Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Chernobyl | The Barefoot Backpacker

Hello!

This podcast episode is all about Chernobyl. It's an episode I've had pencilled in to do for quite some time, if in part because I went there in 2014, and never wrote anything about my visit at the time so I felt I ought to, you know, get round to it at some point. I even mentioned this in a podcast I did last year, Back In The USSR. Didn't do it then either, because, and I quote, "I think if I did it would make the pod much longer than I'd intended. In any case it probably deserves its own discussion." I guess this is that discussion.

Topics covered on this podcast include:
* I'm leaving Glasgow
* The dead railway station at IBM Halt
* A brief history of the 1986 explosion at Chernobyl
* What I was doing in 1986
* Why I wanted to visit (and why I wasn't barefoot)
* Visit to the Power Plant
* Walking through the ruined town of Pripyat
* Health and Safety in a Nuclear Fallout Zone
* The Duga-1 Radar Array and the Russian Woodpecker
* Chernobyl City and the people who stayed

Contributions in this episode come from: Helen Matthews, Jane Spurin, and Jess Harling

A PDF transcript of this episode 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.

Until next time, bye for now. :)

The Cathcart Circle | The Barefoot Backpacker

Hello!

As you know, I'm always touting the idea of Hometown Travel, and exploring places close to home. Remember, people travel across the world to visit other cities but other people travel across the world to visit yours. Everywhere is interesting, And of course many people might not be able to visit places far away, but still want to enjoy the experience of travel and discovering somewhere new.

I've been living in Glasgow for two years, and I've walked round a lot of it, using the many railway stations as waypoints, It seems logical therefore to talk about some of the things close to where I currently live, and there's a convenient railway line that loops around my local area to follow. This is the Cathcart Circle, and I figured each of the ten stations on it has enough to fill a podcast. Indeed, a few could probably manage a podcast on their own, but I am not the Roundel Round We Go Podcast and I'd argue there's less call for an entire pod on the Glasgow suburban rail network than the London Underground.

But what do I know?

Topics covered on this podcast include:
* Google Analytics 4
* My future on Twitter
* Introduction to the Cathcart Circle
* Pollokshields East - theatre, gardens, and Sikhs
* Queen's Park - clue's in the name
* Crosshill - dead football stadiums
* Mount Florida - alive football stadiums
* Cathcart - parks, bridges, waterfalls, country houses
* Langside - Instagrammable houses and a very short battle
* Pollokshaws East - old buildings and benevolent Tories
* Shawlands - Pollok Country Park
* Maxwell Park - expensive villas and international cricket
* Pollokshields West - tenement housing and community spirit
* Crossmyloof - a free gift, and a building that moved

There are no contributions in this episode, but I am thankful to Scotrail, the organisation that runs the railways in Scotland, for putting all their recorded station announcements into the public domain last year. I may, may, have taken liberties with it.

A PDF transcript of this episode 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.

Until next time, bye for now. :)

All-Inclusive Resorts | The Barefoot Backpacker

Hello!

As you know, I am The Barefoot Backpacker. My tendency is to go backpacking around lesser-visited spots around the world, independently, and usually solo, staying in hostels, airBnBs, and Premier Inns. I tend to move around from place to place a lot rather than spending too long in the same destination, and I generally book my onward journeys on-the-fly rather than having things booked in advance. The idea of being in a place for several days and not 'need' to worry about things like food or travel is not one I'm used to. I seek out craft beer bars and street food, and generally steer clear of other Brits travelling abroad for sun, sea, sand, sangria, and sex. And of course my only reference point for all-inclusive holidays has tended to be what I've seen on TV and in the media.

In short, I'm the least likely person to end up in an all-inclusive resort on the beaches of Cyprus for four nights.

However, life is often about getting out of your comfort zone, And, in a sense, given that this sort of trip isn't really what you'd expect from someone like me, doing it was exactly the point.

[Full disclosure - it was a blogger press trip gifted by Jet2Holidays. Which, given the above, and given how well y'all know me, probably in truth raises more questions than it gives answers.]

Topics discussed in this episode are:
* Walking in the Glasgow hinterlands
* Being tipsy in Manchester
* How I ended up going to an all-inclusive resort
* The ease of getting to and from the resort
* What the different tariffs offer
* Food and drink, buffets and specialist restaurants
* Our room
* All-Inclusive resorts and the local area
* An afternoon in the spa, including being steamed to perfection
* Having my back waxed
* Visiting an all-inclusive resort as an aroace non-binary person
* Not being part of a long-term couple at an adults-only resort
* Would I go again?

A PDF transcript of this episode is available, except for a seven-minute conversation with Laura towards the end.

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.

Contributions in this pod come from:
Amanda (Thoughtful Travel Pod),
Ruth (Extreme Holidays Pod),
Kylie (Between England And Everywhere), and
Laura (my well-referred-to friend)

Until next time, bye for now. :)

Lake Como (in conversation with V) | The Barefoot Backpacker

Hello!

I've had a bit of a residual cold-type bug this week and I've been feeling quite fatigued (but apparently it wasn't covid), so I'm a few days later than planned with this episode. In addition, I had trouble getting time writing it so I persuaded V to chat with me about it in our old Twitter Space format. Which isn't ideal but does at least still seem to work.

It's about my recent trip to Lake Como and Milan in Italy, looking at how it felt to travel to a place that had never been really on my radar much. Although it had been on Laura's radar, which is why we went. I talk about the scenery, the food, the weather, and that despite its reputation, we didn't see anyone famous in Bellagio.

Topics discussed in this episode are:
* Let's start in Redbridge
* Why did we go to Italy? [Spoiler - Laura's idea]
* The benefits of rebooking a cancelled return flight
* Illness caused by Stansted Airport
* My expectations of Lake Como
* Where we stayed in Lake Como and Milan
* Getting around Lake Como (bus, train, and mainly ferry)
* How it felt to eat Italian food in Italy
* ... and random West African food
* The weather - including some great thunderstorms
* Travels with my still-injured leg
* Why did you visit Bergamo?
* And why did you visit Milan?
* Why I wore a skirt in Milan Cathedral
* Would I go to Lake Como again?
* Could you visit as a disabled traveller?
* Youtube Shorts videos are scheduled in the next few days

A PDF transcript of this episode is not yet available, because it requires me transcribing it and I don't have the spoons for that yet. I'll update when I do.

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.

As a reminder, V's website can be found here.

Until next time, bye for now. :)

Malta | The Barefoot Backpacker

Hello!

I recently had a week and a half in Malta. This was for two reasons; firstly, my friend Laura wanted to get away for the Easter Weekend, because she believed it would be infinitely better than staying at home, and she'd never been to Malta. Secondly, the weekend after, there was a video content creation conference run by Traverse and I figured if I was going to be there anyway, I might as well pop along.

I'd been to Malta before, back in January 2017, and I'd always meant to do some blogs about my visit - indeed at the time I did some microblogging on Instagram - but I never got round to doing fuller posts. Once I knew I was going again, it made perfect sense to plan a podcast episode that merged together both trips.

Topics discussed in this episode are:
* Further leg updates
* Flight issues
* The Traverse KeyFrame Conference
* Expectations of Malta
* Ancient temples
* Gozo's Citadella
* A brief history of Malta
* All Along The Watchtowers
* Fort St Angelo
* World War Two
* Dingli Cliffs and Dwejra Bay
* The Salt Pans of Marsalforn
* Maltese beaches
* "A European Israel"
* Traffic and problems being a pedestrian
* The quiet backstreets
* The old town of Mdina
* Marsaxlokk
* The Co-Cathedrals of Malta
* A very small Cristo Redentor
* Maltese craft beer and wine
* Italian-esque food
* A watery irn-bru
* The Maltese Bus service
* Ferries across the harbour and beyond
* People
* The Maltese Football Premier League

A PDF transcript of this episode is available.

Here's a link to the Extreme Holidays Podcast I appeared on, that I mention in the episode.

Contributions in this episode come from:
Steph (A Nomad's Passport), and
Richard (Imkeepsake)

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.

Until next time, bye for now. :)