Shows
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life076 Improvisation Is Such An Important Life (And Jazz) Tool - Jazz Musician BUSTER BIRCH Explains WhyBUSTER BIRCH is an English jazz musician from humble beginnings. Jazz has been Buster's life from before he was born - as you will learn – and he began gigging at 16 years old. Music in the form of teaching and performance have been Buster's only profession, and sole form of income, so when Covid hit in 2020, and all music gigs were cancelled, schools closed, and all face-to-face teaching deemed impossible, Buster’s income stream went to zero in less than 24 hours. Buster’s response? Create and build an online presence fast, learn zoom as quickly as possible, and find a way to...
2023-10-061h 50
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life075 Valuing Your Creative Work - Creative Entrepreneur JOANNA PENN talks about Creative Freedom and Earning a Six Figure Income"Writing and walking are good ways to live your life."
JOANNA PENN also known as J F PENN is a British author of both fiction and non-fiction. Jo runs a successful podcast called THE CREATIVE PENN, has another podcast called the BOOKS AND TRAVEL podcast - currently on hold but with loads of great episodes - and on top of all this, Jo is an international professional speaker. These collective skills earn her a six figure salary as a creative entrepreneur.
I met up with Jo in Bath for a walk alongside the Kennet & Avon...
2023-08-191h 13
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life074 Eat Your Way To Better Health - Making Choices To Change The Outcome with REBECCA RIVERSThis episode is a wake up call for us as humans to consider taking more responsibility for ourselves as individuals, especially when it comes to what foods we are putting in our mouths. For example, if you think fat free products are the healthy choice, you've definitely got to listen to this podcast episode.
My guest REBECCA RIVERS proves that we can reverse ill health through making the right food, exercise and lifestyle choices. She did it and reversed her Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome diagnosis. And now Rebecca shares her story with us in this...
2023-03-301h 12
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life073 Make A Choice To Do It Your Way - with Author, STEPHEN R. MARRIOTTThis episode is about self-belief and a man who through his love of travel, and particularly walking, set off along a creative writing path away from high finance and from wearing a smart suit in the City of London.
I sat down with author STEPHEN MARRIOTT on the (almost) eve publication date of his third book Diego's Guitar, and through a candid discussion Steve reflects on how easily our choices can build habits both good and bad. He believes that by looking back at the choices we've made, reveals our character and that it's not always easy...
2023-03-221h 02
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life072 Be Realistic But Don’t Be Afraid - Making Choices Through Life with SHOBHA DASThis episode celebrates the determination of one woman to achieve her dreams through the choices presented to her at different times of her life to date. SHOBHA DAS with whom I was fortunate enough to catch up with in London last month, embraces an incredible life-changing challenge to build a house in the mountains above her Keralan homeland in India alongside her husband Chris Collinson - with whom I also recorded a podcast episode (ep. 027) over two years ago.
Shobha is straightforward and unflinching in her recollection of choices she has made in life, reminding us that...
2023-03-101h 36
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life071 Sunshine, Friendship, and Olive Oil In The Heart Of Sicily - with SARAH WOLFERSTANSARAH WOLFERSTAN of ALIVU SICILY grows and produces extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) alongside her Sicilian husband Paulo Guarino. Their olive groves are located in the very centre and heart of Sicily on the opposite hills to Enna. From their land, and very much in the distance, you can sometimes see smoke rising from Mt Etna. I had the privilege of joining Sarah, Paulo, friends and family for this year’s harvest – something I have wanted to do since Sarah and I recorded our first podcast in February 2021 (episode 033).
“At the heart of every olive there is a wild...
2022-11-161h 04
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life070 The Good Kitchen - Finding Purpose In Sicily with DANNY McCUBBINDANNY McCUBBIN is the founder of The Good Kitchen an inspiring social enterprise project in Mussomelli, Sicily. Danny has a background in digital consultancy, he is a speaker, and a food campaigner. He worked for the chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver for 17 years while also spending much time for “promoting food-focused social enterprises and helping diverse businesses create social value, with the belief that food has the power to transform lives.”
Away from the busy world of London, here I am podcasting with Danny in his new home, Sicily. We are sitting in a small hilltop town in t...
2022-11-0953 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life069 From The Big Apple To The Big Olive - GABRIELLA BECCHINA and Her SicilyGABRIELLA BECCHINA is an educator, a Sicilian tourism expert, a forager, a chef and an all round encyclopaedia of knowledge relating to the history, culture and food of Sicily. She studied art history in Basel, and worked in New York but her formative years were in Switzerland with school holidays in Sicily visiting family. It was only when her Sicilian father retired to his Sicilian roots in Castelvetrano - establishing an olive grove and trailblazing the way to producing a more sophisticated and polyphenol rich extra virgin olive oil production – that Gabriella decided to come and join him and ge...
2022-10-262h 14
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life068 Travel, Backdrops and Readers - LUKE RICHARDSON talks about His Writing InspirationsLUKE RICHARDSON is a thriller writer, DJ, and podcaster. He studied journalism at Nottingham University but DJ-ing became his central profession for a while before he changed direction into English teaching within a secondary school and the longer holidays allowed Luke to indulge his passion for travel from which came the inspiration to write.
Luke writes thriller novels and has just launched a much awaited new series entitled The Ark Files – an archaeological thriller trilogy. His books are all based in exciting places around the world to inspire the reader while enjoying some armchair escapism.
Lu...
2022-10-111h 02
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life067 Scottish Hebridean Whisky with NEIL MATHIESON of Torabhaig DistilleryWhile on the Isle of Skye recently with my partner Stephen Marriott enjoying a bit of van-life freedom, we happened upon the inaugural Hebridean Whisky Trail Festival. Never known to say no to a dram now and again, I was fortunate enough to take part in a whisky tasting from the distilleries involved, and to have a chat with NEIL MATHIESON – CEO of the Isle of Skye’s youngest distillery, Torabhaig.
I also cajoled Steve to take ten minutes out of his time to reflect on our trip to the Isle of Raasay and its equally young dist...
2022-09-2835 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life066 From Hitchhiking To Transport Chaos - SIMON CALDER talks about the Joys Of TravelSIMON CALDER is a travel broadcaster, journalist and podcaster in the UK. He writes and podcasts regularly for The Independent.
I do quite a lot of coverage of travel turmoil.
Simon reports from travel strewn locations which has made him a recognisable figure on UK television and as he and I podcast walked and talked our way through central London on the last Saturday in July during a national rail strike, it became very clear that people love to say hello to him, and enjoy his down to earth style and willingness to chat.
2022-08-041h 16
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life065 Self Publishing, Travelling and Social Anxiety - A Walk and Talk with STEVEN MOORE, AuthorSTEVEN MOORE is a writer of action thriller books. He is proudly self-published and has written 25 books. Since this podcast episode was recorded, Steve has just launched another book in his compelling Hiram Kane action thriller series entitled The Oak Island Enigma to find out more and buy your copy, click on the links below.
During our walk and talk around Waterloo and the South Bank area of London, Steve talks about self-publishing and why this is his preferred method of reaching his audience of readers. We talk about the Self Publishing Formula format and forthcoming LIVE...
2022-07-211h 04
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life064 Beef, Bible and Bullets (Part 2) - RICHARD LAPPER talks about London, Brazil and PopulismIn this, Part 2 of my chat with Richard Lapper, we walk from Wapping to Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and back to Wapping via King Edward VII Park, the Regents Canal, Mile End Park and Limehouse Basin talking about history, politics, London, and Brazil.
Tune in to be inspired by London’s east side, understanding more about Brazil, and how farming, religion and security can play such an important part in the making and breaking of a country. And why the Amazon has become so threatened by a policy that changed the region forever:
People without la...
2022-07-091h 40
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life063 Beef, Bible and Bullets (Part 1) - RICHARD LAPPER talks about Brazil and JournalismRICHARD LAPPER is an independent journalist and consultant. Originally from Sheffield, Richard is the author of Beef, Bible and Bullets: Brazil in the Age of Bolsonaro. Originally published in 2021, the paperback is now available and comes at a time when the spotlight is on Brazil with respect to the alarming depletion and destruction of the Amazon and why it is happening at such an uncontrolled pace.
Richard spent many years living and working in Central and South America, particularly Brazil. He now lives in Wapping and I caught up with him to walk and talk about writing...
2022-07-0751 min
The Alternative Leader PodcastThe Alternative Leader Podcast - Emma CarmichaelI met Emma when I was interviewing Calvin Niles several years ago. Emma ran a beautiful bookshop called, ‘Travelling Through’ - now the name of her podcast. Emma worked talks about her experiences of working in the Balkans in post conflict cultural conservation. This work was about so much more than the conservation. She then began a journey driving through the Balkans to experience the land and she talks about this journey in her book, ‘Driving Tito’ – who is Tito you ask, I’ll leave you to find out! At age 6 Emma’s lung collapsed and it put a new perspe...
2022-06-2257 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life062 A London Stroll With Author SARAH PENNER - talking about The Lost Apothecary and more...SARAH PENNER is the author of The Lost Apothecary, which, on its release in the USA in 2021, immediately flew to the heady heights of the New York Times Top Ten Best Seller List. Published by Park Row Books/HarperCollins in the US and by Legend Press in the UK, the book is now in paperback and her readers are eagerly awaiting Sarah’s second book due to be released in April 2023 entitled The London Séance Society.
As Sarah and I walk and talk through the streets of London, Sarah reveals why London is the setting behind her...
2022-06-071h 08
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life061 The Opposite of Addiction Is Connectivity - JOHNNY FAVOURITE talks about Music, Touring, Alcohol and Tuk-TuksStuart Duncan Bastow was born in Newfoundland, Canada. Along with his jazz collective, The Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra, he initially rose to fame in Halifax. Throughout the 1990s they played to audiences across Canada, America and Europe, front-lining bands such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and many more.
Johnny, as he became known, recorded two albums with his Swing Orchestra and two solo albums. These can all be found online and are in order of recordings
The Life Desire; Holiday Romance; Tonight; and Troubadour.
Alcohol and drinking played a significant part in Johnny’s...
2022-05-271h 16
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life060 Tacos, Tortillas, Moles and Music - The Tastes and Sounds of MEXICO in MaySan Miguel de Allende in Central Mexico is one of the most popular towns to where Mexicans, Americans, Canadians and many others are drawn to eat, live, marry, paint, hear good music and generally seek out a good life. The climate is agreeable most of the time and likewise the people. This is a town which attracts expats but not in such large numbers that they outweigh the Mexican population. The surrounding areas produce good wines, and are agriculturally rich, and although San Miguel de Allende considers tourism to be its main source of income it is done elegantly...
2022-05-252h 20
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life059 People Who Live Differently - ELISABETH BLANCHET talks about Documenting Through PhotographyELISABETH BLANCHET documents the world through photography. She has travelled widely and her interest and patience in getting to know communities who live differently have resulted in her being able to capture peoples’ worlds beyond the ones in which we ourselves live. Elisabeth’s photography takes us to the Normandy beaches, the worlds of the Irish travellers and Romany, an orphanage in Romania from Ceaușescu’s era, and to the world of Britain’s post war prefab communities.
As well as photography, Elisabeth is a writer and a filmmaker. She is the author of several books one of wh...
2022-04-2950 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life058 Is Your Life The Life You Want To Lead? - MARI WILLIAMS talks about Being An Alternative LeaderMARI WILLIAMS is a trained coach, therapist and mediator. Her business, The Mind Architect, attracts clients from all walks of life and includes many at the top of their professional game looking for solutions to be better leaders. Mari believes this leadership comes from within you, and in her mind is based on five guiding principles, which she explores in an accessible way in her book It Begins With You – Transform Your Mind To Excel As An Alternative Leader.
“Is your life the life you want to lead?
And if it isn’t, why isn’t it?”
2022-04-231h 06
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life057 Wild Swimming, Urban Solos And Cycle Rides - ABIGAIL TRIPP talks about London OutdoorsABIGAIL TRIPP has lived in London Waterloo for almost 25 years. She is an avid swimmer, cyclist and traveller and loves searching out the wild swimming and lido spots in and around London.
“Being in touch with the water is so important to me.”
Abigail is also a huge cycling fan and cycles all around London. Her idea of finding peace and quiet is going on early morning urban solos, a concept she first discovered while on a silent walking retreat on the west coast of Scotland near Inverie.
Closer to London, one of Abig...
2022-04-141h 23
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life056 Community, Gardening And Lockdown On A London Estate - CAROLE WRIGHT talks about Feeling RootedCarole Wright is the founder of Blak Outside a multi-disciplinary creative collective providing culturally diverse and inclusive events for the community both online and in person. This collective had its beginnings in the Peabody Blackfriars Estate also known as Peabody Square where Carole has lived for many years. Through her extensive knowledge and management of community gardening, she has been able to combine and integrate the collective - whose central theme is about feeling “rooted” - with their involvement in this shared activity which goes well beyond gardening itself.
Carole takes me on a tour around the comm...
2022-04-091h 07
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life055 Sentio Is To Feel - OLIVER TRACE talks about Art, Animation and Augmented Reality“Sentio is to feel.”
OLIVER TRACE is an artist and animator and the founder of SENTIO SPACE. His company has collaborated with other artists and has been commissioned by Tate Britain, Tate Modern, BBC and Cambridge University amongst other prestigious, high profile organisations to help them tell their stories in a short form, animated context to huge success and acclaim - particularly resonating with those on social media platforms.
Britain by Bike was Sentio Space’s first animation project illustrating four friends’ bike ride across the UK from John o’Groats to Lands End through imagery th...
2022-04-011h 20
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life054 Gender And Identity Are Different Things - CHARLOTTE HARKER talks about Being A Creative and Transgender“I think gender and identity are different things.
My identity is not related to my gender.”
CHARLOTTE HARKER is an artist, writer and performer.
She wrote A Species of Trees; collaborated with Tamar Yoseloff with Nowheres; has written The Wear and Tear of Conversation; The Poetry of Lost Landscapes. She is currently completing The Novel and Other Incidents this will be published in the autumn.
Charlotte’s style of artwork is wide ranging and includes giclee and dry point, to studies of both trees and buildings. She has recently been experimenting with c...
2022-03-241h 03
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life053 Everyone Has Their Own Uniqueness - LIZA PADERES talks about Books, Publishing and Children’s HeroesWhat can make you happy can change constantly.
LIZA PADERES works for the independent publishing house Legend Press, an arm of the Legend Times publishing group.
People buy books visually.
Liza is a first generation Londoner born to Filipino immigrants. She was brought up with English and a smattering of her parents’ native tongue. She grew up in Barnet, north London and after studying media and communications at university, Liza entered the publishing world excited by the prospects of travel that this industry offered.
Liza reflects on how the publishing world ha...
2022-03-171h 27
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life052 I Felt Like I Had A Split Personality - HELENA HALME talks about Displacement, And Being Finnish“We had to call them Soviets, not to anger the large bear next to us.”
HELENA HALME is a self-published author of contemporary fiction. She is the Nordic Ambassador for the Alliance of Independent Authors. Helena has written two box sets, the Nordic Heart series and the Island series. One of her recurring themes is displacement and the human condition, isolation and discrimination. Her book Coffee and Vodka reflects her own experiences of displacement as a child when moving with her family to Sweden from Finland - an experience which would in some ways prepare her for life...
2022-03-081h 09
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life051 Gender Diversity, Social Inclusion, and God - CANON GILES GODDARD talks about 21st Century Challenges“We’re here for you, whoever you are.”
CANON GILES GODDARD is the Vicar of St John’s Waterloo and St Andrew's Church in London SE1. His challenge is one that many face while living and serving in a fast-paced multi-cultural, socially diverse, and gender diverse city such as London in the 21st century.
“We’re quite famous for being inclusive.”
Giles talks about his mission as Vicar responsible for the (almost) 200 year old church in the dynamic community of Waterloo - and neighbour of the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace - to "reignite"...
2022-02-2859 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life050 Without Your Attention I Cannot Connect With You At All - CALVIN NILES talks about Mindful Storytelling"Stories Are Vehicles of Powerful Messages"
CALVIN NILES is a Communication Coach and Mindful Storyteller. He is an author, poet and founder of SOAR Book Club. Calvin also hosts a number of podcasts including Stories of Awakening and Mindful Conversations.
Calvin’s mission is to guide and inspire others along their own work and life path by empowering authentic and impactful communication through stories and dialogue.
Calvin is the author of The Sun Rises in Eastmoor, and An Unfinished Mosaic
In 2020, he founded SOAR Book Club (the acronym for Stories of Aw...
2022-02-221h 13
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life049 Wherein Is The Authenticity? - JOHN BOLD talks about Learning From The Past To Sustain Our FutureJOHN BOLD is an architectural historian who specialises in English architecture and European heritage management. He was Head of Architecture for the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, as well as Reader in Architecture at the University of Westminster, and continues to be a consultant on heritage management to the Council of Europe.
John is Honorary Editor of the Ancient Monuments Society, which has recently changed its name to Historic Buildings and Places. It is a society whose mission it is to defend historic buildings of all ages and all types - with a 21st century mission: learning...
2022-02-161h 26
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life048 Across the Balkans in a Vintage Yugoslav Car - Emma reads from her travel memoir DRIVING TITOIn 2009 Emma Carmichael (your podcast host) left her Council of Europe job as a conservation heritage professional in southeast Europe, and travelled across the Balkans in a vintage Zastava 750 classic car (a hugely respected rustic relic from the former Yugoslavia era).
In 2019, Emma published DRIVING TITO: Through The Balkan Backroads With A Celebrity which recounts her journey, experiencing the joys, thrills and terrors of driving such a car in a modern day Balkan world, where she is met with incredible kindness and hospitality from the people of this region.
This podcast episode sets the scene...
2022-02-0411 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life047 Somehow My Fate Is Linked Up With Ukraine’s Fate - LEONORA MERIEL talks about Living Brightly"Why would you wait until you are seventy? Now’s the time to tell your story!"
LEONORA MERIEL : author – entrepreneur – businesswoman – mother
"I like to live very brightly. Life is full of excitement waiting to happen."
LEONORA is a writer of literary fiction embracing a range of genres. She has two books published and two in the pipeline for publication this year. Leonora’s writing style is extraordinarily wide as she continues to challenge herself to evolve as a writer in the self-publishing world. Her books are stocked in all the main bookshops and online...
2022-01-2659 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life046 London, Inherited Memory And Time Travel - NIGEL PLANER talks about Writing, Acting and Travelling“When you’ve got a relationship with a writer who just gets what you’re up to…
You just have the feeling that I can be really funny in this.”
NIGEL PLANER is an actor, singer, songwriter, and author - amongst many other attributes - and is forever associated with his role as Neil in the 1980s cult comedy series The Young Ones.
Today we are talking about Nigel’s latest book, Jeremiah Bourne In Time as he takes me on a backstreet alley tour of London between Waterloo Station and London Bridge, through pung...
2022-01-191h 38
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life045 From Forest Bathing To Just Sitting Outdoors - HOLLY WORTON talks about The Positive Effects Of Nature On Your Mindset“Winter camps are deliciously empty.
It’s kind of been my survival thing for this COVID year that never seems to end.
It’s nice to just relax,
And just sit in the outdoors.”
HOLLY WORTON is an author, podcaster, publishing strategist, personal and business coach, long distance walker, ultra-marathon runner, lover of nature and trainee druid. Despite all these things going on in her life, I was able to bring her down to a slow enough walk-and-talk pace to podcast chat with me recently.
Holly’s story is a fascinat...
2022-01-101h 10
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life044 New Year’s Eve 2021 Reflections - What Has 2021 Meant To You?EMMA, your podcast host, persuades her partner STEPHEN MARRIOTT (author, traveller and podcaster) to join her for a New Year's Eve walk on Wimbledon Common and reflect on what London, the world and life has meant to him in 2021.
What has 2021 meant to you? Perhaps our chat will encourage you to consider what the year has meant to you wherever you are in the world.
May 2022 bring you peace, laughter and adventure.
Happy New Year - and thank you for listening!
To find out more about Stephen check out h...
2021-12-3141 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life043 The Magic of Coincidences - ANTJE KUNST talks about Rights, Resolutions and YogaANTJE KUNST is an International Lawyer, Childs’ Rights Advocate, and a Barrister (Lincoln’s Inn).
She was born in Friesland near the Nordsee in Germany but her working life as a lawyer has nearly always been abroad. It began in India from where her love of the country flourished. She subsequently worked in the Gaza Strip from 1999 for over 5 years and then came to Kosovo with the United Nations. Her experience brought her to London and as well as working on issues relating to international staff disputes, Antje’s interests diversified into anti-corruption awareness, and also Childs’ Rights –...
2021-12-2459 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life042 From The Boreal Forest To Avocados - ALICIA COLSON talks about the Human And Environmental Aspects of Archaeology“What Can I Find Out, What Does It Tell Me?
I May Never Know, So I’m Okay With That”
ALICIA COLSON is an Archaeologist and Ethno-historian. Both disciplines have a huge role to play in protecting our environment as well as our human connections to the environment.
Alicia’s PhD research involved a complete survey of the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada’s section of the Boreal Forest – the results of which had greater consequences for her career in Canada than she had anticipated at the time.
She is a fi...
2021-12-141h 38
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life041 From Scottish Mountains To The Mayan Underworld: JENNIFER WALLACE talks about Academia and BeyondJENNIFER WALLACE is a literature academic and an author of fiction and non-fiction. Her most recent works are Digging The Dirt, Digging Up Milton (brilliantly imagined from minimal primary information, and set in London’s St Giles, Cripplegate in the heart of the Barbican, and Tragedy Since 9/11.
Jennifer splits her time between writing in London and fulfilling her role as Director of Studies in English at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. Her doctorate studies were in Romantic Hellenism and she has a particular love of the writings of Shelley, Byron and Keats - all of whom have led he...
2021-12-061h 02
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life040 Come Back To Me, Then Go Away - GERRY KING talks about London, Memories and Writing Auto-FictionGERRY KING writes autobiographical fiction – commonly referred to as auto-fiction. Amongst other writings, he is the author of Lubin Tales and Smoke and Other Tales. His most recent book published by Tangent Books in September 2021 is entitled Come Back To Me, Then Go Away.
Gerry was born in Battersea (south London) and spent his early years there, Surrey and then Torquay. His father is the famous 1950s boxer known as the Torquay Tornado. Gerry’s teenage years were dominated by drink and drugs, a time in Borstal, a further time of drugs and crime before finally disengaging hims...
2021-11-291h 38
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life039 Gelato for All Seasons - VITORIA SANVICENTE talks about Ice-Cream and Setting Up Candiero LondonVITORIA SANVICENTE is Italian, although born in Brazil. She was brought up in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, but now considers herself a “Water-pudlian” – a term she has created for those living in Waterloo, London. Vitoria loves this area and so it’s no wonder that she persuaded her family to bring their gelato business to Lower Marsh. I was lucky enough to catch up with her recently to find out how it’s going – to taste the newly launched ginger gelato as well as a scoop of pistachio which is heavenly – and to talk all things ice cream and why...
2021-11-2241 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life038 Healing Our Oceans - LOUISA HOOPER talks about How We Can Make A DifferenceLOUISA HOOPER is a Londoner born and bred. She was a regular customer at Travelling Through bookshop not suprisingly as she studied literature at University and equally has a penchant for travel. In 2019 Louisa took a three month sabbatical from her work with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to travel across Russia, through Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. During her travels she swims with sea horses under the stars and catches up with environmental initiatives one of which is to remove discarded fishing nets from the ocean.
Louisa's recent projects with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation...
2021-04-1655 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life037 Representation Matters - TAYO JAIYESIMI talks about Her 5 to 9 Side HustleTAYO JAIYESIMI is also known as The Five To Nine Traveller : because life is more than your 9 to 5.
Tayo is first generation British/Nigerian and describes herself as a "Londoner by birth, a Jordie lass by nurture with Nigerian spice". She considers her five to nine life as precious in which she can explore, dance, travel and "do all the other bits away from work".
Tayo believes that the black experience is not a monolith and that representation matters in all segments of our society. She believes the world is a place to learn from...
2021-03-311h 26
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life036 The Zigzaggy Path of Life - KULI SINGH talks about Taking Kuli’s Kitchen OnlineKULWINDER (KULI) SINGH is a Londoner. He studied at Cambridge and went down the traditional employment path into a corporate job in technology with the aim of earning a good living to do the things he wanted to do in life - this included travelling. Through his travels, Kuli's love of food and knowledge of different cultures across the continents has grown and with it his love to cook and experiment with different styles and tastes.
Kuli's palette as a child was developed by his Mum's home cooked traditional Punjab dishes and it was not until after...
2021-03-231h 18
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life035 If You Don’t Notice Them, They’re Doing A Good Job - PAUL KAYE talks about Language and European BordersPAUL KAYE is from Bolton in the UK. He studied for a year in France - his first pure language immersion experience. After University, Paul completed TEFL training with the idea of teaching English in Hungary but instead he ended up in Slovakia for three and a half years as a teacher, broadcaster and journalist. This was a seminal part in his life and set the stage for the many work, life and travel experiences that followed.
Paul now works as a translator for the EU. He was seconded to the UK in 2014 to facilitate initiatives to...
2021-03-121h 31
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life034 It Hurts, But That’s My Story, My Truth - WILL DYSON talks of Being A Part of London’s Recent HistoryWILL DYSON is a born and bred Londoner. After a short spell away studying Geography at Manchester University, Will returned to London and has worked in several of the city's central businesss improvement districts (BIDS) including Waterloo, Baker Street and currently Bond Street/Oxford Street.
Will acknowledges that London has many faces and he understands its strengths and vulnerabilities as well as its harsh sides. In recent years Will faced his biggest challenge with London; the processing of personal trauma and injury as a result of the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack of March 2017.
Will is...
2021-03-051h 23
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life033 EVOO The Holy Grail Of Food? - SARAH WOLFERSTAN talks about Olive Oil and SicilySARAH WOLFERSTAN trained as an archaelologist. She has worked for the United Nations, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and the Council of Europe (CoE) on various cultural heritage projects and is now affiliated to UCL in London in the Institute of Archaeology.
Sarah lives with her Sicilian husband and children in Malmesbury, Wiltshire however they continue to have strong links with Sicily, cultivating and expanding her adopted Sicilian family's olive groves. The family spent 18 months in inland Sicily, learning and understanding how to cultivate and harvest olives to get the most out of their groves. They...
2021-02-261h 22
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life032 When A Smile Means More Than Any Verbal Compliment - Your Podcast Host talks (a little) about Her Life So Far...EMMA CARMICHAEL is normally the Travelling Through Podcast host but in this episode, she's swapped seats to be interviewed by her partner Stephen Marriott who is soon to launch his own podcast series, Marriott's Side Trips.
Emma was brought up in Edinburgh and moved to London when she was 20 years old. In her own words she did "everything upside down and back to front" and believes that no choices you make in life need be forever, it's a case of knowing when to let go.
Life is short, and can be cut even shorter, so...
2021-02-061h 37
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life031 Finding Pockets Of Time To Be Creative - CALI BIRD talks about Being An AuthorCALI BIRD is the author of Don't Give Up Your Day Job and has recently self-published her first fiction story Tales of the Countess which will form part of a series of books about the 'Countess'.
Cali was born in Bedfordshire and lived a considerable part of her early adulthood in the Waterloo and Kennington areas of London. Although now back in Bedfordshire, Cali always stays in Waterloo whenever she comes to London for work. On this occasion, for our podcast chat, we walked and talked in the nearby Archbishop's Park - a favourite haunt of...
2021-01-131h 11
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life030 Don’t Look Back And Regret Anything - JO THWAITES talks about her Life In LondonJO THWAITES has been in London for over 40 years. Jo was born in Forfar and brought up in Aberdeen in the north of Scotland. She studied at Edinburgh University, spent six months in Australia before landing in London in the 1970s. She considers London home.
Jo was keen to support many activist causes in London. She is a stalwart supporter of the Labour Party. She worked for Islington Council and studied Building Surveying part-time. She joined Historic Royal Palaces and was involved in key projects at all six palaces under HRP's remit. She was awarded an MBE...
2020-12-231h 13
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life029 For The Love of Lorca And More - JORGE GARRIZ talks about Romancero Books Online BookshopJORGE GARRIZ is from the Spanish region of Navarra, close to Pamplona. He studied Fine Arts in Valencia and Bilbao after which he ended up in Barcelona with the idea of studying an MA. Instead, he came to London on a two-month grant to learn English. Ten years later he has a number of key jobs under his belt working for architectural practices in hospitality and office management. London has become Jorge's home and while furloughed during the first 2020 lockdown, Jorge realised he finally had time to create and implement the first stages of his dream project. By June 2020...
2020-12-1550 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life028 Be Persistent And Grind Like Crazy - SHACK BAKER talks about Being An EntrepreneurSHACK BAKER was born in London and brought up on the Heathbrook Estate off the Wandsworth Road in south London. From the age of eight, he was determined to be rich. This is his inspiring story of becoming an entrepreneur in the clothing, design, music and now the property sector with his company The Property Shack, through sheer drive, self-belief and persistency. Shack has never been afraid to embrace uncomfortableness, to get outside of his comfort zone as he believes this is when the learning and the real growth happens.
Tune in to this inspiring podcast episode...
2020-12-081h 36
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life027 The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Architects - CHRIS COLLINSON talks about Building A House In The Indian GhatsCHRIS COLLINSON jacked in his job as a civil servant in London and set off to India with his city-loving (internationally-travelled) partner Shobha Das to build a home in the Ghats mountains of Kerala, a State in southern India where Shobha was born but had never lived until now. Two years on, I had the unexpected opportunity to catch up with Chris on a visit to London for a podcast chat and walk along the river Thames on a gloomy November day recently.
This is Chris' frank and inspiring interpretation of how life has changed for both...
2020-11-241h 31
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life026 Turning Your ’Not Idea’ Into An Idea - PHIL HUNTER talks about Creativity and Being An ArtistPHIL HUNTER is an artist and a qualified electrical engineer. He went to Art School to study Graphic Design although his professional life took him sideways into Electrical Lighting Design at a creatively exciting time in the development of professional lighting at rock concerts, as well as other projects.
Phil has always continued with painting enjoying the mediums of oils and acrylic. His recently postponed exhibition at Rye entitled If Eye Could Fly has been re-scheduled for 17-29 March 2021.
In our podcast chat we talk about being left-handed, the use of painting mediums, the use...
2020-11-171h 08
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life025 The Quality of Life Equation - ALAN MARSH talks about Being A PhotographerALAN MARSH has had a career as a commercial photographer since the late 1970's. From a young age, Alan was entranced by the chemical techniques involved with photography which was then considered one of the science study options at his school in Dover. Having completed a degree at Medway College of Design, Alan spent some time working abroad photographing hotels and seeing parts of the world from an unusual travelling perspective, witnessing many places and countries in their early stages of development and transition.
He returned to the UK and moved to London where he began a...
2020-11-111h 12
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life024 Try To Be A Bit Less Ordinary - NAADU ASHUN talks about A Bag Less OrdinaryNAADU ASHUN is of mixed heritage and she is proud to have created a brand of bags and accessories that reflect both her Ghanaian and British heritage. A Bag Less Ordinary collections bring together Ankara west African fabrics with Liberty or William Morris prints to create beautifully handcrafted accessories and gifts.
In this podcast interview recorded under a bright November sky in Brompton Cemetery, Naadu talks about juggling life as a single mother with developing her design business; being of mixed heritage; and the importance of getting out in nature.
NAADU'S CONTACT DETAILS ARE...
2020-11-0642 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life023 The Importance Of Knowing What You Don’t Know - CHRIS BECKETT talks about Poetry, Haiku and EthiopiaCHRIS BECKETT was born in the UK and during his early childhood was brought up in Ethiopia. Ever since, he has had an ongoing cultural relationship with the country and its people through poetry. This year, Chris has published a book of poems reflecting his childhood and his perceptions of the country at this young age entitled Tenderfoot. He has also, in collaboration with exiled journalist and poet Alemu Tebeje, published the first ever anthology of Ethiopian Amharic Poetry entitled Songs We Learn From Trees.
Chris and his artist partner Isao Miura collaborated on a wonderful project...
2020-10-271h 35
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life022 Take Criticism From Your Trusted Friends - STEPHEN MARRIOTT talks about Being IndependentSTEPHEN MARRIOTT is an author, a traveller, public speaker and an investment analyst. He strives to be independent and believes in cultivating several life skills because the world around us is changing and evolving and it is important to have a few strings to your bow.
Stephen is currently writing the third and final book in his Reluctant Pilgrim Series of books which follows the life of Diego as he leaves his village in northern Spain in search of his dreams and more by accident than design, he ends up walking the Camino Frances to S...
2020-10-201h 05
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life021 Dream, Dream Big - RENEE RILEXIE talks about The Adventures of Lucinda DumplingRenee Rilexie is an artist at Make Space Studios in Waterloo, London SE1. Her art is influenced by her specific type of synesthesia.
During the London 2020 lockdown period Renee pulled out a children's book she had written many years previously and decided now was the time to publish it, and in this process she has also decided to animate it. This is the story behind the creation of The Advenutures of Lucinda Dumpling and why it is important that we should all dream, in fact dream big and put it out there. This is her story about...
2020-10-1430 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life020 The London Camino - ADAM WELLS talks about The Hero’s Journey and AdamWells.ComADAM WELLS is a transitional life coach. He has walked the Camino de Santiago twice as well as other routes leading to Santiago de Compestella. He gave up a consultancy job in the city to start up his own business based on his own skills, experiences and knowledge of life's transitions to finding one's true path. This can take many years and Adam's aim is to set you on that path through one-to-one coaching alongside walking what he calls the London Camino.
Adam was born in London, spent his early childhood abroad including Spain. This early experience...
2020-10-0645 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life019 Have Belief Have Courage Have Patience - ESRA KIZIR GOKCEN talks about Being An ArtistEsra Kizir Gokcen was born, raised and indeed had begun raising her own family in Istanbul, Turkey. She studied graphic design in Istanbul and taught art to pupils in a small studio. However life changed dramatically for Esra following the sudden and unexpected death of her husband, and four years ago she took the courageous decision to bring her children to London to begin a new life chapter for them all.
Esra's story is one of new beginnings, finding her artistic style and developing new techniques. Her life has always been about art and during o...
2020-09-291h 05
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life018 Flowers Are Essential Like Bread and Eggs - ROKSANA TRZECINSKA talks about RokaBringsFlowersROKSANA TRZECINSKA set up her flower business RokaBringsFlowers only a few months ago just as the lockdown was lifting in London. It is a project entirely self-powered by Roksana and her bicycle. She buys her flowers from New Covent Garden Market, and also creates small posies of wild flowers from Roots and Shoots - £1.00 of every bunch sold goes to the charity.
.
Roksana suffers from a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) relating to the fear of contamination from bacteria and infection. In this current time of conflicting information on the coronavirus, Roksana has pushed h...
2020-09-221h 14
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life017 Podcast Reflections And a NEW SERIES In SEPTEMBER - Emma’s Summing Up of The London Pull so far...Hello my lovely podcast listeners,
In this podcast episode it's just me summing up on the series so far, what some of my podcast guests have been doing since I chatted with them, and news on what's coming up next in the podcast series starting in September.
It's been an amazing first season of podcasting with huge thanks to my podcasts guests for giving up their valuable time to talk to me, and a massive thanks to you, my podcast listeners. Because of you, The Travelling Through Podcast has had more than 1000 downloads which...
2020-08-1115 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life016 There’s Different Definitions Of Home - KATE FRAME talks about The London PullKATE FRAME is Head of Conservation Care and Collections at Historic Royal Palaces in London. Kate was born in Canada and is one of seven children. Her father had a career in mining which took the family to many unique places in the world during the 1960s and 1970s. She was a conservation student in London, and worked in Toronto, Canada before moving to London in the late 1990s.
THIS IS KATE’S UNIQUE STORY ABOUT LONDON, THE WORLD AND LIFE.
"You know there’s just different definitions of home.
I thi...
2020-08-0439 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life015 Why Do You Put Beer In The Batter? - RITA ABREU talks about The London PullRITA ABREU is a photographer, a writer and a multilingual tour guide in the UK. She was born and brought up in Portugal and from an early age she has been fascinated by maps and travel. After University, Rita moved to Lisbon, then to Ireland and finally to London, and through her work as a tour guide she has travelled extensively throughout the UK and abroad. Although Rita moved out of London for a couple of years, the pull and energy of London has brought her back.
THIS IS RITA’S UNIQUE STORY ABOUT LONDON, THE...
2020-07-2852 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life014 The City Can Send You Giddy - RILEXIE RENEE talks about The London PullRILEXIE RENEE is an artist and a children’s writer. Her artwork is inspired by her brain’s interpretation of music into seeing colours. This is now known as synesthesia. Renee’s sensitivity to sound and sound frequencies has had a huge impact on her life since she was a child. Renee is a Guyanese Amerindian whose family moved to New York as a result of unsettled times and conflict in Guyana during the country's fledgling years as a Republic - Renee was but a young girl at the time. Renee’s transition from a career in finance in New York...
2020-07-2141 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life013 You Don’t Have To Go Halfway Around The World To Explore - ANDY GEORGE talks about The London PullANDY GEORGE said, "The only thing I knew about life was that I didn’t want to live in London." It's now 2020 and he has followed his dream to work in the arts and theatre world, and is currently well entrenched in London as one of the founding directors of the successful Vault Festival. This is a winter theatre festival aiming "to bring colour and a bit of joy to the world" during the drab London months of January - March. Andy's story is one of finding connections between people and theatre, landscape and the city and creating one's id...
2020-07-1433 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life012 Some People Look At The Stars, I Just Walk Around Piccadilly With The Tourists - AJ CULLEN talks about The London PullAMANDA (known as AJ) CULLEN is from a small town near Buffalo, USA. While studying in Edinburgh, she fell in love with an Englishman. Four years of visa restrictions and complications, she is now living, working and married in London. This is a story of a small town millennial girl leaving that world behind her, travelling to the East and China, finding happiness and a whole load of new challenges that come along with living far from family including dealing with bereavement from a distance. But she believes “growth comes from movement” and walking around Piccadilly in London amongst a sw...
2020-07-0747 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life011 If It Was Easy To Do, Then Everybody Would Be Doing It - STEPHANIE MAIR (Fifi la Mer) talks about The London PullSTEPHANIE MAIR is an accordionist and singer with her band Oh la la! They gig across the UK and play regularly at Brasserie Zedel in Piccadilly, London. Stephanie's show name is Fifi La Mer and she plays solo as well as in a duo. You may have met her playing French songs and pavement strolling in Lower Marsh on Bastile Day. She joined us at Travelling Through after a gig on our last day as a bookshop and played "Je ne regrette rien". A moment never to be forgotten by those present. Born in London, Stephanie was brought up...
2020-06-3049 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life010 Get Stuck In - AUSTIN CAFFREY talks about The London PullAUSTIN CAFFREY was a regular at Travelling Through. He ran the very popular Philosophy Café which attracted young and old from all over London many of whom were new to London and came from all parts of the world. Austin was born in Ireland but grew up in London. He played keyboard in a punk band and enjoyed the London music scene of the 70s. He qualified within the Institute of Financial Services. He lived and worked in Jersey, Bermuda and Hong Kong. Returning to London relatively recently, he re-trained and currently advises companies on Organisational Psychology. When Austin's fa...
2020-06-2327 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life009 The London Bus Has My Heart - ABIGAIL CHAPMAN talks about The London PullABIGAIL CHAPMAN is Canadian-Mexican and was brought up in the borderlands of Mexico. She joined Travelling Through in 2014 in its infancy as a barista and book sales assistant and is now an Assistant Librarian in the City of London while completing her Masters in Library Science. She was our star latte artist and along with many customers and friends, she supported me in the final weeks and hours of closing up the bookshop in June 2019. Although Abigail loves the rolling green hills of the UK, she says she would move to Japan in an instance given the chance.
2020-06-1631 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life008 It’s Hard To Imagine Myself Living Elsewhere - MER DOMENECH talks about The London PullMER (MERCEDES) DOMENECH is a travel blogger (Travel with Mer) and since lockdown she has been documenting her state of mind in a weekly post These 4 Walls. Prior to COVID-19 restrictions, Mer was walking The London Loop to raise money for the charity REFUGE. As lockdown restrictions ease, Mer will be back out there completing the 250km walk in weekly stages. Mer is from Mallorca and has been in the UK since she was 15 years old at school, university and now working in London. She has had a love-hate relationship with London but after 12 years she turned a corner...
2020-06-0931 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life007 Most People Have Some Kind Of Migration Story - JANA ALAGARAJAH talks about The London PullJANA (JANAGAN) ALAGARAJAH was born in Sri Lanka to Tamil parents. In the 1990s they fled to London on an emergency visa from Amnesty International. Jana was 3 years old. He grew up in the UK and is a doctor of medicine. In 2016 he cycled the Pacific Coast from Vancouver to Tijuana with an urn and a pannier full of tea. He raised over £3,000 for the Save The Children’s Child Refugee Crisis Appeal and through drinking tea, a strong link to a shared humanity, he facilitated discussions with people along the Pacific Coast with the aim of debunking some of...
2020-06-0247 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life006 Chase That Discomfort A Bit, Because The Pay Off Is So Great - CORRY KLEIN talks about The London PullCORRY KLEIN was born in Chicago. She is a relocation and career coach. Corry has also had a career in the international financial sector. She has travelled widely and has lived in Brazil, Hong Kong and Lausanne where her love of skiing could be indulged because of her flexible working schedule. London has been her home for two distinct periods in her life. Corry became a regular customer to the Travelling Through bookshop-café before we closed in June 2019. She and her husband live in Stepney, East London.
THIS IS CORRY’S UNIQUE STORY OF LONDON, THE WORLD AND...
2020-05-2636 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life005 Have Your Own Space To Go, Re-set, And Come Back To Yourself - MARISKA MARTINA talks about The London PullMARISKA MARTINA is a musician, singer and songwriter as well as a classically trained cellist AND she composed our podcast intro/outro jingle! Mariska is Dutch-Peruvian. She came to London from Holland under a heavy cloud of mental health struggles in her early twenties. Five years on, Mariska feels London is home and she is steadily carving out a career for herself as a singer and musician. She has played at Ronnie Scott’s, Brasserie Zedel, Toulouse Lautrec and Sofar Sounds London to name but a few places, while also working in a bar and giving private music lessons to...
2020-05-1945 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life004 Be Patient, And You Will Discover How Wonderful London Can Be - STEPHEN HOLDER talks about The London PullSTEPHEN HOLDER is an artist and also a Tai Chi and Qigong instructor. Steve has established his own branch of the Mei Quan Academy in Waterloo SE1. It has become one of the many popular and successful branches operating in London. During this unprecedented lockdown period, the Academy has moved quickly and creatively to bring all its classes live online, and while benefiting both students and instructors, Steve shares some thoughts and concerns on how online teaching may have lasting implications for those already struggling to interact in groups and in public generally.
Steve is also a...
2020-05-1238 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life003 Let The Spirit Of The Land Guide You - JINI REDDY talks about The London PullJINI REDDY is a journalist, travel features writer and author. Her most recent book Wanderland has been inspired by her fascination with how indigenous people she met on her world travels seemed to have such a connection with the natural world, a relationship which was reciprocal and deeply spiritual. In our conversation, Jini touches on some of the places she visited while on her journey across the UK following her intuition and using synchronicities and encounters to guide her in the hope of catching at least a glimpse of spiritual magic in the landscape, and at the same time...
2020-05-0538 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life002 You Are Not Born with Culture in Your DNA - CALVIN NILES talks about The London PullCALVIN NILES is all about living in the present and being on his “A” game. He is the mastermind behind the project start-up Discover TOME, a tool to encourage down time from your tech, so as to find some balance in what is a digitally dependent world. Calvin also works freelance as an Empowerment Coach and consultant for corporates, individuals and charities. He moved to London from Barbados when he was 16 years old to discover new life opportunities.
This is CALVIN NILES' UNIQUE STORY about LONDON, THE WORLD AND LIFE...
“Cultural...
2020-04-2953 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life001 Do What You Love, And Make Sure You Love What You Do - MARGIT MULDER talks about The London PullMARGIT MULDER worked for the Body Shop, Saatchi & Saatchi, the GOOD Agency and after some intense re-training and experience with The Kids Company, she is a qualified freelance therapeutic, creative and well-being practitioner for children. She is also a freelance graphic designer. In collaboration with the writer Simon Frank, they have written, illustrated and published four children's books in the I Am Squarehead series which also form part of a Lessons for Life learning series for schools. Two of the books were launched at the Travelling Through... bookshop, cafe-bar. "IT IS OK TO BE YOU" is the I Am S...
2020-04-2651 min
Travelling Through... London, the World and Life000 THE LONDON PULL: What Makes You Stay and What Makes You Leave? (The Trailer)Hello, and welcome to the Travelling Through… podcast. I’m Emma and in this first podcast season, I’ll be exploring how the more ordinary folk, like you and I, find their way through London, the world and life.
I have caught up with some of the aspiring authors, musicians, artists and customers who used to come to my bookshop-café until it closed almost a year ago. I am talking with them about THE LONDON PULL, that imaginary magnet which draws people from all parts of the world to this city. What were their challenges? What do they mi...
2020-04-2201 min