Welcome to Action Packed Travel! Our podcast features amazing travel stories...without having to go anywhere. The episodes are interviews with people who've been inspired by their adventures. They're also full of information and useful links, all of which you can find on our Show Notes. Our podcast can be used for future travel ideas and plans for the days when we can explore the world again! About us: we're Felice & Peter Hardy and we’ve spent half a lifetime travelling to just about every ...
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Sophia Ashe, hooked on ponies and horses since childhood, joined a team of gauchos at a ranch in Argentina and wrote a book about her experiences. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Peter & Felice Hardy
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Bletchley Park is a country mansion 35 minutes by train northwest of London, where Alan Turing and his team of cryptanalysts cracked the complicated codes of the German Enigma machine. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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How do you survive on your own for days on end? So far, seven women have completed the Vendée Globe, the toughest round-the-world race. Joan Mulloy, a brand ambassador for Helly Hansen and a mother of two from the west coast of Ireland, is determined to become the eighth woman to compete and the first to win it. Music: © Barney & Izzy Hardy Support…
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Veteran underwater cameraman, John Ruthven, talks to us about his book and a lifetime of exploring the deep. He is also a producer of Sir David Attenborough's The Blue Planet, a zoologist, film director, writer, editor and stylist. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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This week we're in Kenya talking to safari camp owner, Calvin Cotter, whose family came here from the Great Plains of the Midwest in the years before World War One. Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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This week, we're exploring the fraught subject of taking small children skiing for the very first time. We're going to start and end with a warning to listeners: If you want to book a nanny service-inclusive holiday for the coming winter, there is really no time to waste. You need to book right now. Support the show…
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Le Grand-Bornand is not a name like Morzine or Chamonix that trips easily off the tongue when we mention skiing, but it's typically and traditionally French. Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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It's the twentieth anniversary of Arc 1950. The resort began as the idea of Canadian resort developer, Intrawest, creator of Mont-Tremblant in Quebec and manager of some 20 other resorts in North America – from Whistler to Mammoth. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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This week we're talking to someone who specialises in creating holidays that are entirely different – taking you to places you probably thought were out of bounds to all tourists. Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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We caught up with Rory Dixon who organises skiing-touring trips off a boat in Norway and Greenland, life-changing adventures to distant corners of the world. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Jess Isbrecht is a digital nomad who travels full time with her horses. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Harry Mitsidis has travelled to every country in the world, at least twice. He's the founder of a website called NomadMania. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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To discover a little of what former Royal Marine, Sam Cox, will experience living alone at -30°C, podcaster Peter Hardy spends time in an industrial freezer. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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No, not the 1951 movie starring Gene Kelly and Lesley Caron... Jay Swanson moved from the USA and now lives in Paris where he calls himself: 'a YouTuber, writer, and puppy wrangler.' He publishes a guide to the city called Paris in my Pocket. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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We're on the road exploring a thriving sector of the travel industry that continues to explode in popularity across Europe. Music © Barney and Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Wild Skiing in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan
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Untamed Borders sets out to satisfy the hunger of that rare breed of traveller who's already been to the far corners of the earth, got the T-shirt but still wants more. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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This week, we're talking to travel guru, Amin Momen, whose London-based company Momentum Ski organises bespoke holidays. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Turn your wildest travel dreams into reality, with superyacht voyages to the end of the earth, intrepid journeys to deserts, jungles, polar regions and the oceans. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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The Tennis Champion Who Escaped the Nazis
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We're in Vienna for an unusual episode of Action Packed Travel – unusual because our principal guest is Felice herself. She's just published a book about her grandparents' dramatic escape from Vienna to London on the eve of World War II. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Chris and his girlfriend Phoebe are in the saddle, for what you might describe by any standards as a rather long bike ride. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Thermae Bath Spa – A Fusion Of Old And New
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With the sunny weather outside, we felt it was time to republish this episode about Bath Thermae Spa. Bath in the southwest of England is famous for its Roman baths. In its Regency heyday, the supposedly curative waters attracted the cream of British society…and of course, Jane Austen. 2,000 years later, the waters were re-harnessed in the magnific…
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Tom Kevill-Davies has managed to carve a highly successful career for himself out of his twin passions, cycling and eating. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Only a handful of ski resorts in the Alps will in future offer reliable snow cover throughout the season. These include Val d'Isere, Tignes and Val Thorens in France, Cervinia in Italy, and Zermatt in Switzerland – not forgetting the Austrian glaciers. Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Globally, there's just a handful of specialist operators who look after their guests on this giddy level. London-based Consensio is the leader of the pack. Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Cheryl B Engelhardt is a singer-songwriter who composed and recorded her album, Passenger, on a train journey from New York City to Los Angeles. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Action woman extraordinary – mountain and ocean photographer, skier and freediver, Melody lives her life on the edge. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Cervinia – On The Italian Side Of The Matterhorn
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It was three years ago that we launched our podcast and today we're in a village that dates back to 1930. It is now evolving into what should become one of the most important future destinations for skiers in the whole of Europe. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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The island of Jersey's top five-star hotel is a very special place indeed. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Jersey's Occupation in the Second World War
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We went on a lightning tour of some of the crumbling coastal defences linked by a network of underground passages and even an underground German hospital. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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A vast ski area, environmentally-friendly chalets, and birds of prey are just a few of the attractions of Morzine. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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There's a Lot More to Cheltenham than Racing
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With its glorious terraced houses, tree-lined promenades and grand public buildings, Cheltenham in Gloucestershire is said to be the most complete Regency town in Britain. Of course, it's best known these days for horse racing. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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We first visited in summer and are now looking forward to better weather to come when we can explore the gardens of The Newt once again – all 17 acres of them. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Jacob Perkins' idea of fun is to travel down a mountainside in a straight line, reaching impossible speeds of up to 150mph without any form of motor. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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For the past 40 years, Richard Kay has been the expert on the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and has travelled the world to report on the comings and goings of the Royal Family. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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The village of Lacock was once a quaint medieval community with cobbled streets, cottages and coaching inns set around a tumbling stream. It all looks rather familiar because we've seen it in the cinema, movie theatre and TV screens – scenes from Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey and Harry Potter were all shot in Lacock. Music © Barney & Izzi Hard…
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High in the central Pyrenees, a one-hour drive from Toulouse Airport, we're in search of big and beautiful brown bears. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Peter & Felice
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Explore a world of polar bears and icebergs, or cross the Atlantic to forgotten corners of the Caribbean. You need the right spirit, but absolutely no previous seafaring experience is necessary. Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Is the Saalbach Ski Area the Best in Austria?
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Cows that milk themselves, oysters up a mountain, and a sommelier who plays Mozart to his wines...find out more when we take an intimate look at one of Austria's largest, most diverse and exciting ski areas. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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We loved last year's episode featuring Geraldine Fasnacht so much that we've decided to air it again. Geraldine’s idea of a little light, adrenaline-fuelled recreation is to climb one of Europe's highest peaks and then dive off it in a wing suit at speeds of up to 180 kilometers per hour. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the show…
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Sadly, Marston Park closed down in 2024. Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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The Great Adventures of John Blashford Snell
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Legendary explorer, John Blashford-Snell is never happier than when he finds himself astride an elephant in India or paddling a dugout canoe in the South American rainforest, or shooting rapids in the crocodile-infested waters of the Nile. Music @ Barney and Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Verbier in Summer – for Hiking, Golf and Mountain Biking
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Most people don't truly appreciate the glory of the Alps that's revealed when the snow melts, the cows leave their winter quarters and chew the cud in meadows and high pastures sprinkled with flowers. They also fight each other! Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Another watery sport for this hot weather is powerboat racing, which is said to be the fastest growing marine motor sport. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Peter & Felice
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Here in the UK with its current heatwave, our thoughts turn to water. What bliss it would be to go swimming in crystal clear waters – all you really need is a pair of Speedos, goggles, a hat and the ability to swim a few kilometres in the warm waters of the Mediterranean or the Caribbean. Music @ Barney and Izzi Hardy Support the show…
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In Hampshire and Dorset in the south of England, we explored the country's most visited national park. It's a wild and beautiful place where the locals, ponies, cattle and even pigs roam free under obscure common laws that date back to feudal times. We met up with Anthony Climpson, boss of the tourist enterprise, Go New Forest. Music © Barney & Izz…
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Last year we visited Blenheim Palace and were struck by its splendour. It is set in thousands of acres of rolling parkland outside the village of Woodstock in Oxfordshire. It's bigger than Buckingham Palace, but it's also privately owned by the family that built it over 300 years ago. It's been the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough since 1704 and wa…
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When you visit, you need to be prepared for pelotons of bicycles, mostly not of the sporty type that you see in the Tour de France, but the ancient sit-up- and-beg variety with a basket for books on the front, and in the saddle an undergraduate in a hurry, or a don in a flowing black cloak. You'll meet them – and hopefully miss them – around every …
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Everything You Want To Know About The Roman City Of Bath
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What did Jane Austen and the Roman emperor, Claudius, have in common? The answer is: a love of bathwater. Here's a repeat of one of our popular episodes. Music: ©Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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We revisit one of our popular episodes, which is all about the world's number one neolithic site. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support the showBy Felice & Peter Hardy
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Have you ever thought about what lies beneath your feet, under the pavement, under the road? This week, we're going underground to explore a network of mysterious tunnels hidden beneath the ancient Somerset town of Frome. It is 20 minutes south of Bath, and it has a long history dating back to Anglo Saxon times. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy Support…
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