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 o...
Jul 27, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 86
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 railwa...
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 6Ep. 85
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...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 6Ep. 84
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 o...
May 19, 2023•59 min•Season 6Ep. 83
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...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 6Ep. 82
Hello! I've wanted to do an episode on Street Art for a while, as it's a subject that's always appealed to me. I'll often see if there's a street art tour in a place I'll be travelling to, and I'm always veering off down side-alleys in search of it when I'm walking through a city. As a result, this episode is my longest yet. Topics discussed in this episode are: * Leg Update and other housekeeping * A brief history of street art * What counts as street art * Why do people like street art * The a...
Apr 04, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 6Ep. 81
Hello! In my last couple of episodes, I spoke at length about my adventures with Inter-Railing, firstly about the trip I did back in 2000, and then a quick overview of where I went in the 2019 trip. In this episode though, I talk a bit more in general about travelling Europe, mainly by train, as a concept, including accommodation, food & drink, budgeting (kind of), and travelling as an older backpacker. Topics discussed in this episode are: * Recent forays onto YouTube * Travelling by train ...
Mar 19, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 80
Hello! So, if you recall, my last proper episode was all about my Inter-Rail trip in 2000, and how times and events had changed. I want to spend this episode talking a bit about my follow-up Inter-Rail trip in 2019, which was very different in scope, duration, and overall vibe. It's actually going to cover two podcasts as it appears travelling around Europe for two months means there's a lot to say, plus it gives more time for some contributions to come in. This episode looks at some of the plac...
Mar 05, 2023•1 hr•Season 6Ep. 79
Hello :) This is the recording of the twelfth edition of my not-at-all regular Twitter Space sessions; the reason for their irregularity is finding a convenient time to record it. Our topic this time is 'sports and fitness', or at least that was the original concept. It seems to have ended up being a third 'running parkruns barefoot', a third 'I'm no good at sports', and a third 'this is everything I've watched abroad'. We don't seem to have talked about fitness much. Usual disclaimer, be aware ...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 6Ep. 78
Hello! As a traveller, trains are by far my favourite form of transport. I find them comfortable, I like that I can just get up and walk around if I want to, I get a decent amount of legroom, and I can spend my time looking out the window at the passing scenery, which is invariably far more interesting than what the view out of a plane window. It's also the only form of transport I can sleep on in my seat, never mind the trains I've taken in the ex-Soviet states with flat bunk beds. It's probabl...
Feb 16, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 77
Hello :) This is the recording of the eleventh edition of my semi-regular Twitter Space sessions. Following on from the previous Space, about Manners & Customs, it made sense to go over a bit of old ground and do a recording specifically on 'barefoot life. Because it's one of those subjects that it's kind of hard to get away from, given, you know, my online brand name, and my apparent hippy vibes. I'm aware that while the recording took place in early Autumn, I'm issuing it as a podcast in m...
Feb 09, 2023•55 min•Season 6Ep. 76
Hello! Okay, let's start with a controversial statement: Everything you know about Detroit is wrong. Nothing like setting your stall out from the off, I guess. Well, not everything, but probably your first impression is. Certainly a couple of people I spoke to in Toronto were … somewhat confused when I mentioned I was off there, as if to say 'why would you want to go there', 'it's not safe', and, 'well, rather you than me'. But that's exactly why I visit some places, to prove to the world that t...
Feb 02, 2023•40 min•Season 6Ep. 75
Hello :) This is the recording of the tenth edition of my semi-regular Twitter Space sessions. This was recorded back in August, as you can probably tell from the conversation at the start about the weather. We had a chat, a longer chat than usual, about Manners and Customs at home and across the world, a topic V originally suggested because of my preference for being barefoot much of the time. In general though, you can probably tell that while I like to think I do the right thing most of the t...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 30 min•Season 6Ep. 74
Hello! As some of you know, I spent four days in early January 2023 on Jury Service. Now, I don't know how many of you listening have ever been called, and in any case some of the concepts seem to work differently depending on legal jurisdiction, so I thought it might be interesting to talk about some of that on this podcast. Plus it beats me nattering about Reddit or something. I don't know. Although I don't talk too specifically about the case, I'd like to be open about potential content warni...
Jan 21, 2023•42 min•Season 6Ep. 73
Hello :) This is the recording of the ninth edition of my semi-regular Twitter Space sessions. This was recorded back in July but I've only just got round to issuing it as a podcast episode. We had a long chat about hometown travel: how you can and why you should. And while it helps to have a sizeable hometown, something interesting can be found in even the smallest village. Usual disclaimer, be aware this conversation took place over the phone and is then recorded directly from playback on Twit...
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 6Ep. 72
Hello! Some while ago, I did a pod on beer around the world. Having just come back from a PressTrip to Plsen in Czechia, where I was paid to drink beer, I figured it was the right time to do another on the subject, but this time looking at beer in general. About different beer styles. About where my interest came from. And about quirky experiences and unusual beers I've had in my life around and about. So, why don't you settle down, open a beer (I will accept non-alcoholic ones though curiously ...
Nov 24, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 71
Hello! This episode, the first after my unexpected and unplanned hiatus, will be all about beer. Specifically, I talk about my Press Trip to Plsen in Czechia, where I spent 3½ days drinking beer for free, including touring a few breweries both large and small. This Press Trip was taken through the Traverse Organisation and in conjuction with Visit Czech Republic, , the Plsen Region , and Visit Plsen . Topics discussed in this episode are: * What I've been doing since my last podcast * Overview o...
Nov 18, 2022•44 min•Season 6Ep. 70
Hello! This podcast was supposed to have been on beer. But I was waiting for a couple of contributions that never came. That will be coming soon. Instead, I thought I'd do something related to that very fact, and talk about podcasting. Since it's been over four years since I started this pod, since I've done nearly 70 episodes, and since I've recently passed 20,000 downloads. I'm going to talk about 'things I wish I'd known before I started'. Topics discussed in this episode are: * Having been i...
Aug 25, 2022•37 min•Season 5Ep. 69
Hello :) This is the recording of the eighth edition of my semi-regular Twitter Space sessions. Today's episode was all about hiking, but specifically the Hike Across Great Britain I did with my hiking buddy Becky, in the summer of 2019. We're chattering about why I chose to do a hike of such length, how we planned it, the high and low points of the journey, and ponder on how people willingly do ultramarathons. Usual disclaimer, be aware this conversation took place over the phone and is then re...
Aug 11, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 68
Hello! My therapist would object to the way I was going to start this pod, so instead I'll say 'thank you for bearing with me and accepting the slightly less-than-regular issuing of this pod'. Anyhoo. I have an excuse this time, and it's very much the subject of this pod. I've been away from home, on a road trip around Ireland for a week and a half. My friend Anne-Laure wanted to visit Ireland and in summer 2020 we'd sketched out plans to do a 10-day trip there, but things kept getting in the wa...
Aug 04, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 67
Hello :) This is the recording of the seventh Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V. This edition is on hiking; including: the sort of places I like to hike, what I take with me, problems I've encountered on my hikes, and a brief discussion on how apt my internet brand name is. We also discuss why cows are evil, and taking toilet breaks across internal national borders. Usual disclaimer, be aware this conversation took place over the phone and is recorded via my computer's internal audio ca...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 66
Hello! This episode is a little delayed but that's because I needed to do a lot of research. There's quite a lot of statistics and information in it, but I hope it doesn't bore you too much. Last month was Pride Month in most of the world, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to look at how LGBTQIA+ culture and people are affected in various countries. I chose to look specifically at four, either because I had a connection with them through social media, or because I felt they had important st...
Jul 08, 2022•48 min•Season 5Ep. 65
Hello :) This is the recording of the sixth Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V. This particular recording also saw a fair contribution from a Miranda, a mutual Tweep who lives in Netherlands . This edition is on Solo Travel; I usually travel on my own and here I explain why, and whether there are any problems associated with that - especially with relevence to my Mental Health or Personal Safety. We also discuss the benefits and malefits of group travel, whether my experiences of solo tr...
Jul 02, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 5Ep. 64
Hello! This episode is all about my recent trip to France. I've not long returned from around 10 days going around Annecy, Lyon, and Paris with my friend Laura, and I thought it made sense to do a pod about it. Partly this is because it was my first trip abroad since both Covid and full Brexit had kicked in. And partly because it was an easy episode to do that didn't require any real effort or sourcing contributions, because obviously I didn't record a pod in advance. Topics discussed include: *...
Jun 11, 2022•58 min•Season 5Ep. 63
Hello :) This is the recording of the fifth Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V, back in March. We're definitely getting a bit better with it, though we're still talking over each other a bit which makes it hard to transcribe. This edition is on Personal Safety While Travelling, and I must say a couple of times within the first 15 minutes we do talk about matters of a sexual and kink nature, where I may reveal a bit too much information about random hookups. But then given the cover image...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 62
Hello! This episode is all about myths & legends from around the world. Or at least, mostly around the UK, Ireland, and Michigan. Myths and legends might be hyper-local, specific to one town, or they might be known worldwide with the very name invoking an instant impression. They could even be the driving force behind an entire cultural identity and assumed history. Whatever they were, they're fascinating insights into a place and the people who live in it. Topics discussed include: * My rec...
May 26, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 61
Hello :) This is the recording of the fourth Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V, back in March. I'm realising what a ball-ache they are to transcribe; it's the exact opposite of my normal pod episodes which take an age to prepare but actually issuing them is very quick and easy; these Spaces take little to no time to record but all the admin is post-production. You'd have thought having six weeks between recording and turning into a podcast episode would give me ample time to do everythi...
May 19, 2022•53 min•Season 5Ep. 60
Hello :) This is the recording of the third Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V, in late February. At this point, we're starting to get a feel for the format, and doing a bit more preparation in advance so I'm not so fazed by the questions. They're also getting longer – we allocate an hour when we plan it and we're pretty much now hitting that target rather than falling a few minutes short. This session is on Staying Healthy While Travelling, and I probably should give you a couple of con...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 59
Hello! This episode is all about my impressions of Bangladesh, when I took a visit there in spring 2019. Though I wasn't there for that long, I found it a very interesting and remarkable country to visit as a tourist. It had always been a country 'on' my 'this might be interesting to see' list, and since few travel bloggers go there, it just made it more appealing, since I wouldn't be going in with any peer-related expectations. That said, I'd never really actively looked into going, it was just...
Apr 14, 2022•49 min•Season 5Ep. 58
Hello! This is the recording of the second Twitter Spaces that I did with my friend V, in early February. As you probably know if you listen to my main podcast episodes, she decided after the first one that this was a really good use of social media that should work pretty well for my online style, so we've been doing them fortnightly since then. We followed the same format, and indeed that's the format we've been using since, of creating questions and then getting me to answer them, in a kind o...
Mar 24, 2022•45 min•Season 5Ep. 57
