Hello :) I often say "Everywhere Is Interesting", but what do I mean when I say that? What makes a place 'interesting'? Or rather, given any random place in the world, what can make you 'key in' to that location over and above any other? Of course, this could be very personal, or at least subjective, so when I say 'Everywhere Is Interesting', what …

Hello :) So, despite recently moving out of Salford, I felt it was an interesting enough place to do a podcast about. Partly because 'Everywhere is Interesting' and my VA wanted me to prove it. And what could be more interesting than the location of the world's first municipal public park, the world's first bus route, the world's first street light…

Hello :) Given recent big concert tours, it feels like the right time to do an episode on 'travelling for music'. It's a subject I didn't think I'd have a lot to say about, given I don't often go to concerts even locally, never mind for travels, but the more I thought about it, the more interesting comparisons and contrasts I could find between my …

Hello :) I've been thinking a lot recently about nostalgia. I mean, I always have, but I think over time my feelings have changed about it. There's so many people who think 'life was better when I was young', and I wanted to probe more into that, into how I felt about nostalgia, why people of my generation tend to be nostalgic, and also put some co…

Hello :) It's been noticed that I've now done 100 episodes. Quite which episode was my 100th is open to question as it depends on your definition of episode - indeed if you don't count the Twitter Space recordings I did with V, I've not got there yet. But, just like with counting countries, there's always going to be arguments either way, and in te…

Hello :) This is part three of an overview of my recent trip to the Caucasus region of Eurasia, and covers the four days I spent in Armenia. I talk about why Yerevan feels quite Soviet, why Armenia and Azerbaijan don't like each other, and the architectural legacy of being the world's oldest Christian country. Topics discussed in this episode are: …

Hello :) This is part two of an overview of my recent trip to the Caucasus region of Eurasia, and covers the five days I spent in the country of Georgia, mainly the capital city Tbilisi. I also talk about far too much cheese and garlic, the worst beer I've ever had in my life, Topics discussed in this episode are: * Audio quality of recent episodes…

Hello :) So, as you know, I've recently been away for two weeks, ostensibly to attend the Traverse Travel Blogger Conference, which this year took place in Tbilisi, in Georgia. I've never been to that party of the world, and it'd always been on my list. I clearly went at the wrong time of year, but that's just what happens sometimes. This is going …

Hello :) It's coming up to Valentine's Day (and Quirkyalone Day), so this feels like the right time to issue an episode all about love, sex, and illicit encounters while travelling. Obviously there's content warnings in here, mainly for, well, sex and kink, but I do always try to keep it quite light-hearted. One might well ask how an AroAce can tal…

Hello :) Of course it’s the New Year, and as such, the travel world is plastered with lists of ‘where to go in 2024’, ‘best places to visit in 2024’, and the like. Now, I have to say I’ve never been terribly fond of these sorts of things on a fundamental level for a number of reasons. I mean, sure they provide a good quick way of inspiring people, …

Hello :) And so to the second part of 'let's make a podcast that's going to cause more unfollowers than followers'. Mind you, let's be honest, I've had several podcast episodes like that, and nothing untoward has happened. Maybe I should be more controversial. There again. I wasn't originally sure what to do for this episode. I toyed with the idea …

Hello :) Well, you may be pleased to know I survived my trip to SE Asia. But it was a close-run thing as you'll hear at the start of this episode. Anyway. It's Christmas. I should do a pod about this time of year. And this is one I've cobbled together at the last possible moment. I think I might well whine a bit more than usual in it. But it's fine…

Hello :) As I'm currently away on a backpacking trip around South-East Asia, it makes sense to issue a podcast episode about the previous time I went to this part of the world (mainland, anyway, not the many islands off the coast) - back in 2012 to Laos and Cambodia. This episode is specifically about the Laos part of the trip; the subsequent Cambo…

Hello :) I've been meaning to do a pod specifically about running for a while; it's something that I mention quite often in my housekeeping and I've also tangentially talked about it in smaller sections on pods covering a wider remit. As such, some of what I'll talk about you'll have heard before, but I felt it was the right time to cover this topi…

Hello :) Well, this is an unusual episode in several ways, but the main one is the relative lack of personal updates and housekeeping. If you want to know what I’ve been up to this past month, now would be a great time to sign up to my monthly Newsletter, deets below! Now, I’m aware I don’t talk about my background or my family much, save for the o…

Hello :) Well, that was an unexpectedly long break. To be honest I wasn't planning it but I did kind of need it. But just in case you needed confirmation: Everything Has Been All Right. So far at least. Anyway, this episode is a short one, just in part to let you know I'm still alive, partly to give you an indication of what to look forward to in t…

Hello :) So, why did I call this episode 'everything is going to be all right'? Well, it's a mantra I've been repeating to myself quite a lot over the past month or so. If I say it enough, I might actually believe it. In this episode I talk about my feelings about moving to Manchester, and why while I was initially emotional about the move, I quick…

Hello! Yep, I've created a podcast with the help of AI, in this case specifically ChatGPT. Now, the first question you might ask is of me is why, given my skill with words, my unique and distinct voice, both literal and metaphoric, and a preference for real stories and experiences over auto-generated ones, am I dabbling with AI? Well, the answer is…

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 …

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 e…

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 journey…

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 s…

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 figur…

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 thi…

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, bud…

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 arou…

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 …

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…

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, …

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 w…

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 …

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 natte…

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…

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 …

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 …

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 recen…

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 th…

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…

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…

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 coun…

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 - especiall…

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 episod…

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…

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 an…

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 admi…

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 th…

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 i…

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. W…

Hello! This episode is a little unusual. See, it's occurred to me that in the spring of 2014, I did a backpacking trip around the western edges of what when I was growing up was the Soviet Union. And it seemed like an apt time to talk about it, given not only events in that region at the time of recording, but also considering the background to the…