia

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Ryōan-ji, Kyoto

Higashiya Ginza, Tokyo

Claridge's, London

Zealong Tea Estate, Waikato

If our conversation has given you a taste for quality tea you can visit rareteacompany.com or uncover more of her stories in Henrietta's beautiful book 'Infused: Adventures in Tea' available here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com

See you next week for another episode of The Escape Artist!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli) 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lonely Planet is a guidebook publishing empire that has shaped the travels of millions of people around the globe. Today’s guest is the founder of Lonely Planet, Tony Wheeler. He has been described by The New York Times as ‘the trailblazing patron saint of the world’s backpackers and adventure travellers’. 

It all began when Tony Wheeler and his wife Maureen embarked on an overland odyssey driving a banged-up old car along the ‘Hippie Trail’; a popular route for free-spirits in the 1960s and 70s from Europe to Freak Street in Kathmandu. The Wheelers eventually arrived in Australia with only a few cents left in their pockets

Little did they know when they set off, that their adventure halfway across the world would take them on a much bigger journey from printing the first Lonely Planet pamphlet ‘Across Asia on the Cheap’ in 1973 to building a multi-million-dollar travel publishing giant.

TONY WHEELER’S CULTURE GUIDE

Space Captain (1970 song) by Jo Cocker ("Once I was traveling across the sky, this lovely planet caught my eye")

Arabian Nights (1974 film) by Pier Paolo Pasolini

DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Socotra, Yemen

Karachi, Pakistan

The Bahamas

London

Iran

Afghanistan

Freak Street, Kathmandu

Bangkok

Singapore

Kuta, Bali

Western Australia

Paddington, Sydney

Tehran, Iran

Shiraz, Iran

Iraq

Siggy’s, Kabul, Afghanistan

Pyongyang, North Korea

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

The Falkland Islands

Cartagena, Colombia

Ciudad Perdida, Colombia

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Antarctica

The Himalayas, Nepal

The Australian Outback

Montevideo, Uruguay

You can find more of Tony’s travels at tonywheeler.com.au

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate and review so others can discover this podcast as well. If you’re looking for some more travel inspiration, you can find me on Instagram @escape.artist.podcast or visit www.escapeartistpodcast.com

See you next week for another episode of The Escape Artist!

Xx Edwina

(Music by the talented Giselle Rosselli) 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.