The True Travel Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

American travel journalist and editor Nikki Vargas joins Laura to talk about her new memoir - Call You When I Land - in which she bares all - love, lust (and wanderlust)... and a murder mystery.

Laura catches Nikki in the throws of her book tour to discuss some of the most gripping moments in her memoir: calling off the wedding to her college sweetheart with days to go, making it as a writer in the world's most expensive city and venturing to Colombia to find out why her aunt was mysteriously killed when she was young.

Find out where Nikki finally lands in love, life and the world and what's in store for her third book which is already in the works.

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

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The podcast's very own host, British journalist and travel writer, Laura Sanders, documents her journey through Peru with small group tour specialists G Adventures.

South America's third-largest country, Peru is a land of deserts, glaciers, lakes and jungles. But it's most famous for Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. 

Learn more about this powerful civilisation as Laura makes her way through Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. Laura then treks to Rainbow Mountain, an overnight social media success story, before sleeping beneath the jungle canopy in an eco-cabin just outside of Porto Maldonado. 

Hang on until the end, when Laura answers your questions about Peru, preparing for the Inca trail, and  travelling with G Adventures.

See Laura's itinerary and the other tours on offer with G Adventures here.

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

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May 29th marked International Everest Day and so joining Laura this week is The Telegraph’s Lucy Aspden who recently completed Basecamp Everest. Leading her up the mountain was the son of Sherpa Tenzing, one of the first two men to summit Everest almost 70 years ago.

The trek to Everest has changed a lot since then and Lucy tells us what it’s really like to summit basecamp in 2022, with far more comfortable accommodation, thousands of climbers visiting every year... and the impacts of climate change being felt.

She also tells us about life in the Himalayas, why so-called ‘overnight mountaineers’ are ruining Everest, and how locals are cleaning up the mountains so future generations can enjoy it.

The True Travel Podcast -
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Twitter: @truetravelpod
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Lucy Aspden-
Instagram: lucy_aspden
Twitter: @Lucy_Aspden 

Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

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(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

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Cheryl B Engelhardt is a marine biologist turned bestselling New Age artist and composer from New York. She holds the unofficial title of being the first person to make an entire album on a cross-country train in the USA.

What started as a cheaper way to travel to the Grammys ended up being a 9-day round trip from New York to LA after the event was cancelled during the pandemic. Cheryl produced her twelve-track album - aptly named The Passenger - whilst winding through the Rocky mountains, past enchanting frozen lakes and herds of wild Elk streaking through the valleys.

Find out more about Cheryl’s journey and how it inspired the music as well as the Grammys from an insider’s perspective, her dodgy gig in Germany, a hairy helicopter ride in Hawaii, and travelling the world with social justice choirs.

The True Travel Podcast -
Instagram: @truetravelpodcast
Twitter: @truetravelpod
Facebook: The True Travel Podcast

Cheryl B Englehardt -
Instagram: @cbemusic
Twitter: @CBE
Website: cbemusic.com

Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Kate Wickers is a travel journalist and author whose debut book - Shape of a Boy - is a memoir about travelling with her husband and three sons from Borneo to Cambodia, Mexico to Thailand, and everywhere in between.

Each chapter of her book is a different family trip and includes a life lesson her three boys learned as well as the laughs, cries, and experiences they’ve shared along the way.

During the episode, Kate and Laura talk about some of the trips in detail, including how Mexico helped the boys after the unexpected loss of their uncle. 

Kate then answers some of your questions about family travel.

The True Travel Podcast -
Instagram: @truetravelpodcast
Twitter: @truetravelpod
Facebook: The True Travel Podcast

Kate Wickers -
Instagram:  @wickers.kate
Twitter: @KateWickers
Website: katewickers.com

Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

If you think that travelling sustainably means spending more money or going to some far-flung place to plant trees, think again. Sustainable travel journalist Richard Hammond from the Green Traveller explains how any holiday can be made more planet-friendly.

From what you decide to pack to choosing accommodation with the right eco credentials, Richard's new book The Green Traveller  is full of useful tips and planet-friendly holiday ideas. He discusses some of them in this episode.

The True Travel Podcast -
Instagram: @truetravelpodcast
Twitter: @truetravelpod
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Richard Hammond -
Instagram: @greentraveller
Twitter: @greentraveller
Website: greentraveller.co.uk

Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

This week, we’re heading to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco to hear from Alice Morrison, a British author, adventurer and self-proclaimed 'Indiana Jones for girls.' She moved to Morocco eight years ago and now speaks Arabic.

Alice tells us of her adventures across the Sahara desert, encountering snakes, quicksand and lost kingdoms. During this episode, Laura asks her about one of her most recent expeditions following the 1,500km Draa River from source to sea with two nomad men and their camels. 

Alice gained exclusive access to the nomadic communities along the way and been able to speak to the women of the families and find out what nomadic life is really like. 

She also tells us what life is like in her compound in the mountains and how she’s become the adoptive crazy aunt there.

The True Travel Podcast -
Instagram: @truetravelpodcast
Twitter: @truetravelpod
Facebook: The True Travel Podcast

Alice Morrison -
Instagram: @aliceoutthere1
Twitter: @aliceoutthere1
Website: alicemorrison.co.uk

 Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

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(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Author and journalist Pip Stewart completed a world-first expedition through the depths of the Amazon jungle in 2018.  She followed the Essequibo River in Guyana from source to sea, taking three months in total. 

Pip hiked, kayaked and hacked her way through the dense, unexplored wilderness along with two friends and five members of the Wai Wai indigenous community.  They went through with this expedition knowing that if they got into trouble, there was no guarantee that help could reach them. 

Pip faced deadly snakes, jaguars - and worst of all a flesh-eating parasite, which she provides all of the gory details of. 

Find out what this adventure taught Pip about life and travel as she immersed herself in the natural world - and what her first meal was after weeks of foraging for food.

Pip reflects on her epic adventure and what it taught her about life, travel, and finding a new level of respect for the natural world in her book: Life Lessons from the Amazon., out now.

The True Travel Podcast -
Instagram: @truetravelpodcast
Twitter: @truetravelpod
Facebook: The True Travel Podcast

Pip Stewart -
Instagram: @pipstewart
Twitter: @PipStewart
Website: phillipastewart.com

 Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

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(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Once a frequent flyer and jetting off to Europe most weekends, editor at The Independent Travel, Helen Coffey, quit flying for a year in 2020. She's now written a book about her flight-free adventures and the impact of the aviation industry on the planet.

Throughout the pandemic, ‘build back better’ has been the buzz phrase as the travel industry had time to reflect during lockdown on its impact on the planet. But traveling more sustainably is easier said than done - especially when flights are often cheaper and more convenient.
 
Helen makes it sounds totally doable as she reflects on her experience of using trains, bikes and hitch-hiking (among other modes of transport) to reach Croatia, Amsterdam and even Morocco. She also shares her tips for trying flight-free travel for the first time.

Helen's part-memoir, part investigation: Zero Altitude: How I learned to fly less and travel more is due out on 26th May 2022.

The True Travel Podcast -
Instagram: @truetravelpodcast
Twitter: @truetravelpod
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Helen Coffey
Twitter: @LenniCoffey 

 Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

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(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Kicking off season three with Laura is Carmen Roberts, presenter on the BBC's The Travel Show, who takes us behind the cameras on some of her most memorable assignments.

Born in Singapore, Carmen has since lived in Australia, Japan and the UK and visited more than 80 countries.  During the episode, she reminisces about some of her most memorable assignments with Laura, taking us from a bizarre tour bus in North Korea to a devastated Phuket in the wake of the Boxing Day Tsunami. 

Carmen also reflects on the assignment where everything went wrong in Peru, how a TV project in Scotland led her to some long lost family and what she's recently been up to in Chile.

The True Travel Podcast -
Instagram: @truetravelpodcast
Twitter: @truetravelpod
Facebook: The True Travel Podcast

Carmen Roberts
Instagram:  @carmenroberts_travels
Twitter: @carmenlroberts
Website:  carmenlroberts.com

 Buzzsprout  is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching  the True Travel Podcast really easy.  As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).

Buzzsprout is the #1 podcast hosting platform and made launching the True Travel Podcast really easy. As a subscriber, you get tons of guides, from finding the right equipment at the right price to growing your podcast organically; as well as detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes, and more.

Start your free trial with Buzzsprout now.

(Affiliate disclaimer: Following this link lets Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support the show).