Welcome to a new series from the Travel Writing Podcast where we invite select authors from Intrepid Times to read their articles. This series will supplement our regular interviews, which will continue with gusto. Today, B.A Van Sise, internationally known writer, photographer and author, reads his story, "The Saints and All Their Bones," titled on Intrepid Times as "As the Pope Was Dying, I Browsed Human Bones in the Vatican’s Gift Shops" and available to read here: https://intrepidtimes.com/2026/01/pope-dying-vatican-city-human-bones/

Hilary Bradt MBE is one of the living legends of the travel writing world. In 1974, she co-founded Bradt Guides, which thrives today as one of the best-loved brands in travel writing and independent publishing with over 200 titles in print.

An award-winning writer and an expert on Madagascar, Hilary has been appointed Officier de l’Ordre de Madagascar – the Malagasy equivalent of an OBE, in recognition of four decades’ pioneering promotion of the country’s tourism potential. She has also been appointed Member of the British Empire; an honour she received with characteristic humility ("I wondered what I’d done to upset Gordon Brown" she wrote near the time).

Hilary generously joined the Travel Writing Podcast to share her journey from the early days stapling together the first copies of her first guidebook to how Bradt is adapting to the changing needs of readers in the digital world.

We discussed Hilary's article in the recent British Guild of Travel Writers' anthology, Around the World in 65 Years, where Hilary takes a thought-provoking perspective on what ethical travel really means. We spoke about Bradt Guides' new Journey Books imprint, and why she still believes in the enduring power of print.

It's been a while since I've published a solo episode of the Travel Writing Podcast, so what better time than now? In a year that has seen huge growth and recognition for Intrepid Times and our writers, we've also witnessed yet more attacks on the importance and validity of both travel and writing. So let's take this time, when normal life seems to suspend itself in so much of the world, and ask ourselves a few tough questions.

A huge thank you to all our wonderful podcast guests, and I'm so sorry that just a couple of names rattled off my tongue as I blitzed through that segment. And thank you to everyone who is here, listening, reading, and writing. What you are doing matters, even when it doesn't feel like it.

References in this episode:

What's the Point of Travel, Anyway? https://intrepidtimes.com/2023/07/whats-the-point-of-travel-anyway/

Letters to Yesenin by Jim Harrison https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/books/letters-to-yesenin-by-jim-harrison/

It's one thing to move to a foreign country, learn something of the language, and challenge your own understanding of how life should be. It's quite another to write about it. The "expat in Japan" memoir is such a common trope that it's rare for a book to break out. But Sam's did, emphatically. Replete with witty banter about the overlooked rural Japanese experience, For Fukui Sake sold over 11,000 copies and has garnered more than 1,000 reviews on Amazon, most of them emphatically positive. Sam followed this up with Dormice & Moonshine about this time in Slovenia, and has launched the Travel Memoir Review to celebrate the achievements of his fellow travel writers and help readers make more informed choices.

Sam joined the travel writing podcast to talk about what makes a good (and marketable) travel memoir, why he chose to self-publish his first book, the enduring relevance of travel writing in the time of AI, and how to get involved with the Travel Memoir Review.

When a volunteering offer took Jonty Crane and his wife to Timor-Leste, one of the least visited countries in the world, they had no idea what to expect. What they found was a country, largely undiscovered, still crawling its way out of a traumatic history, that offered friendly locals, beautiful scenery, and hikes through untouched landscapes. They also were confronted by chaos, multiple bouts of severe illness (including typhoid), and the reality of life in a land where the black flag of death seems to stalk every street.

Joining us from his new home in Fiji, where is engaged in another volunteering project arranged by Volunteer Service Abroad - which can be thought of as a New Zealand equivalent to the Peace Corps or the UK's Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO), Jonty talked about his time in Timor-Leste (formerly known as East Timor) and how he came to write several guide books about the country including Exploring Timor-Leste: A comprehensive travel guide to one of the least visited countries in the world. He also shared how volunteering can unlock authentic, real world travel in places tourists seldom get to see.

Simply trying to get your head around Natascha Scott-Stokes' incredible biography can make your head spin. In 1989, she became the first woman to navigate the length of the Amazon alone. Legendary Irish travel writer Dervla Murphy called the resulting book, An Amazon and a Donkey, "a genuine adventure story," - if anyone would know one, it would be Dervla.

Just a few years later, Scott-Stokes cycled across Eastern Europe as the collapse of the Berlin Wall was still echoing in the fields of Poland. She wrote about that in her book The Amber Trail: A journey of discovery by bicycle, from the Baltic Sea to the Aegean. She also wrote a book about Guatemala and a biography of Margaret Fountaine.

More recently, Natascha Scott-Stokes authored a conflicted love-letter to Chile, Tales from the Sharp End, published by the University of New Mexico Press. Part history, part travelogue, part memoir, the stories invite you into the lives of those who inhabit Chile's cities and its hinterland, rich, evocative, and full of that intimate access only the best travel writing brings.

Hear Natascha Scott-Stokes talk about her extraordinary life and captivating work on the Travel Writing Podcast.

Tim van Es's story of a humble tea seller who changes three lives in Mumbai became an Amazon bestseller and has won praise for its depiction of everyday life in India and the characters who pass through its pages. In the second and final part of our interview series with Tim, we explore how we went about writing the novel, the inspiration behind the characters, and we complete the story of his journey from corporate burnout to bestselling novelist. Quite a lifestyle change indeed!

Many sit in cubicles every day and dream of abandoning the office, the politics, the metrics, and the madness and embarking on a life of creative freedom and fulfilment. Few actually make the transition. Once you're in the corporate world, it's hard to leave. The paycheck leads to a lifestyle that is not easy to walk away from, and your whole identity and sense of self get enmeshed with everything that comes with it.

Tim van Es was riding high as an executive at Unilever - at least on paper. He was traveling the world and getting promotion after promotion. But under the surface, things were less than idyllic. In a special two-part series on the Travel Writing Podcast, Tim shares how he made the leap out of the corporate world and reinvented himself as a full-time writer. In part one, published today, he talks about his life, his travels, and the series of events which led to the moment of definitive change. In part two, coming next week, he talks in depth about the resulting book, The Chaiwallah, an Amazon bestseller promoted by Bookbub this week.

What happens when the mainstream publishing community isn't putting out the kind of sincere, literary travel stories you crave? For Mike Robertson, the answer was simple: Start your own publishing house.

Sun Rider Press has published books on pilgrimages in Tibet, bike rides across India, wayward adventures, and self-discovery along the English Channel, and more besides. Their print runs are small; their distribution channels simple. No Amazon. No chain retailers. Just a signed copy of the book mailed to you personally by the publishers themselves.

In the midst of a publishing identity crisis fueled by collapsing margins, bullying online retailers, and the perils of AI, could this example of passionate micro-publishing be the answer? Mike Robertson joins the Travel Writing Podcast to speak about his journey.

If you travel when you're young and fall in love with the thrill and freedom of the road, a choice eventually arises. Do you abandon the traditional milestones of success and accomplishment and let the road be your life? Or do you do the 'grown-up' thing, move home, get a good corporate job, climb the ladder, and 'achieve'?

Matt Wilson looked this choice squarely in the eye and said, "Why Not Both?" From a successful career as the founder of 'Under 30 CEO' in New York, he embraced the digital nomad freedom with a base in Puerto Rico. Years of travel followed, but business was not left behind. Matt fused his passion for travel with his entrepreneurial skills to create 'Under 30 Experiences,' a Millennial-oriented travel company. He authored the Millennial Travel Guidebook and made the Financial Times 1000 list of America's Fastest-Growing Companies.

Matt is now a father, and we spoke about how fatherhood changed his approach to travel, business, and work-life balance. (And, although she was so well-behaved you won't hear on the audio, my baby daughter joined us for the last 10 or so minutes of the episode, and you'll hear Matt's reaction as she enters the screen).

Listen to Matt speak about success, business, travel, and parenthood on the Travel Writing Podcast here or find us on Spotify or iTunes.