Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure – Details, episodes & analysis

Hello :)

Back in June 2025 I travelled to the Caribbean for the first time, along with my regular travel companion Laura. Now, one might ask, why is a non-swimming easily-bored less-than-aesthetic enby with Celtic skin (and all the sun resistance *that* doesn't entail) spending two weeks in the Caribbean? Wasn't four days in Maldives enough to satisfy the tropical beach itch?

Well, apparently not.

Apart from getting to 100 Countries in 50 Years, we were interested to see if it were even possible to travel independently, slowly, and locally, through the region they way most holidaymakers don't. Because we're trend-setters, and on a budget. Just like we attempted in Maldives, but with more islands and more countries involved.

As it turns out, I had a lot to talk about so this trip is spread over two consecutive podcast episodes. Otherwise you'd be listening to me talk for two hours. If that's what you want me to do, hire me, damnit!

Topics discussed in this episode are:
* Laura is leaving me!
* Upcoming London trips
* Dominica is green and full of hills
* Roseau is not very big
* Walking and visiting another sulphur spring
* Barbados Airport Is Lacking One Key Feature And It Surprised Me
* A quite touristy end to the trip
* Impressions of all the islands
* Can you visit the Caribbean on a budget?

A PDF transcript of this podcast is available.

As always, if you have anything to say about the topics, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I have a newsletter with extra content, and where I'll be mentioning future podcast episodes if you want to make your own contribution.

I also have a Patreon - if you like what you hear, and want to access exclusive content (or just to show your appreciation), then head on over.

Until next time, bye for now. :)

Hello :)

Back in June 2025 I travelled to the Caribbean for the first time, along with my regular travel companion Laura. Now, one might ask, why is a non-swimming easily-bored less-than-aesthetic enby with Celtic skin (and all the sun resistance *that* doesn't entail) spending two weeks in the Caribbean? Wasn't four days in Maldives enough to satisfy the tropical beach itch?

Well, apparently not.

Apart from getting to 100 Countries in 50 Years, we were interested to see if it were even possible to travel independently, slowly, and locally, through the region they way most holidaymakers don't. Because we're trend-setters, and on a budget. Just like we attempted in Maldives, but with more islands and more countries involved.

As it turns out, I had a lot to talk about so this trip is spread over two consecutive podcast episodes. Otherwise you'd be listening to me talk for two hours. If that's what you want me to do, hire me, damnit!

Topics discussed in this episode are:
* It's getting dark
* Why did we choose the Caribbean
* Issues with inter-island travel
* An underwhelming arrival in Saint Lucia
* Fort Vieux and Laborie
* Three days in Soufriere - beaches and sulphur springs
* Castries isn't a pretty city
* Two very dour days in Martinique 

A PDF transcript of this podcast is available.

As always, if you have anything to say about the topics, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I have a newsletter with extra content, and where I'll be mentioning future podcast episodes if you want to make your own contribution.

I also have a Patreon - if you like what you hear, and want to access exclusive content (or just to show your appreciation), then head on over.

Until next time, bye for now. :)

Hello :)

This episode details the second half of my 2-week backpacking trip around South America in October 2024 - this one covers Iguzau Falls and Paraguay. Because everyone wants to go to Paraguay.

Topics discussed in this episode are:
* Admin caused by a lost phone
* The Jesuit Ruins of Argentina and Paraguay
* The German influence of SE Paraguay
* Iguazu Falls (both sides)
* Ciudad del Este and the absence of the Brazil border
* Asunción is interesting (derog.)

A PDF transcript of this podcast is available.

As always, if you have anything to say about the topic, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I have a newsletter with extra content, and where I'll be mentioning future podcast episodes if you want to make your own contribution.

I also have a Patreon - if you like what you hear, and want to access exclusive content (or just to show your appreciation), then head on over.

There are no contributions in this podcast, and the intro noise is the sound of the Devil's Throat (Argentina Side) at Iguazu Falls.

Until next time, bye for now. :)

So, it's April 2020, and all those plans you had for this year, all those places you were going to travel to, all those experiences ... but yeh, we still have hope, right?

This episode takes a look at travel hopes, at what we think the future of travel will be, and where we hope to go once all this is over.

[I also have a slight rant about yoga, but humour me!]

I make a reference to Jess (The Crown Wings) blog post about travel writing during the virus during the pod, so there's your link.

Contributions this time are from:

• Riana at 'Teaspoon Of Adventure'


• Lucy from 'Absolutely Lucy'


• Ken of 'Traveling With A Chair'


• Kate-Frankie from 'This Could Lead To Anywhere'


• Nat from 'NatPacker Travel'

Bonus content!

As you may recall, a few episodes ago I had a long chat with Alexei, from Travelexx about, well, primarily luggage, but we ventured onto many different subjects, one of which was sport - hence my previous regular episode. However, that episode ended up being more about travelling for sport, rather than about sports in general, so none of the content crossed over.

I thought it might be cool to publish the sport content of our chat in a special bonus episode anyway, as it provides a bit of background and context to some of the things I ended up talking about in the regular episode.

Plus, Alexei, and he's cool. :)

While virus protection is keeping a large proportion of the world's population indoors and isolated, I thought it would be good to have an episode looking at a subject noted for community, good vibes, and exercise - sport.

I talk about a recent run I had where I got queried by police (but not for being outside!), then about places I've gone to to watch sports around the world, including football/soccer, ice-hockey, AFL, and Buzkashi.

Contributions are provided by Txiki Stu, Jason Likes To Travel, Teaspoon Of Adventure, and [including crowd noises] Where's Shelly.

I wasn't sure quite what to record for this episode of the podcast, due to the changing situation in the world, so I pretty much sat in front of a blank screen and did a brain-dump, taking a couple of Twitter conversations I've had this week as an initial basis, and then expanding it with a few thoughts as I've gone on.

I talk about three things really - the city of Sheffield, my mother, and my privilege in the face of a global pandemic. I'm hopeful that my next episode will; be a bit more cheerful...

Following on from my previous episode on my own experiences of social anxiety and mental health, in this episode I let some of my Twitter followers and online friends talk about their experiences of mental health while travelling - how they mitigate for it, what helps them cope better, etc.

I hope it helps you in some way, to know that if you have similar issues, you're not alone, far from it.

In a change from the previously advertised programme ... I was having a bit of a wobble in the previous week so I felt it would be a great time to discuss a couple of aspects of mental health, and how they affect me when I'm travelling.

In this podcast episode then, I talk a bit about how I seem to have a form of social anxiety, what that means when I'm abroad, and what, if anything, I can do about it. I also go into some detail about other flavours of mental health, including a fear of failure, and tell how sometimes even I've had to give up and go home when my adventures just haven't felt right in my head.

It's quite a 'raw' post, and it isn't as precisely curated as my usual episodes, but somehow I think that's quite fitting.

I've been acutely aware for a while that most of my podcast is me talking, despite my inclusion of contributions as vox-pops, so I've always fancied doing a bit of an experiment. Many other podcasts are either interview-based or are two or three people chatting amongst each other, and I wondered if I ought to try out the same style for an episode to see if it worked. The opportunity arose in casual conversation with my friend Alexei, from https://travelexx.com, so here we go.

Following on from my last episode about Luggage, me and Alexei have a bit of a natter in more detail about what each of us finds important in travel luggage and what we pack. Many tangents ensued, only some of which made the final cut ...