Shows
The Big Travel PodcastNitin Sawhney CBE; Racism in Kent, India on Horseback, Mandela at HomeNitin Sawhney’s Kent childhood included regular attacks by racists, but he threw himself into music, joining school friend James Taylor’s band. Flying to India via Kabul aged 8 he found himself a child mascot riding horseback through the streets, he felt liberated by Liverpool at university, he studied accountancy but ending up creating a hit comedy show with Sanjeev Bhaskar, he’s recorded with indigenous musicians the world over, including Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Spain, interviewed Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg and worked with just about every important figure in modern day music. Discussing everything from t...2023-10-221h 03The Big Travel PodcastWarwick Davis; Cookies with Carrie Fisher in California, Varanasi with Karl Pilkington, The Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz and The World’s Best Pencil MuseumActor Warwick Davis' first trip abroad was to California at the age of 11 to star in Star Wars, a big jump from his day to day childhood in Surrey. On this episode we talk…Carrie Fisher feeding him cookies in the Redwood forest, sweltering in a rubber head-mask in the deserts of Tunisia, being a Goblin with David Bowie, causing mayhem in India on An Idiot Abroad with Karl Pilkington, entering a panda enclosure dressed as a baby panda in China, family holidays in Dubai, the poignant trip to Auschwitz he made for his brilliant documentary The Seven Dwarfs of...2023-06-1534 minThe Big Travel Podcast141. Mariellen Ward; Alternative Music in Toronto, A Year in Tokyo, the Inner Voice That Led to IndiaAfter a series of tragic losses Mariellen Ward took a giant leap of faith and headed to India. Her six month plan has seen her now be there for almost 20 years, setting up the inspirational travel site, Breathe Dream Go and also tour company India For Beginners. We explore the alternative music scene in Canada, her year with a film director in Tokyo, the healing power of a warm breeze on a rather dangerously open-doored train through the golden light of the Indian countryside and also how, when your inner voice tells you to travel somewhere, you really should go. ...2022-08-1142 minThe Big Travel PodcastPete Bennett; Big Brother, Peckham Transvestites, Hollywood Agents, Mexican Chicken-Sacrifices and Celebrating Tourette’sGrowing up on a Peckham council estate with his musician mother and a 'Lizzie-Anne the transvestite' childcarer led to Pete Bennett’s own love of quirk and music Now an actor, director, voice over artist and of course musician (with his band Lovedogz), he first came to public attention in 2006’s Big Brother and really opened up the conversation about Tourette’s Syndrome. Pete tells hilarious stories about the crazy acid trip at a psychedelic rave which gave him a vision that he would win Big Brother, being suckered in by a stoned agent with nefarious intentions in Hollywood, survivin...2022-01-181h 07
The Big Travel PodcastHuw Wyn; Arabian Nights in Cairo, Hitching Through Nepal, Tibetan Medicine in Scotland and Tom Hardy Dropping into his FestivalInto The Wild Festival promoter Huw Wyn grew up in his mother’s hotel in Wales then moved to Spain. We talk growing up feral in Andalucia, hitchhiking across Europe, fish-packing in the Netherlands, Glastonbury, Arabian Nights in Cairo, the poetic side of being a London bin man, orphanages in India, Mother Theresa in Calcutta, meeting the Dalai Lama, studying Tibetan medicine in Scotland, the remote Buddhist kingdom in Ladakh, hitching 2000 miles through Nepal, Tom Hardy at his festival and much Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2021-04-2745 min
The Big Travel PodcastLisa Jewell; Family Roots in India, a Different Barbados and How Nothing Beats a Week in LanzaroteInternationally best-selling author Lisa Jewell is a Londoner through and through, yet her Anglo-Indian mother a rather traumatic upbringing in India. Lisa’s travelled far and wide – tracing her family roots in India, having rare-for-the-time childhood holidays in Barbados and was even inspired to centre one novel about an unknown woman sneaking into a posh beach resort in the south of France. But she’s in her holiday element when spending a couple of weeks chilling in a nice hotel in Lanzarote.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2021-02-2337 min
The Big Travel PodcastChristmas Special 2020; Bill Bailey, Laura Hamilton, India Hicks, Victoria Hislop, Lemn Sissay, Ella Al Shamahi, Charles Spencer and MoreIndia Hicks’ Bahamas British Christmas, Charles Spencer’s quirk Christmas at Althorp, Victoria Hislop’s Cuban disaster, Cynthia Stroud’s noise in Nigeria, Eulanda Shead Osagiede getting drunk with Granddad in Colorado, Ella Al Shamahi’s jellied fish in Poland, Bill Bailey in remote Indonesia, Paul Burge on the epic Spanish Christmas, Danielle Desir in Connecticut, Dr Hassan Shehata partying with the Khartoum Beatles, Laura Hamilton in Andalucia, Lemn Sissay creating magic for care leavers & much m Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2020-12-1536 min
The Big Travel PodcastRachel Gotto; From Paralysis and Agoraphobia to China, Bhutan, India, the Dominican Republic and BeyondRachel Gotto was pregnant with her first child when she saw her husband's body hauled from the sea on a diving trip. What follows is an extraordinary journey recovering from a supposedly terminal brain tumour, paralysis, re-learning to walk and overcoming agoraphobia before becoming an acclaimed Rapid Transformational Therapist and Clinical Hypnotherapist. She travels the world giving inspirational talks and has explored China, India, the Himalayas, Bhutan, the Dominican Republic and much more.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2020-11-2746 min
The Big Travel PodcastIndia Hicks; Family, Bahamian Island Life, Maharajahs’ Palaces and Rat Infested HostelsEntrepreneur and style icon India Hicks, daughter of designer David Hicks and granddaughter of Lord and Lady Mountbatten, is related to everyone from Prince Philip to Queen Victoria. India talks life on a remote Caribbean island, her famous and sometimes unconventional family, taking her 90-year-old mother to Iceland, backpacking in rat-infested hostels and the harrowing damage done by Hurricane Dorian. Oh and she also has the un-missable India Hicks Podcast (of which Lisa is producer).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2020-01-2235 min
The Big Travel PodcastThe Big Travel Podcast CHRISTMAS 2019 SPECIAL!Giles Coren obsessed with Christmas, India Hicks in the Bahamas, Cosmo travel ed. Amanda Statham in Yorkshire, Rhik Samadder on Christmas Day in a Bangkok sex hotel, Dom Joly eating tinned tuna in Iran, festival guru Rob Da Bank on ‘fake Christmas’ in Dubai, Andy 'The Viking' Fordham on Chopper bikes, Paola Miggiuli the Tiny Italian on Columbian Christmas in Essex, Iain Lee on insane Christmas in Hawaii, Nasa astronaut John Herrington lost in Alaska & make-up artist Hannah Martin in Somerset. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2019-12-1122 min
The India Hicks PodcastChildhood as a Mountbatten; Lions, Coatimundis, Bears and Being Left in BudapestImagine growing up in a house with a lion, a bear, a mongoose and a coatimundi (yes we had to look it up too). We’re having tea and cake at home with Lady Pamela, daughter of Lord and Lady Mountbatten and India Hicks' much loved mum. In our second episode, India, Lady Pamela and producer Lisa Francesca Nand talk about the exotic creatures that both terrified and tantalised the Mountbattens and their equally exotic visitors, the curious occasion when Lady Pamela and her sister were left for months on end in a random hotel outside Budapest and much more...2019-08-0316 min
The Big Travel PodcastAdventurer and Author Alastair Humphreys on Cycling the World, Rowing the Atlantic and Chasing Laurie Lee through SpainAlastair Humphreys left Yorkshire on his bike and didn’t return for four years, cycling through an incredible 60 countries. He’s walked across India, rowed across the Atlantic, run six marathons through the Sahara, crossed Iceland on foot, busked through Spain by facing his worst fears of performing (badly) in public and having found all that adventure hard when real life came calling, has pioneered the concept of #microadventures. A motivational and inspiration conversation with this intrepid explorer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2019-05-1445 min
The Big Travel PodcastWilliam Sutcliffe; 'Are You Experienced?' Author on India, Israel the Bolivian Salt Flats and Creating the Travel Book of a GenerationWilliam Sutcliffe’s cynical take on people who go travelling, 'Are You Experienced?' is still inspiring travellers all over the world. He instantly regretted a solo trip to Pakistan to Beijing, was horrified by the realities on the West Bank, ate nothing but marmalade sandwiches when travelling to the remote salt flats in Bolivia and yes a lot stories in Are You Experienced are autobiographical. And yes I do dare to ask him about that pretty graphic description of being 'unwell' in India. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2019-05-071h 01
The Big Travel PodcastAdventure Traveller Sam McManus; Ditching Corporate Life, Kalashnikovs in Remote Africa, Training in a Shaolin Monastery and the Amazon Jungle with Cigarettes and a MacheteHaving done what many people dream of – ditching a corporate career to travel, the proud founder of adventure travel company Yellowwood Adventures, Sam McManus, has created the life of his dreams travelling to remote parts of Ethiopia, Iran, India, the Himalayas, Mongolia and more. He’s been woken up by 30 men with Kalashnikovs in remote African mountains, shaved his head and worn orange pyjamas in a Shaolin Monastery and set off into the Amazon jungle with not much more than cigarettes and a machete.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2019-04-1041 min
The Big Travel PodcastMonisha Rajesh; Around the World by Train, the Siberian Galapagos, the Death Railway from Bangkok, Fascinating North Korea and Tibetan Nuns with iPhonesAfter Around India in 80 Trains Monisha Rajesh decided to tackle the whole world in 80 trains on a journey that took in 45,000 miles across Europe, Russia, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Canada and America. Stopping at the world’s oldest lake in Siberia, taking the ‘death railway’ from Bangkok to Nam Tok and meeting Tibetan nuns with iPhones she has some wonderful, inspirational and entertaining stories for you in a conversation everyone who loves travel will just love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2019-01-2945 min
The Big Travel PodcastNew Year's Special; New Year's Eve Across the WorldFrom a haunted hotel in the Cambodian jungle to a dry New Year's Eve in Kuala Lumper it's Lisa's New Year's Eve special. Taking in Belgium, Holland, London, Malaga in Spain, Goa in India, Koh Samui in Thailand, Sydney in Australia, Fiji, Cambodia, Vietnam and random musings on Prince, Shane MacGowan and various characters met along with way.
Happy New Year from the Big Travel Podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2018-12-3027 min
The Big Travel PodcastJane Garvey; BBC Radio 4 Presenter on Reluctant Travel, the Liverpool Irish, the Atlanta Suburbs at 2am and Greek TavernasBBC Radio 4’s Jane Garvey has travelled extensively, albeit under duress. She went backpacking as far as Belgium, didn’t have a great time reporting from the Olympics in Atlanta and really doesn’t fancy going anywhere exotic like India. She does however have some brilliant stories to tell about her surprisingly extensive travels - taking in Ghana, South Africa, seeing her beloved Liverpool play in Istanbul and plenty of Greece. A lively and entertaining conversation with one of the UK’s best broadca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2018-07-3137 min
The Big Travel PodcastSunsets, Stitches and Swimming with Dolphins: Kids' Holiday SpecialSchool’s out for summer meaning fun, sun, getting locked in a kids club and left behind in Mexico, falling off a slide and needing stitches in Turkey, free Pringles in Greece and going to Spain because 'we can't afford to go anywhere else'! This is travel from the kids’ point of view, travelling to Belgium, France, Spain, Wales, Mexico, Turkey, Greece, India and more. What they like about their holidays might just surprise you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2018-07-2429 min
The Big Travel PodcastChris Nand; India and Fiji Under British Colonial Rule, Captain Cook’s Tongan Turtle and The Beatles in 1960’s Liverpool (Father’s Day Special)A fascinating insight into the South Pacific and what is was like to grow up under British Colonial rule. Living in a house made of bamboo the kids' playground was the lush fields of the sugar cane plantation, mango trees, the winding river where they swam as their mums washed their clothes and of course the beautiful Fijian beaches. Taking us to Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, 1960s Liverpool (meeting the Beatles!) to Spain and more. Amid lots of laughter there are also a few tears! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2018-06-141h 04
The Big Travel PodcastSonali Shah: BBC1’s Escape to the Country Presenter on East Africa, Dodging American Helicopters in Afghanistan, the Beauty of Rajasthan and of Course the English CountrysideTravelling the breadth of the UK in her enviable job as the presenter of BBC1’s Escape to the Country is more calming than Sonali Shah’s previous travels which included making a ‘kidnap plan’ when filming in Afghanistan, needing armed guards at her wedding in Kenya and being stuck in a military coup in Bangkok. With family from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and India she’s a true child of the Commonwealth and also a Londoner through and through. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2018-06-1237 min
The Big Travel PodcastDJ Nihal Arthanayake; Buddhist Sri Lankan in Essex, Lebanese Electronica in Beirut and Blasting Drum ‘n’ Bass in a Kenyan Car ParkThe transition from rap artist and Asian Beats DJ to serious journalist seems to have been pretty seamless for DJ Nihal, from BBC Radio 1 to serious news programmes on BBC Radio 5Live. Along the way he’s learned to embrace his Sri Lankan heritage, traced Buddha’s steps in India, DJed at the best parties and festivals and surprised himself by enjoying a family cruise. On his BBC Asian Network show he aims to kick the multicultural hornet’s nest and on the Big Travel Podcast we kick just this and much Learn more about your ad choice...2018-04-2338 min