Parents Gap Year

On returning to work at Bath Spa University, Ann-Marie talks to two international students from Zimbabwe and Mexico about what it’s like to study in the UK. She nips back to Parma, to get an insight into Italian university life from Professor Diego Saglia at the University of Parma, who studied in the UK. In Dublin, Ann-Marie catches up with Natalie & Derek who took a year out to travel following Covid. They faced unexpected issues in Thailand and Natalie’s lack of HRT created a crisis in Vietnam.

Contributors: Alexis Ndoda and Ana Cedillo-Castillo – Bath Spa University, UK, Diego Saglia - University of Parma, Italy (Director of the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries), Natalie Cox Phillips and Derek Phillips, Dublin.

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

We want to hear from you – email; [email protected], Instagram; @parentsgapyear

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Producer/Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Special thanks to Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.

For Ann-Marie, lung physio is a strain but sucking on balls is a gain! Supported by Dr Angel before Ann-Marie rehabs in a sumptuous spa, Rod wrestles with repatriation, on the hotel rooftop retreat. While meandering through plazas in Palma, Ann-Marie meets waiter Zak, who emigrated from the UK to Mallorca as a child and thanks his parents daily for the decision that changed his life forever.

Contributors: Sam McCormack Gray, Becky Doyle, Zak – Bar Coto, Palma de Mallorca.

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

We want to hear from you – email; [email protected], Instagram; @parentsgapyear

Follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode and please like and share it – thank you.

Producer/Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Special thanks to Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.

Travel insurance has never been so welcome during a weekend break in Palma, where Ann-Marie falls foul to a slippery sidewalk and has to extend her stay in a Spanish Hospital with three broken ribs! Holiday rep Becky imparts her insight into the package holiday experience, while Rod and Sam offer emotional and practical support, during this painful Palma palaver.

Contributors: Sam McCormack Gray, Becky Doyle.

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

We want to hear from you – email; [email protected], Instagram; @parentsgapyear

Follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode and please like and share it – thank you.

Producer/Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Special thanks to Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.

We dip into the port region of Portugal with son Sam, before inter-railing in Northern Italy from mesmerising Milan, through the dramatic Dolomites to transfixing Trento and inspiring Innsbruck. But rain forces Ann-Marie and Rod to retreat to virtuoso Verona, where opera evades them and is swapped for searing seating in the scorching heat of the opera Arena.

Contributors: Sam McCormack Gray and Paulo Murara (by the poolside).

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

We want to hear from you – email; [email protected], Instagram; @parentsgapyear

Follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode and please like and share it – thank you.

Producer/Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Special thanks to Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.

Europe offers a lot, as we scale the mountains of Montenegro with son Max and avail of free rides on the buses of Belgrade. While island hopping in Greece, Ann-Marie and Rod delight in Turkish tea-rooms, Roman ruins and Rod’s rendition of a Mama Mia song to a mortified Sam in Skopelos.

Contributors: Max McCormack Gray, Sam McCormack Gray

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

We want to hear from you – email; [email protected], Instagram; @parentsgapyear

Follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode and please like and share it – thank you.

Producer/Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Special thanks to Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.

Monsoon weather is a surprise in January for tropical Sri Lanka! Ann-Marie is guided around a Kandy university campus, by the arts dean Dr. Prabath Ekanayake, who shares what university life is like there. Rod joins the barefoot pilgrims taking floral offerings to the Temple of the Tooth relic, while son Sam is reunited with his parents from Australia, accompanied by his USA solo traveller friend Izzy. We also travel with newly trained teacher Tom living in Melbourne, holidaying with his mum Jackie, from Yorkshire.

Contributors: Dr. Prabath Ekanayake - University of Peradeniya, Kandy, Sam McCormack Gray, Isabella Merlano (Izzy), Tom Dickens, Jackie Dickens.

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

We want to hear from you – email; [email protected], Instagram; @parentsgapyear

Follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode and please like and share it – thank you.

Producer/Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Special thanks to Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.

Ann-Marie and Rod visit the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time and interview Gyles Brandreth, celebrated UK broadcaster and 'Rosebud' podcast host, with his producer Harriet Jaine. While staying with Glaswegian friend Laura and hubby Patrick, they also sample some comedy madness at the fringe. In Glasgow, Laura guides Ann-Marie and Rod around The Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies, while Patrick extols the virtues of his ‘swollen lomonds’ in Loch Lomond.

Contributors: Laura Howard Lees, Patrick Howard Lees, John Hut – boat skipper Falkirk Wheel, Ronald Opatich, Gloria Rosen, Tammy Frost-Cook, James Lyon, Stuart Nixon, Gyles Brandreth and Harriet Jaine.

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

We want to hear from you – email; [email protected], Instagram; @parentsgapyear

Follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode and please like and share it – thank you.

Producer/Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Special thanks to Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.

This travel podcast series follows filmmaker Ann-Marie McCormack and her photographer husband Rod Gray, on their many trips abroad, as they travel across the world, meeting incredible, diverse people of all cultures, sharing their stories. Having taken a year out on a ‘trip of a lifetime’ and now returned to work, Ann-Marie and Rod are taking shorter, more manageable trips, while their sons travel themselves. In this open and honest travelogue series, we hear truly inspiring, human and often humorous life experiences along the way. Listen to our previous travel adventures in seasons 1 & 2 and in season 3, travel inspiration is guaranteed again!

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

We want to hear from you – email; [email protected], Instagram; @parentsgapyear

Follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode and please like and share – thank you.

Producer/Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Special thanks to Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.

Japan is Ann-Marie and Rod’s last stop, before returning to the UK to pick up their much missed son Max from uni, before Ann-Marie’s big birthday bash. In Tokyo, they experience the wonders of a digital arts exhibition, share an extravagant night out with Ann-Marie’s school friend Helen and her generous husband Hiro, sample the surprising female jet-settings of the Japanese toilet and the onsen hot springs in a traditional hotel in Ito. In Kyoto, Ann-Marie and Rod sample the exquisite food and architecture of the Gion district, famous for its geishas, temples and samurai warriors. And ahead of going home, Ann-Marie talks to solo traveller Rosie, about what it’s like to return to the UK after seven months of travelling!

Contributors: Helen Butler, Hiro Hiraiwa, Rosie Hemming, Max McCormack Gray, Carmel O’Doherty, Betty Kennedy, Ann McCormack, Pamela McCormack, Izzy Gibbs, Sophie De Payronnet.

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray

Ann-Marie and Rod face the madness of Manilla airport, where Ann-Marie’s sister Pam misses her connecting flight in a storm. Together they experience the vibrant nightlife and sunsets of El Nido and Rod shipwreck dives for the first time in Coron. But as they relax in the hot springs, Ann-Marie and Rod hear their beloved cat is very ill! In Oslob, they swim with enormous whale sharks and their guide Genil shares her own story of losing three family members during Covid. In Maolboal, Pam finds majestic turtles and they all share fun lake kayaking, swimming through the most awesome underwater reefs and the deepest clearest water between sheer granite cliffs.

Contributors: Pamela McCormack, Sherman Monterde - snorkel boat guide, Genil P. Berggren - whale shark guide.

Hosts: Ann-Marie McCormack, Rod Gray

Music: Serge Quadrado (latin-jazz-loop-2), Szegvari (rotpb-latin-lunches-_-minimal-house-latin)

Editor: Ann-Marie McCormack

Sound Mix: Gary McIntyre

Graphic: Rod Gray