JRNY Travel Podcast

We spoke to World Nomads Europe General Manager Jonathan Jono Frankham about travel writing scholarships, illegal petrol stations and why a big pot of coffee is important when buying insurance.The Kingdom of Thailand released a report noting that tourists travelling without insurance to the country have cost state hospitals $205 million which prompts the question: is buying travel insurance an ethical question? Connected to this, Japan may turn away travellers who arrive at hospitals without insurance in order to protect its own citizens.Jono tells host Si WIllmore about the Montreal Convention, ETIAS and GHICs and and where these cards don't work such as Norway and Liechtenstein. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nori Jemil is is an award-winning photographer, writer and videographer whose work has appeared in Nat Geo Traveller, BBC Travel, Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveller and more. She’s been the British Guild of Travel Writers’ Photographer of the Year and she’s the author of The Travel Photographer’s Way, shortlisted in the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.She had just arrived in Santiago, Chile, when she spoke to host Si Willmore about winning the Wanderlust photo of the year and the resulting assignment in Australia, her qualifications from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), having written ad copy for just about every newspaper in the UK and how, ultimately, everything comes back to storytelling - and how to "shoot what you know" and "photograph the story" above all else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zoey Goto is a journalist and author covering travel and music. She’s written features for National Geographic Traveller, Times Travel, GQ BBC Travel and Lonely Planet. She's also the author of two books including Elvis Style: From Zoot Suits to Jumpsuits and it's fair to say that this book is the culmination of many years of adoration for the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. Zoey spoke to host Si Willmove about sleeping in Dolly Parton's bed, how having Christmas every day matches the Titanic surprisingly well, eating spaghetti with the Reverend Al Green, playing the banjo and how it always comes back to Elvis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Franks is a freelance travel writer and journalist based in Birmingham in the UK. He has been writing about travel, culture and music for over a decade, with bylines in BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveller, The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian, Rough Guides and many more. He spoke with Si Willmore about searching for a secret colony of wallabies that live on an island in the middle of Loch Lomond, his home city Birmingham's new lease of life, getting lost on the tiny Spanish island of La Gomera and his music blog that went on to become the Official Local Music Provider for Aston Villa Football Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karen Edwards is a travel writer, editor and author, focusing on sustainability, based in London. She’s written for BA High Life, Time Out, Telegraph Travel, The Guardian and many more, and her fourth nonfiction book, The Responsible Traveller, was published in July 2022. And in fact she’s about to start a brand new role, stepping into the brand new Sustainability Editor role at WanderlustKaren spoke to host Si Willmore about significant experiences, good and bad, that have perhaps defined her life and career, and funnily enough one particular cruise trip not only helped her meet someone very important in her personal life but provided a defining moment in her professional too -- and our story begins somewhere between Argentina and the Antarctic Peninsula.They discuss how Karen saw first-hand the less positive impact of travel and how this shaped her career. And she offers tips and advice for becoming a more considerate traveller and how to become an 'ambassador' for a destination and its environment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James March is a freelance travel writer based in Birmingham. He’s written for a variety of publications including the BBC, Nat Geo Traveller, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, Lonely Planet and Condé Nast Traveller.James tells host Si Willmore about becoming a specialist writer on France, which is almost ironic given that France was the place where one of his less proud travel moments took place. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TV producer and director Bella Falk has found herself in numerous scrapes over the years, including a car accident outside a Polish rice cake factory, having to stay the night in a brothel in Mali, and somehow accidentally climbing a volcano in Tanzania.She’s worked on a radio station in Ghana, volunteered in a school in Chile, and worked face-to-face with Greg Dyke, the former director general of the BBC. In this latest episode of the JRNY Podcast, host Si Willmore speaks to Bella about her travel adventures and her fantastic career. As a producer and director, Bella has made programmes for the BBC, Discovery and Channel 4, but she’s also a professional photographer and writer, featured in Wanderlust, BBC Travel, National Geographic and Lonely Planet, and a blogger publishing her work at passportandpixels.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In November 2019, Dr. Susanne Etti attended the climate change conference COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Dr Etti was representing Intrepid Travel as their first ever full-time climate scientist and was there to discuss research by The Travel Foundation which has revealed that there is "only one pathway" for the industry to reach net zero carbon by 2050.The fact that COP27 was taking place also significantly means that it’s already a year since COP26 and the Glasgow Declaration. Host Si Willmore speaks to Dr Etti to see if enough work has been done since then and asks if the industry is keeping its promise to the environment. They also discuss how to spot and combat greenwashing and how we can act together.Dr Etti has dedicated more than 15 years to fighting climate change and her work centres around transitioning Intrepid Travel to a low carbon economy, as well as ensuring climate safety through equality, female empowerment and diversity - she states that “climate justice is not possible without social justice" - and she highlights the fascinating example of the basket weavers of Siem Reap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tharik Hussain is an award-winning travel journalist and author of Minarets in the Mountains: a Journey into Muslim Europe, where he and his family follow in the footsteps of the great Ottoman explorer Evliya Celebi through the Western Balkans.Tharik is also the creator of Britain's first Muslim heritage trails, in Surrey.He and host Si Willmore discuss his moving to London, completing the Hajj with his family including his wheelchair-bound aunt, and the uniting power of sport. You can learn more about Tharik at tharikhussain.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy holidays! Rochelle Turner is Exodus Travel's new head of sustainability. She tells host Si Willmore about her time in Japan and how she noticed how respectful the people are - so much so that schoolchildren eat all of their food out of respect for the farmer, and that every room in the house has its own pair of slippers -- including in the toilet. This deep respect for our environment is perhaps the purest form of sustainability. "Too many things get thrown away or not given the care they deserve," says Rochelle, who has had senior roles at Ipsos-MORI, TUI, Which? and the World Travel & Tourism Council. She has joined Exodus to spearhead their Nature Net Positive commitment as well as many other initiatives. She's completed the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training and recently become a beekeeper! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.