On today’s episode we’re joined by one of the UK’s most successful singer-songwriters. He’s collaborated with everyone from Kylie Minogue to Bob Dylan and Nile Rogers, and recently sold out Wembley Arena - we’re joined today by the utterly delightful and extremely talented Jack Savoretti.

Jack had a truly international upbringing, moving from London to Switzerland, and spending idyllic childhood summers in Portofino, Italy, where his father’s family hail from as well as on a remote Bahamian island - it’s a rather enviable childhood I have to say. 

It was a slow-burning rise to fame for Jack as a musician, who toured the UK for several years, all the while his fanbase grew and grew and it was his sixth album, Singing to Strangers, that finally hit the number one spot, and his most recent record, the sun-soaked and star-studded Europiana - which frankly couldn’t be a better talking point for the podcast, as it was inspired by his European upbringing and life - that was also a chart-topper too and it was really interesting to hear the story behind that.

This episode is a love letter to the Mediterranean as well as a few spots farther afield, but as the night’s draw in here in England, I hope this injects a bit of sunshine into your day.

Destination Recap:

• Liguria, Italy 
• Formentera, Spain
• Oxfordshire, England
• Lugano, Switzerland
• Ascona, Switzerland 
• Hotel Eden Roc, Ascona, Switzerland
• Portofino, Italy
• San Fruttuoso, Italy
• Pierre Island, Bahamas
• Abu Dhabi
• South America

Jack Savoretti’s latest single Dancing Through The Rain which is taken from Europiana Encore, a special extended edition of his chart topping album, Europiana, is out now.

If you’d like to hear more from the podcast don’t forget to hit subscribe or if you use apple podcasts to hit follow so that a new episode lands in your podcast app each week, and if you’re really enjoying it I’d be so grateful if you could leave a rating or review. 

If you want to be the first to find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein and I’d love to hear from you. 

If you can’t wait til then remember there’s the first seven seasons to catch up on - that’s over 85 episodes to keep you busy there. And don’t forget that all the destinations mentioned by my guests are always included in the episode show notes and they’re also on my website, TheTravelDiariesPodcast.com 

Thanks so much for listening.

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Welcome to Season 8 of The Travel Diaries! And who better to kick off the season than national treasures Si King and Dave Myers, a.k.a. the Hairy Bikers. My first duo on the pod, they’ve been entertaining Britain with their TV shows and books for over twenty years. Their unique blend of foodie expertise, humour and motorbike enthusiasm has earned them national treasure status. And part of their success has been their foodie travel shows, where they’ve biked incredible routes across the world, while experiencing local cuisines like their Asian Adventure, Mediterranean adventure, and US route 66 series to name just a few.

I spoke to Si and Dave a little while back now - as you might know, Dave is currently undergoing chemo for cancer, and he spoke to me the night before his next round which he'd travelled down to London for. So to say I was truly touched that they took the time to talk about to The Travel Diaries is an understatement. One thing is for sure, the two of them adore travel, and this episode takes us from Namibia to India, Argentina to Estonia and many places in between.

Destination Recap

• Bamburgh Beach, Newfoundland, England
• Isle of Man, England 
• Portugal
• Namibia
• Madurai, India
• Southern Italy
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Patagonia, Argentina 
• Valdes Peninsula, Argentina
• Grossglockner High Alpine Road, Austria
• Atlas Mountains, Morocco
• Mexico
• Ghats, India
• Japan
• Lithuania
• Riga, Latvia
• Talinn, Estonia 
• Finnish Archipelago
• Southern Turkey
• Macchu Pichu, Peru
• Nigeria
• Pan American Highway

Check out the Bikers’ podcast, Agony Uncles, wherever you get your podcasts.

With thanks to today’s sponsors…

Citalia - Discover the real Italy with Citalia, the UK’s leading Italian holiday specialists. Let the Italy Experts craft the perfect holiday for you and experience Italy like a Citalian.

Visit Estonia - If the Bikers’ Baltic adventures have given you the wanderlust, why not Visit Estonia? Head to VisitEstonia.com to find out more.

CV Villas - Browse the newly launched 2023 Collection and book your dream villa holiday at CVVillas.com

Athletic Greens - It’s time to reclaim your health and arm your immune system with convenient, daily nutrition! Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/TTD

If you want to be the first to find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein and I’d love to hear from you. 

And don’t forget that all the destinations mentioned by my guests are always included in the episode show notes and they’re also on my website, TheTravelDiariesPodcast.com 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, I’m joined by a legend of stage and screen. Britain’s naughtiest national treasure. It’s the award-winning actress, Miriam Margolyes.

Miriam’s movie roles have included the BAFTA award-winning Mrs Mingott in Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Age of Innocence’ and of course Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films. She’s appeared in a host of hugely popular TV shows from Blackadder and Miss Marple to more recently the Real Exotic Marigold Hotel and Call the Midwife. And she’s also a prolific travel documentarian filming in and around Australia, the US and Scotland to name a few. As a lifelong lover of Charles Dickens, she presented the successful BBC documentary series Dickens’ America and toured the world with her acclaimed one woman show ‘Dicken’s Women’ in which she played 23 characters based on or inspired by characters in Dickens’s novels. 

Speaking to me from her Australian home, Miriam was so engaging and generous with her time both before, after and during the interview - so grab a cuppa, settle in and enjoy listening to the very widely travelled and very entertaining Miriam Margolyes. 

Destination Recap:

• Robertson, NSW, Australia
• Australia
• Tuscany, Italy
• Kingsgate, Kent Coast, England
• St Margaret’s Bay, Kent, England
• Glasgow, Scotland
• Isle of Harris, Scotland
• Cambridge, England 
• Norfolk, England
• Basel, Switzerland
• Zurich, Switzerland 
• Lindt Chocolate Shop, Zurich, Switzerland 
• Israel 
• Palestine
• The Rust Belt, USA
• India
• Italy
• Ireland 
• Indonesia
• Kerala, India
• Calcutta, India 
• Giglio, Italy
• Fordyce, Scotland 
• Rimini, Italy
• Africa

Miriam is heading to a British theatre near you next month, as part of her upcoming book tour, in honour of the paperback release of her fantastic memoir, This Much is True. Head online for tickets.

With thanks to…

Small Luxury Hotels of the World - Ease yourself into a holiday headspace and visit slh.com/travelcomfortzones to find out more.

DK Eyewitness - Get new editions of DK’s award-winning Eyewitness and Top 10 travel books and plan out adventures to the likes of Italy, Mexico, Spain or Costa Rica. Each guide is complete with updated listings, interest-led travel advice and the latest practical information. Find them all online or at your local bookshop.

Thank you so much for listening today. If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me coming up, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s destination special we are heading to one of the world’s most popular travel destinations. We're off to the South East of Europe, to a country of thousands of islands dotted throughout the Aegean and Ionian Seas. The cradle of Western civilization, its capital, Athens, is home to ancient landmarks dating back to the 5th-century B.C. like the Acropolis and the Parthenon. A country of magical natural landscapes, turquoise seas and secret beaches, with the longest coastline in Europe and the most welcoming locals. It is of course, Glorious Greece. 

Unsurprisingly, Greece, and in particular the Greek Islands have been a hugely popular choice by my podcast guests over the last seven seasons and what I’ve especially enjoyed is really how many of them are hidden gems that I personally wasn’t hugely familiar with.

The first half of today’s episode is a tour around the islands featuring some of my favourite guests over the last few years, and then, afterwards, we’ll be joined by Greece travel expert, fellow podcaster and Greece resident, Heidi Fuller-Love who’ll be sharing her extensive expertise, tips, and recommendations for your next Greek holiday.

Destination Recap:

• Tom Kerridge - Agistri 
• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Aegina
• Fiona Duncan - Koufonisia and Amorgos
• David Loftus - Paros
• Yotam Ottolenghi - Folegandros
• Raven Smith - Milos
• Jo Malone - Rhodes

Heidi Fuller-Love’s Destination Recap:

• Crete
• E4 trail, Crete
• Sitia Geopark, Crete
• Samaria Gorge, Crete
• Kato Zakros, Crete 
• Akoritiri, Santorini 
• MarBella Elix, Parga
• Nana Princess, Crete
• Agistri
• Aegina
• Thirassia 
• Thirassia Paradise Suites
• Alonissos
• Karpathos
• Epirus Mountains

For more information about Greece head to visitgreece.gr and follow @GreeceGrammable on Instagram.

With thanks to…

Small Luxury Hotels of the World - Ease yourself into a holiday headspace and visit slh.com/travelcomfortzones to find out more

Clinique UK - Discover Clinique at World Duty Free today. 

If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Britain’s undisputed Queen of breakfast telly. A national treasure, who for the last 12 years has been the host of her self-titled show on ITV, Lorraine - it is, of course, Lorraine Kelly.

Lorraine became a journalist the hard way, working on local papers before working as a researcher on BBC Scotland, where bosses told her that, because of her Scottish accent, she’d never get a job in front of the camera. 

Oh how she proved them wrong. Joining TV-am she went on to report on some of the toughest stories of that era, from the Dunblane massacre to the Lockerbie bombings, with her characteristic compassion and empathy, before joining GMTV and the sofas of breakfast TV. 

What you might not know about Lorraine is that she is fanatical about travel. She has been practically everywhere, and is really intrepid in her travel choices. She takes us from the islands of the Outer Hebrides to the frozen landscape of Antarctica; from remote Botswana to the jungles of Uganda and much much more. 

Oh, and the occasional grumble in the background is her daughter Rosie’s sausage dog who also joined us for the chat.

There’s a lot to cover today. So, let’s fasten our seatbelts and get started.

Destination Recap:

• Glasgow, Scotland
• Paris. France
• Orkney, Scotland
• The Italian Chapel, Orkney, Scotland
• St Kilda, Scotland
• Singapore
• Marina Bay Sands hotel, Singapore
• Orchard Road shops, Singapore
• Sentosa Island, Singapore 
• Duxton Reserve, Singapore
• Antarctica
• Falkland Islands
• Alaska, USA
• Southern Africa
• Botswana
• Uganda
• Borneo
• Barra, Scotland
• Harris, Scotland
• Tunisia 
• Rajasthan, India
• Mongolia
• Siberia
• The Arctic

Listen to Lorraine’s podcast What If? wherever you get your podcasts.

With thanks to…

Clinique UK - Discover Clinique at World Duty Free today. 

The Kensington Hotel - For bookings and more information click here.

Small Luxury Hotels of the World - Ease yourself into a holiday headspace and visit slh.com/travelcomfortzones to find out more

Thank you so much for listening today. If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today is a Travel Diaries first - a Listener Special where you, my amazing listeners, are this week’s special guests. I’ve interviewed many a star over the past seven seasons, but the real stars have been you, the listeners. Your incredible support has allowed the podcast to grow as quickly as it has, so it only felt right that I turn the tables, and the microphone, back on to you to tap into your collective wisdom and travel experiences, as you answer the seven chapters of the travel diaries. 

From China to Kerala, from Costa Rica to Puglia, from the rainforests of the Amazon to the plains of Kenya, fasten your seatbelts for the first ever Travel Diaries Listener Special.

Destination Recap:

Chapter One - Earliest Childhood Travel Memories

featuring

- Beijing, China from Tone in Surrey, England

- France from Katja in Slovenia

Chapter Two - The First Place You Fell In Love With

featuring 

- Villefranche-sur-Mer, France from Emma in Edinburgh, Scotland

- Austria from Joe from Somerset, England 

- Kerala, India from Emma in London

Chapter Three - The Place Where You Learnt The Most About Yourself 

featuring

- Karditsa, Greece from Aoife in Ireland 

Chapter Four - All Time Favourite Destinations

featuring

- Puglia, Italy from Tracey in Wexford, Ireland 

- Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest from Charlotte in New Zealand

- Nice, France from Jen in Belfast, Northern Ireland 

- Kenya from Emma in Worcestershire 

Chapter Five - Hidden Gems

featuring

- San Gerardo de Rivas in Costa Rica from Mani in Birmingham, England 

- Rendezvous Bay, Antigua from Charlie in the Wirral, England 

- Red Wharf Bay on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales from Shireen in Wales

Chapter Seven - The Destination At The Top Of Your Travel Bucket Lists

featuring

- Toronto, Canada from Ellie in East Sussex, England 

- Japan from Aaron in South Wales

With thanks to…

Small Luxury Hotels of the World - Ease yourself into a holiday headspace and visit slh.com/travelcomfortzones to find out more.

Clinique UK - Discover Clinique at World Duty Free today. 

If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode I’m joined by Mr Blue Eyes himself, our favourite judge from the Great British Bake Off, and making a very rare podcast appearance, I’m thrilled to be joined by Paul Hollywood.

Paul began his career as a baker, quickly ascending to become Head Baker in some of the world’s most exclusive hotels. His talent caught the eye of TV producers who snapped him up for cooking shows and before long, he was cast as a judge on one of TV’s most successful shows of all time - the Great British Bake Off. Paul has taken part in every season of the show and when he isn’t filming he’s most likely working on other TV series that combine his two loves - food and travel, and he has travelled the world over.

He’s probably the guest this season that a lot of you have been most curious about, maybe because of his tough love and penetrating stare on the Bake Off. As you’ll here, Paul was an absolute delight, very unaffected and genuine, and clearly really passionate about travel. I really enjoyed this one and I hope you will too. So let’s get started. 

Destination Recap:

• Mexico
• Ensenada, Mexico 
• Baja, Mexico 
• Chablé Yucatán, Chocholá, Mexico 
• Conwy, North Wales
• Ibiza, Spain
• St Lawrence Gap, Barbados
• Cliveden, Hampshire, England
• London, England
• Cyprus
• Annabelle Hotel, Cyprus
• Anassa Hotel, Cyprus
• Jerusalem, Israel
• Rome, Italy
• The Great British Bake Off Tent, England
• Cafes near the Coliseum, Rome, Italy
• Verbier, Switzerland
• Casablanca, Morocco 
• Australia
• New Zealand

BAKE by Paul Hollywood, published by Bloomsbury on 9 June 2022 (£26.00 RRP, Hardback)

With thanks to…

Clinique UK - Discover Clinique at World Duty Free today. 

Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas - The resort is currently offering 30% off with a Best of Maldives offer, which includes a complimentary four course lunch in SEA for stays of four to seven nights and a complimentary manta ray snorkelling or dolphin cruise for stays over 8 nights, available for stays until 23 December. Head to anantara.com or check out @anantarakihavah on Instagram to find out more. 

If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, I’m joined by one of the world’s most successful adventure and nature photographers, Chris Burkard. Nearly 4 million people follow Chris’s work throughout the year on Instagram as he travels to some of the world’s most remote destinations and extreme environments, often requiring Chris to take on immense challenges to capture his work. His stories inspire us to consider our relationship with nature, and the importance of the preservation of wild places everywhere. 

His travel diaries take us from Greenland to the Kuril Islands, and from remote Iceland to the beaches of California, with some great photographs tips at the end, too. 

Destination Recap

• Pismo Beach, California, USA
• Yosemite, California, USA
• Iceland
• Kuril Islands
• Ísafjörður, Iceland
• Greenland
• Nicaragua
• Lake Baikal, Russia
• Mongolia
• Faroe Islands
• Svalbard

Chris' new book, Wayward, is out now.

With thanks to…

Clinique UK - Discover Clinique at World Duty Free today. 

CV Villas - Book your dream villa holiday at CVVillas.com

If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, I’m joined by Raven Smith, the best-selling author and Vogue columnist who’s been hailed as the funniest man on Instagram and dubbed London’s fashion world philosopher. His first book, Raven Smith’s Trivial Pursuits, captured readers as a witty and irreverent guide to modern life and he’s back with a new book, part memoir part commentary on masculinity, called Raven Smith’s Men.

As you’ll soon hear, Raven is also an avid traveller and has written for numerous travel titles about his experiences around the world. He takes us from the pyramids of Egypt to the nightclubs of New York, from Greek island tavernas to the hidden beaches of Barbados, with lots of laughs along the way.

So fasten your seatbelts and let’s get started. 

Destination Recap:

• Crete, Greece
• Kos, Greece
• Milos, Greece
• O Hamos, Milos, Greece
• Brighton, England
• Barbados
• Japan
• Sea-U Guesthouse, Barbados 
• Berlin, Germany
• Cairo, Egypt
• Adrére Amellal, Siwa, Egypt
• Old Cataract Hotel, Aswan, Egypt
• L'Avant Comptoir de la Mer, Paris, France
• Brasserie Zedel, London, England 
• Rochelle Canteen, London, England 
• Quo Vadis, London, England 
• Duck Soup, London, England 
• Cuba
• Finca Paradisa, Cuba
• Hawaii, USA

That was the fabulous Raven Smith. His new book Raven Smith’s Men is out now. 

With thanks to…

Clinique UK - Discover Clinique at World Duty Free today. 

Airbnb - Whether you’re looking to live anywhere, or become a Host yourself, visit Airbnb.com and find out more. Prospective Hosts can learn more about how much they can earn sharing their space through the What’s My Place Worth Tool. 

If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is one of the UK’s most loved chefs, Gennaro Contaldo. A key player in bringing his native Italian cuisine to British shores over recent decades, Gennaro’s written over a dozen best-selling Italian cookbooks and is the mentor to his protege Jamie Oliver, who credits Gennaro with teaching him everything he knows about Italian cooking, and Gennaro calls him his sixth child. You’ll have seen on numerous TV shows with Jamie, on Saturday Kitchen and on Two Greedy 

Italians, with the late great Antonio Carluccio. 

This episode is a real love letter to Gennaro’s homeland of Italy, bringing to life with such passion destinations like the Amalfi coast, Puglia, Sicily and the Aeolian Islands. So, fasten your seatbelts, and let’s get started.

Destination Recap:

• Minori, Amalfi Coast, Italy
• Monte Gargano, Puglia, Italy 
• Monte Sant'Angelo, Italy: Saint Michael's Cave
• Salina, Aeolian Islands, Sicily, Italy
• Catania, Sicily, Italy
• Stromboli, Aeolian Islands, Sicily, Italy
• Lipari, Aeolian Islands, Sicily, Italy 
• Signum Hotel, Aeolian Islands, Sicily, Italy 
• Naples, Italy
• India 

Gennaro is an ambassador for Citalia and his latest recipe book Gennaro’s Limoni: Vibrant Italian recipes celebrating the lemon is out now.

With thanks to…

Clinique UK - Discover Clinique at World Duty Free today. 

Citalia - Discover the real Italy with Citalia, the UK’s leading Italian holiday specialists

Villa D’Este Hotel - Experience one of Europe’s grandest hotels, on the shores of Lake Como in Italy, for its 150th season. Visit villadeste.com to find out more.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

If you can’t wait until then, there’s always the first six seasons to catch up on, with guests from Sir Michael Palin and Jo Malone, to Stanley Tucci and Raymond Blanc.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.