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Podcast 029 - Ripon and West Yorkshire

Release Date: 08/23/2020

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) It was one of those ideas that suddenly came to me when I was lying in bed, having been seeded I think by a conversation I'd had with one of my travel content creator friends, , about how much it cost to live at home in the UK and how much less expensive it is to travel. I said I'd written a blog post about that very issue back in 2015 but that it probably needed updating and anyway it would make a better pod. So here we are. Stick two other vaguely related topics with it, one of which I also wrote a blog post about in 2015, and Bob's Your Nepo-Parent, as it were. Content Warning: It...

Svalbard

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) Last year, off the back of my 100th country visit to Norway, I spent three nights in Svalbard, one of the most northern archipelagos in the world. Though I wasn't there for long, I felt it was an interesting place to do a podcast about, covering history, wildlife, culture, and of course the ethical aspect of travelling to somewhere like that in the first place. Not a spoiler: I did not see a polar bear. Topics discussed in this episode are: Parts One and Two: Housekeeping and Introduction Part Three: Overview * So remote even the Vikings didn't go there * Whale-hunting, fur-trapping,...

Travel Through The Senses

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) In a recent podcast episode, I talked about aesthetics a lot, and I occasionally touched on the idea of 'senses'. I figured it made sense therefore to do a full podcast on it, on how you, I, everyone uses their senses while travelling, and whether our senses affect how we travel, and the experiences we gain through them. Consider, too, how our memories of a place, of a trip, live in the senses, and we can easily be reminded of them if the same senses are activated in the same way after the event. So here's an episode on how senses affect us while travelling, and how we use them to...

King of Comedy

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) So this podcast is mostly concerned with my recent introduction to, and experience of, stand-up comedy, and includes the audio recording of my actual performance. Topics discussed in this episode are: Part One: Overview and an Interview with V * Who came to watch me perform * The difference between spoken word and stand-up comedy * The difference between practice and performing live * What the comedy course consisted of * Comedian etiquette and callbacks * Practice makes perfect * The other performers * How I was on stage * The Future Part Two: My routine * What is asexuality * That...

Wuthering Heights

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) Another really obvious podcast episode, and one I'm surprised I hadn't yet done, though it did, of course, require finally reading the novel. I live about 6 miles south of Wuthering Heights, over the wily, windy moors, and the recent movie adaptation, the thousandth of many, has brought it all back into the public eye, so it made sense to talk about the moorland setting, the location and inspiration for the houses, and why it's not the romantic location (or indeed storyline) that certain elements of pop-culture have made it sound. Topics discussed in this episode are: Parts One and...

The Ballad of Lucie Schwob

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) Well, this isn't going to be the most cheerful episode I've ever produced, but we are where we are. Oh, not me, I mean the topic. This episode talks about the German Occupation of the Channel Islands in World War II, a couple of museums that go into detail about it, and how a combination of unexpected effects led accidentally to creating a story which became a really obvious episode to record. Topics discussed in this episode are: Parts One and Two: Housekeeping and the History of the Occupation * How it feels to be on ADHD medication * Where and what are the Channel Islands? * The...

What's The Worst That Can Happen?

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) Yeh, it's been a while. There's reasons for that. So here's a brief overview of what I've been up to. I talk about places I've been, things I've done, medication I haven't taken, and people I haven't snogged. Topics discussed in this episode are: Part One: Housekeeping * WTM and Traverse Creator Awards * Premier Inns are how much?!? * Trips to Freiburg, Nottingham, and Jersey * An introduction to Elvanse, my given ADHD medication Part Two: King of Comedy * Making People Laugh: Primary School Edition * My Comedy Inspirations * What I've done after two lessons in stand-up comedy * Queer...

Travel Blogging – Politics, Aesthetics, and Social Culture

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

Hello :) Here's another episode where I run with three ideas and make a small to-microphone editorial. This one's all about Travel Blogging - the ethics, aesthetics, and social culture of it. It was inspired partly by a trip to WTM London, and partly by a post on Instagram. Topics discussed in this episode are: Part One: The Politics of Travel Blogging * The layout of WTM * The stalls that went big ... * ... the stalls that went small, or not at all * Can we be ethical and still speak to certain tourist boards ... * ... and does anyone really care if we are or not? Part Two: The Aesthetics of...

Caribbean on a Budget Part Two

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

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....

Caribbean on a Budget Part One

Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure

More Episodes

It's been a while since my last pod - thank you for bearing with me. I talk a little about why at the start of the episode, as well as the usual 'this is what I've been up to' overview and update.

I've decided to do another geographic/history episode this time, I talk a bit about the county of Yorkshire, in northern England - specifically I go into detail about the city of Ripon, the town of Haworth, and a little tale about the Cragg Vale Coiners - a bunch of coin forgers in the 1760s.

Don't forget, btw, that my tale of hiking across Great Britain is part of the Biggest Book Of Yes anthology, which is now available for purchase. All proceeds go to charity (the Teddington Trust).

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