A splash of wine hits the dust beneath the table, offered first to Pachamama - aka Mother Earth, and suddenly northern Argentina feels more family member than nameless destination. Follow Phoebe's Wander Woman correspondent Daniel Neilson as he journeys to Jujuy and Salta following ancient Andean trade routes, reading a 4,000-year timeline etched into rock, and asking one deceptively simple question: how did life and culture move across mountains that seem designed to keep people apart? The answer, it seems, is llama-shaped. 

Also coming up:

• Author Michael Pugh - on Riding through War and Peace on a horse from Russia to Transylvania 
• Travel Hack: How to (and how not to) travel with a teenager
• Whales, sloths and cabybaras... Latin America's best 10 wildlife encounters 
• Meet Katie Carr, the woman who not only finished her late brother's book but went on to honour his memory by completing his kayaking adventure
• Gear chat: what to pack to travel by horseback
• Juana Manual Gorriti – the greatest Argentine author you've never heard of – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If you enjoyed the stories, subscribe, share the episode with a fellow traveller, and leave us a review so more people can find the show.

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

Journey to Canada's most underrated province - Saskatchewan - where the simple act of hiking feels like time travel. From Badlands replete with fossils, to miles of Prairie grassland teeming with wildlife where bison roam, join adventurer Phoebe Smith as she explores the National Park you've never heard of - but definitely should add to your to do list. 

Practical travel help is baked in too. I share my no-nonsense travel hack for avoiding ticks and removing them safely, plus we chat with Jenna Carr, aka The Travel Mum, about why family travel is chaotic, slower, and still absolutely worth it. We round things out with fast Saskatchewan facts, stargazing gear for a dark sky preserve, and a Hidden Hero conversation with a species at risk scientist working behind the scenes to protect the “little guys” we too often overlook.

Also coming up:

• The Travel Mum - Jenna Carr on why you can travel with kids
• Travel Hack: How to avoid and remove a tick
• A Canadian Dead Sea, the biggest T-Rex fossil on the planet? 10 Saskatchewan Facts that will have you headed straight for Regina
• Meet the woman who works to protect endangered species in Grasslands National Park
• Gear chat: what to pack to go stargazing
• Geraldine Moodie – pioneering photographer and owner of the first studio opened by a woman – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If you love wildlife encounters, Canadian road trips, and prairie dogs, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who needs fresh travel inspiration, and leave a review so more people can find us.

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

A manta ray glides through water as though it owns the ocean, then you remember the uncomfortable truth: many shark and ray species are sliding towards extinction, and we still do not have enough data to protect them properly. From Ishigaki in Okinawa, join adventurer Phoebe Smith as she becomes one of the first people in the world to complete the PADI  (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) Shark and Ray Conservation speciality and uploads her sightings to the Global Shark and Ray Census, showing how everyday divers can turn a camera and curiosity into citizen science that actually makes a difference.

Also coming up:

• Detectorists and authors Roman Found (aka Eleanor Bruce and Lucilla Gray) talk treasure hunting and Thing We Found in the Ground
• Travel Hack: How to thrive on your first scuba dive
• 10 lesser known destinations in Japan
• Meet the man who - following the devastating Tsunami at Fukushima in 2011 began an underwater clean-up efforts that would unite the entire community.
• Gear chat: what to pack in the tropics
• Lady Sarashina – said to be one of the world's first travel writers – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If you care about responsible travel, scuba diving, marine conservation, Japan and hidden histories, press play. Subscribe, share the podcast and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

Pooh Sticks looks like a simple game, until you’re standing on the real bridge where it all started, in Ashdown Forest watching your stick float on the water underneath the slats and realising Winnie the Pooh began right here in a living landscape. Join Adventurer Phoebe Smith as she travels to East Sussex to find the real Hundred Acre Wood behind the 100 year old Winnie-the-Pooh story. Along the way she meets the people who protect it today and learns why the open heathland – rarer than tropical rainforest – needs our help. 

Also coming up:

• Author and dog-friendly travel specialist Lottie Gross on the best and worst countries in Europe for taking your canine companion to
• Travel Hack: How to travel like Pooh Bear
• 10 literary destinations lifted straight out of your favourite children's books
• Meet the woman who has dedicated her life to helping stray dogs and the volunteers who look after them in Greece through the charity Starlight Barking
• Gear chat: what to pack in destinations with a large stray dog packs
• Simona Kossak – who lived in a hut in Poland's Białowieża Forest with a lynx, boar and crow – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If Pooh's wisdom and legacy helps you plan your next trip do subscribe, share with a friend who needs some inspiration, and leave a quick review to help more travellers find us. Now pull on your big boots and get ready for your next adventure to happen...

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

A ferry announcement about whales comes over the tannoy and suddenly the cafeteria empties, the crew step away from their tasks, and everyone presses to the windows. That shared pause is the heartbeat of slow travel, and it’s why Adventurer Phoebe Smith takes you onboard BC Ferries’ “Milk Run” from Vancouver Island up through Canada’s Inside Passage. This isn’t a floating resort. It’s a working supply route that carries food, freight and locals between remote Indigenous coastal communities and, for travellers, it’s one of the most affordable ways to see humpbacks, orcas, sea lions and wild, rain-soaked shorelines.

Also coming up:

• Author of All My Wild Mothers and new book The Apothecary by the Sea: A Year in an Orkney Garden and self-confessed wild woman Victoria 'Vik' Bennett 
• Travel Hack: how to travel on a budget without being a backpacker 
• Top 10 of the best ferry rides in the world
• Meet the woman who's been making an audio record of women adventurers – of all ages, shapes and sizes – with her Tough Girl Podcast for the past 10 years, Sarah Williams
• Gear chat: what to pack for a scenic ferry ride
• Isobel Gunn – who in 1806 passed herself off as a man and inadvertantly becoming the first European woman to travel to Rupert's Land, now part of Western Canada – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If you enjoy travel stories with substance, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

What if we stopped saving our dream journey for “one day” and booked it now? Wander Woman Phoebe Smith hits pause on the grind and takes a micro‑retirement across North India by rail—soaking in Kolkata’s dawn ferry music, the riot of colour at the flower market, and the earthy taste of chai, before tracing slower paths to Bodh Gaya, Varanasi and Agra. The result is an immersion into India that her late mother always wanted but whose death age 50 meant she never got to experience.  

Also coming up:

• Author and travel writer Shafik Meghji on South America's links with Britain and the perfect trip for first time visitors
• Travel Hack: Survive your first night on an Indian Sleeper Train
• Top 10 North Indian dishes you have to try... now!
• Meet the acid attack survivors at Sheroes Hangout Cafe - who turn tragedy into triumph over coffee every day
• Gear chat: what to pack for a trip to India in winter and summer
• Ida Pfeiffer – the midlife pioneer who circled the globe on grit, curiosity, and a shoestring – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If this journey nudges your own “someday” list, make it sooner. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a push, and leave a quick review to help more travellers find us. Where would your micro‑retirement take you?

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

A rewilded valley, a returning herd, and a community finding new roots—come with Wander Woman Phoebe Smith to Portugal’s Côa Valley where tauros and sorraia horses are reshaping the land and jumpstarting local livelihoods. Join her as she learns how large herbivores create healthier mosaic habitats that reduce wildfire risk, boost biodiversity, and draw back predators like wolves, and listen in as she meets the people turning these ecological wins into sustainable nature-based tourism.

Also coming up:

• Right to Roam campaigner Guy Shrubsole on access rights and Britain's Rainforests
• Travel Hack: How to find a legit re-wilding project
• Top 10 Rewilding projects around the world and where to visit them
• Meet travel writers and authors Rhona Carrier and Tracey Davies as they discuss their memoir Wayward Women - and how mid-life women are a force to be reckoned with
• Gear chat: what to pack for a responsible wild camp
• Florence Merriam Bailey - a birdwatcher who had to persuade others to look but don't shoot (yes, really) is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

The sky is stirring over Canada's Northwest Territories, and we wanted to know what it really means when the norhtern lights dance. So Wander Woman Phoebe Smith sent her editor and correspondent Daniel Neilson to travel to Yellowknife to sit with Dene guides who treat the aurora as memory and medicine, not a bucket list stunt. Join us for stories that bring light to the darkness and stir the sky - and the soul. 

Also coming up:

• Celebrity Chef Rick Stein on his new series about Australia airing on the BBC
• Travel Hack: How to photograph the aurora borealis
• Top 10 winter festivities around the world that aren't Christmas - from Up Helly Aa to Diwali and moew
• Meet the man behind the former hunting farm that became a stronghold in Namibia for protecting endangered species - and ensuring local people benefitted too
• Gear chat: what to wear when stood watching for the Northern Lights
• Shaaw Tláa - a pioneering prospector and proud member of the Tagish community is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

Cold breath on the air, pancakes at dawn, and the hush before a bear appears at the treeline – join Wander Woman Phoebe Smith as she journeys from Finland’s close‑to‑Helsinki wilds with a foraging guide to paddle a quiet nine kilometres to a lean‑to where two dogs double as companions and hot‑water bottles. The theme is deliberate slowness: built in boredom, and the forest fills the space. Before a finale at dusk with an elusive sighting of the European 'Spirit Bear' on the Finland-Russia border. 

Also coming up:

• BBC Radio 4 Women's Hour presenter Anita Rani on what drew her to Race Across the World...
• Travel Hack: How to keep warm in cold climates
• Top 10 species of bears to spot around the world - from polar to grizzly and all those in between
• Meet the tour company in Jasper National Park Canada who is embracing the change caused by the 2024 wildfires to teach travellers about ancient indigenious practises
• Gear chat: what to pack for a night out in an unheated hut (or bear hide)
• Mina Benson Hubbard - a pioneering Canadian explorer is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

A simple walk can change a life and a place. Join Wander Woman Phoebe Smith as she head's to Umbria to undertake part of Italy’s lesser-known pilgrim path - the St Francis Way - and see how it is bringing life back into the region. In association with this episode's podcast partner Sloways. From truffle hunts on the village edges to choirs echoing through convents, to ridge walks above Assisi and stamps in a well-worn pilgrim passport, this journey shows how slow travel creates real ties between people and landscape.

Also coming up:

•  Co-founder of the British Pilgrimage Trust Guy Hayward about his mission to change the path of walks with purpose to enable everyone to bring their own beliefs... 
• Travel Hack: How to have a meaningful pilgrimage
• Top 10 non-religious pilgrimages around the world
• Meet Andrea Devicenzi – the Italian Paralympic cyclist who is using pilgrimages to change people's perceptions about disability
• Gear chat: what to pack when doing activities in very hot weather
• Margery Kempe - pilgrim and author of the first memoir in history is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith