The Funny Travel Stories Podcast

Ever thought about travelling alone but worried it might be lonely?

In part two of my chat with Monica Hsueh, we talk about how she prioritises things during solo travelling, her must-visit destinations - Japan and Paris, and she really wants to visit South America. We also reflect on cultures, life lessons from public transport signs, and balancing travelling with type 1 diabetes.

Monica Hsueh, a stand-up comedian you’ve seen on the BBC New Comedy Awards, TEDx, and in her own show How to Be a Strong Woman in One Hour.

In this episode, Monica tells us how her comedy career started, what her backstage prep looks like, and her habit of visiting local supermarkets wherever she travels.

We also talk about her unexpected and funny moments in Japan, Paris, and Wales.

In part two of my chat with Lucy Crisp, she shares why three weeks of travelling in Japan isn’t enough. She tells us her lovely experience meeting her Japanese friend again after ten years, and some unexpected, funny travel moments during her time in Italy and Japan.

From Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka to Hiroshima and Nara, Lucy also reflects on why travelling is good for your early to mid-20s. And she really wants to go to Australia and New Zealand in the future.

Singer-songwriter and producer Lucy Crisp joins today’s episode to talk about her music, life and her funny travel experiences. 

She talks about her new song Ghostin and her debut EP 65 Roses, including its connection to cystic fibrosis, and how music helps her escape from realities of day-to-day life.

Lucy’s been featured on BBC Introducing. She also talks about her love of cooking, living with cystic fibrosis and her travel experiences.

She shares that she found inspiration in a little caravan in the Kent countryside, which she took so much inspiration from. She also tells us her funny travel stories in Rome and singing Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved in a restaurant in Tenerife. We also talk about how travel benefits mental health.

In part two of my chat with Vicky, we talk about food poisoning experience, studying Spanish in the UK, and hear her top travel picks: from Sicily and Rome to Bariloche (Argentina), Florida, France and Edinburgh. Also, she shares the reason why she wants to travel to Japan in the future.

Vicky - journalist and former CNN London Digital Features Writer, Sunday Times Foreign Desk intern, and BBC Radio Lincolnshire Journalism Coordinator - joins me for today’s episode. 

She reflects on her travels in Gibraltar and shares her thoughts on screenwriting, how films have evolved, and watching horror movies with her mum. Vicky also talks about writing drama scripts and fictional stories.

And, there were some embarrassed travel moments: her funny snowboarding experience in Bariloche, Argentina, and the very real reason she’ll tell you never to try squid ink on your trip.

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In part two of my conversation with Elaine Chong, we explore her student life in the US, her funny experience in a sorority, and a bizarre story from a frat house. She recommends visiting the Zhangjiajie Mountains and Guangzhou where you’ll experience the real China. She also reflects on her bath-culture travels around the world: from Japan and Hungary to Turkey and Finland.

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BBC World Service journalist Elaine Chong takes us from pandas and bamboo rafting in China to crispy rice and robot dogs, before revealing the surprising security at COP27 in Egypt. 

Elaine also shares her love of Chinese milk tea and the legend of the Terracotta Army. We chat about rice paddies, cute pandas, and just how futuristic China has become.

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In part two of my conversation with Darron Speck, we explore his travel picks - Japan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Italy and Armenia. Also, the unexpected moment he fell out of a changing-room cubicle in the Azores.

Darron also shares the behind-the-scenes stories from the show: checkpoint secrets, a banquet in Samarkand, and that Zen moment sitting in front of the Registan. Alongside his son, they travelled through 21 countries.

Since his 20s, Darron has followed one simple rule: visit at least one country he’s never been to every year. This year he went to Armenia.

Darron Speck, from Bradford and star of Race Across the World Series One, joins us today with stories of walking between capital cities (from Vienna to Bratislava), cycling from Norway to Malta, and nearly falling off a cliff in Australia.

You’ll hear:

• Losing his phone in India
• The famous train journey to Ella in Sri Lanka
• Being recognised around the world
• Behind-the-scenes moments from Race Across the World - and how the journey strengthened his relationship with his son, Alex

This episode is full of fun, chaos, and wild stories from around the world!