Episodes
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The Ambassador, the President, and Me: an Unlikely Reunion in India
Author Charmaine Craig had always felt mysteriously drawn to India—pulled by childhood family legends of ancestors who arrived there centuries ago and copper plates inscribed with ancient privileges that still hang in a Kochi synagogue. But it would take a chance encounter at a dinner party—and…
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'Pack Light' Is a Lie: What a 16-Year-Old Learned About Travel (and Life) in Guatemala
When 16-year-old Jayla Nicholas from New York City packed her one carry-on suitcase for Guatemala, she thought she had everything figured out. A seasoned city kid who loves the smell of airports and dreams of seeing the world, Jayla was ready for her second international trip, an adventure…
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Replay: Why a Wildlife Biologist Traded Mice for the World's Most Dangerous Predator
When polar bear biologist Alysa McCall was growing up in Kamloops, British Columbia, watching black bears raid fruit trees outside her living room window, she never imagined she'd dedicate her life to their Arctic cousins. But sometimes the most profound career changes happen when you least…
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What 400 Miles of Hitchhiking the Oregon Coast Taught Me About Home
When Santi Elijah Holley, writer and author of An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created, was 25, he took the ultimate travel leap of faith: He hitchhiked 400 miles from Northern California to Portland through small-town Oregon. But for Holley—who had just moved to Portland from...
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Wait, Coleslaw Is What? The Surprising Tales of Classic American Foods
Dr. Jessica B. Harris, renowned food historian and author of High on the Hog, which later became a hit Netflix series of the same name, reveals the shocking truth about American cuisine—it's not what you think. From her couch in Brooklyn with a Siamese cat wandering by, Dr. Harris unpacks the...
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Summer Replay! The Surfer Who Feels Everything
This is a replay episode from Season 4 featuring Ryan Knighton's journey to Kaua'i. Ryan Knighton, AFAR contributing writer, TV writer for Billions, and author of Cockeyed: A Memoir, takes us on an extraordinary adventure to surf Hawaii's legendary Hanalei Bay. Despite being blind since his early...
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Space, Sea, and the Nudge That Saved His Life
Jim Kitchen, professor of entrepreneurship at UNC Chapel Hill, has visited all 193 countries, rocketed 66 miles into space with Blue Origin, and descended seven miles to the ocean's deepest point—but his most important journey was learning to connect rather than just collect experiences. From...
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The Woman Who Turned Dancing into a Passport to the World
Mickela Mallozzi, Emmy award-winning host of PBS's Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi, transforms strangers into dance partners across seven continents. Whether learning sean-nós in Ireland or celebrating Matariki in New Zealand, in this episode of Travel Tales by Afar, Mickela reveals how asking...
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A Ride Through South Dakota’s Most Misunderstood Festival
Jaymee Sire, host of Food Network Obsessed podcast, trades tasting menus for throttle grips at the legendary Sturgis Motorcyle Rally in South Dakota. Whether riding two-up through the Black Hills or bonding over leather stamping and welding with a multigenerational crew of women riders, in this...
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What Touring America Taught a Southern Comic About Reading a Crowd
Kentucky native and comedian Katherine Blanford takes us on a hilarious journey across America, sharing how different regions react to humor and why the Pacific Northwest has become her performing paradise. From childhood road trips to Cracker Barrel to navigating regional comedy crowds…
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In the Warming Arctic, These Inuit Traditions Refuse to Disappear
When Métis writer Debbie Olsen heard the haunting sounds of Inuit throat singing for the first time, she felt an unexpected connection to her own Indigenous roots. In northern Quebec's remote Inuit region of Nunavik, she discovered how an entire community is fighting to preserve cultural…
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I Solo Hiked 7,500 Miles from Cape Town to Cairo—and Found Connection at Every Step
When Turks and Caicos native Mario Rigby landed in Cape Town with nothing but a backpack, a pair of worn-in sneakers, and a dream to walk the length of Africa, he thought maybe he'd made the worst mistake of his life. But actually walking across Africa? That brought peace and a deeper…
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Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski Ate Around the World With Your Favorite Celebrities. These Are the Meals That Still Haunt Him
Antoni Porowski, our favorite culinary expert from Queer Eye, takes you behind-the-scenes of his new National Geographic show, No Taste Like Home (premiering February 23, 2025). In this episode, he shares the connection that sent him crying off camera with Awkwafina, the dish that defeated his...
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The Spontaneous (Travel!) Story of How Afar Came to Be
No plan. No luggage. Five weeks in India. Joe Diaz and Greg Sullivan, dreamed up Afar on a beach in Goa more than 15 years ago. In this candid episode from our sister podcast, Unpacked, they reflect on what they’ve learned by helping people travel deeper. From the spontaneous trips that honed the...
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Want to Get to the Soul of Switzerland? Jump Into a River.
Not only can you swim in the rivers of Bern and Basel— but thousands of locals regularly take the plunge. From a morning commute to a relaxing weekend escape, discover how rivers are at the heart of everyday Swiss life. In this episode of Travel Tales by Afar, Bonnie Tsui, author of Why We Swim,...
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Only 10 People Have Walked Around the World—and One Dog.
Tom Turcich and his dog, Savannah, completed their world walk in 2022. On this week’s episode of Travel Tales, we hear their story. We first talked with Tom and Savannah back in 2021, when they were in Kyrgyzstan, six years into their journey, which began in 2015. They had been held up by the...
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A Cross-Country Road Trip Helped Make the World Safer (and More Fun!) for Queer Travelers
Road trips are such funny things. They allow more room for whimsy and spontaneity. They can inspire frank conversation, sitting side by side with someone, looking out at endless stretches of highway. And they can be dull (all that endless highway) in a way that somehow opens your mind to other...
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I Traveled the World With President Obama. Now, I Help Give Young Women the Same Chance.
Deesha Dyer never thought she’d wind up in the White House. As a kid growing up in Philadelphia, she desperately wanted to travel but it always felt out of reach. Until she landed a coveted internship in the Obama administration, working in the office that arranged all of the president’s travel....
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When Zebras Taught Me to Drive in Namibia
Imagine this: You’re slowly driving through Etosha National Park, Namibia’s renowned conservation area. There are elephants and zebras and antelopes and lions all around you. In fact, you’ve been warned not to exit your car because of those very lions, which are pros at camouflaging themselves in...
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Is This Europe’s Most Underrated Food Tradition?
Some of our favorite travel moments are the ones you’d never in a million years expect. These are where the best travel stories are born. And this week, Afar’s executive editor, Billie Cohen, has a very delicious, very serendipitous story for us. As you’ll hear in the episode, Billie was in…
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In Mumbai, Everyone Thought I Was a Local. Here’s How I Became One.
When Afar editorial director Sarika Bansal was 22, she moved to Mumbai. As you’ll hear in her Travel Tale this week, she grew up in New York and visited India (where her parents were born) frequently. Yet the visits often felt cloistered. But many years later in Mumbai, she didn’t have to worry...
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The Unexpected Magic of a Turkish Barbershop
When it comes to relationships, often there’s the planner—and then there’s the go-with-the-flow-er. And today’s episode of Travel Tales by Afar is all about what happens when the planner hesitantly chucks the travel to-do list and lets serendipity lead the way. Beth Santos is the planner in this...
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Replay: Comedian Michelle Buteau, "I Got Stood Up in Paris!"
This week, we’re replaying one of our favorite Travel Tales episodes: Comedian and actress Michelle Buteau—and her best friend—fly to Paris to meet their supposed French boyfriends. Only things don’t exactly go to plan . . . Michelle Buteau is a comedian and actress, known for her roles in Always...
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Why This Man Biked Across the United States—Without Any Food or Money
In late 2016, Daniel Troia was struggling with grief. Grief over the loss of his parents and grief over the division he saw unfolding on his TV, night after night. It made him angry, and that made him want to do something to change things, or at least to change his perception of things. So, in...
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A Poet’s Pilgrimage to Italy’s Violin-Making Capital
When poet Tess Taylor’s son, Bennett, was three years old, he heard the violin for the first time. For weeks afterward, every day he asked her for a violin, so finally she took him into a local violin shop and asked for help. The shop owner put a tiny violin and bow in his hands and Bennett…
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Big Animals, and Even Bigger Adventures, in a Part of Argentina Few Travelers Visit
When most of us think about nature in Argentina, our minds go immediately to Patagonia—which is a spectacular place worth visiting (it’s one of the most memorable places I’ve been to). But in this week’s episode, we’re exploring two regions in Argentina that most travelers miss: El Impenetrable...
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I’ve Made Polar Bears My Life’s Work. Here's Why Everyone Should Travel to See Them.
Today we’re launching Travel Tales, season five. And we’re kicking off this season with a roar, although the subjects of today’s episode (polar bears) are much quieter than you’d imagine. Nearly two years ago, host Aislyn Greene attended a TED Talk event in New York, held in partnership with the...
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The Plus-Size Traveler on a Mission to Change the World
How often do you do something that scares you? This week on Travel Tales by AFAR, Jeff Jenkins—host of the National Geographic show Never Say Never—reminds us that life begins where our comfort zone ends. On his show, Jeff tests the limits of his physical and mental abilities. He climbs…
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A Canadian Grizzly Bear Changed My Life
The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the most spectacular, pristine protected places in Canada. But it wasn't always this way. Kevin Smith, a boat captain who grew up in British Columbia and now owns and operates Maple Leaf Adventures, was instrumental in helping turn the local economy from...
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Life Lessons From a Dutch Art Movement
Can geometric shapes heal the world? That's what the artists of the De Stijl movement—which came of age in the Netherlands after World War I—believed. Piet Mondrian is one of the most famous members of this group, which forbade circles and embraced light, color, and geometry as a way to move past...
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A Blind Surfer Takes on Kauai’s Legendary Waves
For writer Ryan Knighton, surfing is one of the rare occurrences where he feels completely free. Because, in addition to being an excellent writer, a dad, and a curious individual, Ryan is blind. But that's never stopped him from exploring the world. So more than a decade ago, he learned to surf...
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On France’s Newest Food Trail, Life Is One Long, Gorgeous Meal
What's it like to eat your way along France's Vallée de la Gastronomie, a 400-mile food trail that begins in Dijon and ends in Marseille? That's the question we're exploring in this week's episode of Travel Tales by AFAR. Host Aislyn Greene, who spent some formative time in France as a...
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Dolly Parton Went From a One-Room Cabin to a Smoky Mountains Empire
The Great Smoky Mountains have had an outsized impact on Dolly Parton—they shaped the way she grew up, influenced her music, and are the only place where she feels truly restored. Which is why she has spent her adult life giving back to the region, primarily through tourism. On this week's…
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A Food Writer Returned to Nigeria. The Experience Helped Her Reclaim Her Roots.
After 15 years of living in the United States, food writer—and author of the new cookbook My Everyday Lagos—Yewande Komolafe finally revisited her home city: Lagos, Nigeria. In this episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, we hear the story of that journey and how it helped her heal, and how it helped…
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Facing Mountains, Loss, and My Inner Overachiever on Slovenia’s Newest Hiking Trail
Writer and avid hiker Peggy Orenstein is exactly the kind of person you should send off into the wilderness with an iPhone and a pair of hiking boots. And for this episode, we did just that. In October 2022, Slovenia rolled out the 167-mile Juliana Trail, a route that circles Slovenia's Triglav...
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Traveling With the Ghosts of Mumbai
How does a place change when the person who defined it for you is now gone? That's the question we're exploring in this week's episode of Travel Tales by AFAR. Author Shruti Swamy grew up in the United States, but her parents grew up in Mumbai, India, so she has a unique relationship with the…
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50 Years After Picasso’s Death, I Retraced His Life in Europe
50 years after Picasso’s death, AFAR associate editor Mae Hamilton traveled to Spain and France to retrace his life in Europe. She started in Málaga, Spain, where Picasso was born, and ended in Mougins, where Picasso spent his final days. As an art lover, she believes that art is one of the best...
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Comedian Baratunde Thurston Travels From Oregon to Maine to Tell a Better Story of America
Comedian and writer Baratunde Thurston wants to tell a better story of us. The narrative around the United States is often one of fracture and discord. So in his PBS show, America Outdoors, he travels around the United States to better understand Americans' deep connections with nature—and how…
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And We're Back! Introducing Travel Tales, Season 4
Tales Tales is back! Starting Thursday, October 5th, each week, we’ll share a story of someone who took a trip—and came home transformed. We’re going to be hearing about a whirlwind Picasso art pilgrimage, what it’s like to eat your way through France, how a blind surfer navigates new waves, and…
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For Two Australian Sisters, a Trip to Cairns Brings Living Dinosaurs, Wild Forests—and a Chance to Reconnect
Want to meet mentholated ants, see the forest that inspired Avatar, and search for living dinosaurs? Head for Cairns, Australia, home to the world's largest tropical rainforest. Australian playwright Michelle Law is our guide this week: Last summer, she and her sister took a road trip through the...
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Learning to Sing in Vienna, the City of Music
In this episode, we’re traveling to Vienna with AFAR contributing writer Emma John. Emma has music in her blood. She grew up in London playing classical violin, and about a decade ago, she traveled to the American South to learn to play bluegrass, a journey she chronicled in a story for AFAR, and...
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1,500 miles, Three Cities, One Mini Cooper: A Septuagenarian Explorer Hits the Road
J.R. Harris is the greatest traveler you’ve never heard of. On a road trip through Canada and Maine, he meditates on a lifetime of adventure—and the enduring power of a great road trip. You can follow J.R. on Instagram, @jrinthewilderness, or via his website: https://www.jrinthewilderness.com/…
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A Roguish Irish Road Trip in Search of One's Roots
Brendan Francis Newnam, host of the Not Lost podcast, is a Croatian-Irish reporter who’s traveled the world. But in all his wanders, he’d never really given his Irish side a chance—until now. Subscribe to Brendan's podcast, Not Lost: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/not-lost And follow him on…
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A Love Letter to the West Coast by Rail
On Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, writer Chris Colin and his 13-year-old daughter, Cora, meet a Mike Tyson impersonator, marvel at the golden West Coast, and embrace the trancelike nature of the train. Read more about Chris's harebrained shenanigans! http://www.chriscolin.com/ And don't miss the José...
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In Colombia, Searching for Culture—and Connection
As a kid, comedian Esteban Gast tagged along when his parents visited family in Colombia. But he’d never established his own relationship with the culture—until now. Join Esteban as he confesses his deepest darkest family secrets (well, kinda), has his first-ever "real" talk with his cousin…
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On the Road Again: Introducing Season 3
Here at AFAR, we have been traveling. We imagine you've been out and about as well—or maybe you've just finally booked that big dream trip. Well, this season Travel Tales hits the road too. Five storytellers took trips in recent months, capturing the sights and sounds along the way. Every other...
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A Look Back: Embracing the Unknown in Rio de Janeiro
In our last summer replay, we revisit an anxious traveler: On a last-minute trip to Rio de Janeiro, author Carmen Maria Machado luxuriates in beach feasts, practices small talk—and confronts her travel anxiety. Resources: Carmen's website: https://carmenmariamachado.com/ Her book, In the Dream...
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A Look Back: Kayaking Blind Through the Grand Canyon
In our next summer replay, we hear from adventurer Erik Weihenmayer. Erik lost his vision at age 13, but he never lost his thirst for adventure. In the decades since, he has rock-climbed in California and ice-climbed in Antarctica. In 2008, he decided he wanted to kayak through the Grand Canyon.…
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Summer Replay! Meet the Globetrotting Women of Pan Am
In our next summer replay, we revisit what we can learn about life and friendship from the women of Pan Am. These women, who flew for Pan Am in the 1960s and 1970s, were spirited, adventurous, trailblazers who lived life mostly on their own terms. Julia Cooke, author of Come Fly the World: The...
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Summer Replay! Comedian Michelle Buteau Got Stood Up in Paris
Welcome to our summer replays, where we air some of our (and your) favorite episodes of the past seasons as we build up to season three, launching on August 25th. Today, we're sharing comedian Michelle Buteau's hilarious account of getting stood up in Paris at age 19. If you want to hear more…
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