Wanderlust: Off the Page

Louisiana defies description. A melting pot of Indigenous, French, Spanish, African, and Acadian cultures, it has produced a culture of food, music and celebration that is entirely its own. And while New Orleans should rightly be on the bucket list of any traveller, the soul of Louisiana stretches far beyond the French Quarter, into the bayous, backroads, and small towns where the real story of the state is still being told.

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, we head deep into Louisiana, from the plantation homes along the River Road and the living history museum in Lafayette to the swamp tours of the North Shore, the Cajun food scene of Acadiana and the music halls that have shaped American culture from zydeco to jazz. Come hungry, come curious, and come ready to take the road less travelled into one of America’s most fascinating states.

Joining host Aaron Millar is Jacqui Agate, Wanderlust's North America editor and a long-time Louisiana aficionado, who has explored the state from the North Shore to the Gulf Coast. And Jay Steiner, a Cajun food tour guide and historical interpreter at Vermilionville, a living history museum in Lafayette that brings the Acadian, Creole and Indigenous cultures of 18th and 19th century South Louisiana to life.

As Jay puts it in the local French: Allons manger, allons boire, allons danser. Let's eat, let's drink, let's dance.

Highlights include:

The Louisiana beyond New Orleans 

Lafayette, the heart of Acadiana, is two and a half hours west of New Orleans and a world apart: a city defined by Cajun and Zydeco music, food traditions that trace back generations, and a living French-language culture that is still thriving today.

The Whitney Plantation

Located within an hour of New Orleans along the River Road, stands apart from other historic plantation homes: as a non-profit dedicated entirely to telling the stories of the enslaved people who lived and worked there, it offers one of the most honest and necessary history lessons in the American South.

Cajun Food Tours 

Chicken and sausage gumbo, fried shrimp po’ boys, boudin, chargrilled oysters, fried alligator (yes, it tastes like chicken) and cane cake. Plus, a strong case for why the best crawfish in Louisiana is not in New Orleans.

Juke joints, accordions and foot-stomping music

From the Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette, where the Creole String Beans will drag you to the dance floor whether you planned it or not, to Teddy's Juke Joint outside Baton Rouge, a neon-soaked, Mardi-Gras-beaded institution run by the man born in the very house it now occupies. 

 Beauty of the Bayous 

Disney gave the bayou a bad reputation, but the real thing is beautiful: Spanish-moss-cloaked cypress trees, alligators, birdlife and extraordinary stillness. 

Discover our favourite Louisiana road trip 

Jay's back-road loop from New Iberia through Saint Martinville, Breaux Bridge and Grand Coteau takes in Tabasco's island home at Avery Island, the Acadian Memorial, a remarkable African American museum and Lake Martin for swamp tours.

Find Out More

Plan your Louisiana adventure at explorelouisiana.com

Thank You to Our Guests

Jacqui Agate, Wanderlust North America editor and travel writer — follow her on Instagram @jackieagate and read her work at wanderlustmagazine.com

 Jay Steiner, historical interpreter at Vermilionville and Cajun food tour guide — book a tour at cajunfoodtours.com or visit vermilionville.org

Intrepid Travel

Thanks to our series sponsor Intrepid, the leading specialists in small group adventures. To plan an adventure of your own, check out their small group trips at intrepidtravel.com

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK's leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993. Find out more at wanderlustmagazine.com

Become a Wanderlust Club Member to join a community of passionate travellers, with print editions, exclusive content and more.

Credits

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and Peter Moore introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor. Audio production by Charles Tyrie.

Costa Rica punches far above its weight. A country of just four million people manages to contain around 5% of the world’s biodiversity, two coastlines washed by different oceans, cloud forests, volcanoes, jungle rivers and a philosophy of living - Pura Vida - that has made it one of the happiest and most visited destinations in the world. But most people only scratch the surface.

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, we’re going beyond the busy seasons and well-known highlights to discover a country of distinct regions, each offering something different all year round, from the rainforests of the Osa Peninsula to the music, food and wildlife of the Caribbean coast.

Joining host Aaron Millar is TV presenter and journalist Alex Outhwaite, fresh back from a trip to the Caribbean coast, where a vibrant Afro-Caribbean culture offers something entirely different from the more-visited Pacific side. Isaac Rios Orozco is a professional tour guide with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, who knows every corner of his country inside out and has a few secrets to share. And Maggie Wolfson, travel expert at Journey Latin America, who fell in love with Costa Rica while backpacking and now sends people there for a living.

This is Costa Rica: the Road Less Travelled. Let Pura Vida work its magic.

Highlights include:

• The Caribbean coast: Costa Rica’s best-kept secret. The Afro-Caribbean food scene of Puerto Viejo, sloths listening to reggaeton outside a local restaurant, and why Cahuita National Park might be the most intimate wildlife experience in the country.

• Seeing the forest through indigenous eyes. Alex’s visit to the Bribri Indigenous Territory near Puerto Viejo, and a medicinal plant walk that showed her a way of reading a landscape that most of us have entirely forgotten.

• Tortuguero: a little piece of the Amazon. No roads in, just boat or plane. Wildlife visible from your hammock. And at the right time of year, sea turtles laying their eggs on the beach at night. Isaac’s pick for one of the unmissable experiences in the country.

• The Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park. One of the most biodiverse places on Earth, and one of the best places in the country to experience Costa Rica’s wild nature at its purest. You arrive by boat on the beach, every visitor goes in with a guide, and the stone spheres of nearby Isla del Caño - ancient, perfectly round and entirely unexplained - are a highlight of any stay.

• Why the green season might be the best time to go. The rain is warm, it usually comes around happy hour, and the forests turn a deeper, more luminous shade of green. Alex says if anything it makes the country more beautiful.

• Beyond the highlights: the places the experts go. Boca Tapada in the north, Río Celeste and the Bijagua area, the birdwatching and white-water rafting of Sarapiquí, and the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge south of Puerto Viejo, where you can spot tiny red poison-dart frogs on quiet trails with almost no one else around.

Find Out More

• Plan your Costa Rica adventure at visitcostarica.com
• Book a tailor-made Costa Rica trip with Journey Latin America at journeylatinamerica.com/destinations/costa-rica

Thank You to Our Guests

• Alex Outhwaite, TV presenter and journalist. Instagram @AlexOuthwaite. Amazon Prime Video: The Wanderer
• Isaac Rigg Orozco, tour guide and Costa Rica expert. Instagram @ironliner1979
• Maggie Wilson, Costa Rica travel expert at Journey Latin America - journeylatinamerica.com/destinations/costa-rica

Intrepid Travel

Thanks to our series sponsor Intrepid, the leading specialists in small group adventures. To plan an adventure of your own, check out their small group trips at intrepidtravel.com

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK’s leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993. Find out more at wanderlustmagazine.com

Become a Wanderlust Club Member to join a community of passionate travellers, with print editions, exclusive content and more.

Credits

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and Peter Moore introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor. Audio production by Charles Tyrie.

Most people come to the Pyrenees of Catalonia for the mountains. The dramatic peaks, pristine lakes and hiking trails that disappear into untouched wilderness. But hidden among the high valleys is something that stops you in your tracks long before you reach the summit: a collection of Romanesque churches so remarkable that UNESCO has recognised the entire valley that contains them as a World Heritage Site.

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, host Aaron Millar travels to the Vall de Boí, a remote valley in the heart of the Pyrenees of Catalonia, with two exceptional guides: David Pociello, cultural heritage expert at the Centre del Romànic de la Vall de Boí, and Xavier Llimiñana, representative of Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, to explore a destination where heritage and landscape are not two separate things, but two halves of one extraordinary story.

Highlights include:

• The churches that stopped the art world in its tracks. The Vall de Boí contains the greatest concentration of Romanesque churches in the world: nine buildings, still standing in the mountain villages where they were first constructed, over nine centuries ago.
• How landscape and culture are the same story. The people of this region and the mountains where they live are deeply intertwined. The Romanesque churches, small hamlets and ancient traditions here are a perfect reflection of that relationship, each one enhancing the experience of the other.
• Traditions that have never stopped. The Pyrenees of Catalonia is not a region that preserves its heritage behind glass. The mountain villages of Vall de Boí are living communities, with festivals, farming practices and a cultural identity that has endured for centuries and is still being passed on today.
• The Baixada de Falles: fire, mountains and a UNESCO tradition. Every summer solstice, people carry flaming torches down the mountainsides into the villages of the Vall de Boí in a tradition inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. It is one of the most extraordinary things you can witness in the Pyrenees.
• Explore one of the most beautiful national parks in Spain. Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici is a landscape of more than 200 lakes, mountain peaks rising over 3,000 metres, and an extraordinary richness of wildlife and flora. Walkers can cross the entire park staying in mountain refuges along the way, one of the least known but most spectacular long-distance treks in the country.

Find Out More

• Plan your Pyrenees of Catalonia adventure: visitpirineus.com
• The Romanesque churches of Vall de Boí: centreromanic.com
• Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park: spain.info/aiguestortes-national-park

Read Wanderlust’s coverage of the Pyrenees of Catalonia at: wanderlustmagazine.com

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK’s leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993. Find out more at wanderlustmagazine.com.

Become a Wanderlust Club Member to join a community of passionate travellers, with print editions, exclusive content and more.

Credits

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and Peter Moore introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor. Audio production by Charles Tyrie.

California feeds the world. It grows more food, and produces more wine, than any other US state, and has pioneered a farm-to-table culture that has influenced how the world thinks about food. 

But the best way to experience it isn't in a Michelin-starred restaurant - it's sitting outside on a warm evening being served food by the person who grew it, and wine made by the person who made it. 

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page - the third in our California series - host Aaron Millar is joined by Honor Comfort, Vice President of International Marketing at the Wine Institute of California, and Juan Barajas, slow food champion and owner of the Savory Café in Woodland, Yolo County. 

This is a conversation about exceptional food and wine experiences, but it’s also about the art of living well, California style - and how the greatest culinary experiences happen when you slow down and savour every sip.

Highlights include:

• The hand and the land. Honor Comfort on why every glass of California wine tells the story of a place and the person behind it.
• Food as a miracle. Juan Barajas on watching almond blossoms open, smelling tomatoes in the Yolo County air and why the slow food movement is less a philosophy than a way of life in California's Central Valley.
• Stomp grapes. Clip vines. Get involved. California's small family wineries offer some of the most hands-on, personal visitor experiences in the wine world. Including stomping your own grapes!
• Farm Dinners. Candle-lit community tables and slow food events where the farmers do the serving - these are California's most memorable culinary experiences, and many of the best ones are hiding in small towns you've probably never heard of.
• The perfect California food and wine road trip. From Anderson Valley and Sonoma's wild coast to Russian River Pinot, Lodi old-vine Zinfandel, Paso Robles Rhône varieties and a final glass of Chardonnay watching the sun set over Santa Barbara's Channel Islands. Honor maps out the perfect trip.

Find Out More

Plan your California food and wine adventure: visitcalifornia.com

British Airways flies directly to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, and you can upgrade to club world for a host of additional benefits including lounge access, increased check baggage allowance, priority check in and boarding, and spacious seats that convert to a full flat bed. Book now on ba.com/california 

Discover California wines, plan winery visits and find events: discovercaliforniawines.com

Learn about California wine regions and varieties: capstonecalifornia.com

Honor Comfort's family wine label: danielwines.com

Juan Barajas, Savory Café, Woodland - savorycafeonmain.com | Instagram: @savorywoodland

Read Wanderlust's California features at: wanderlustmagazine.com

Intrepid Travel

Thanks to our series sponsor Intrepid, the leading specialists in small group adventures. For over 35 years, Intrepid small group trips have connected travellers with passionate, locally based leaders in more than 100 countries. Find out more at intrepidtravel.com

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK's leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993. Find out more at wanderlustmagazine.com

Become a Wanderlust Club Member to join a community of passionate travellers, with print editions, exclusive content and more.

Credits

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and James Bainbridge introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor. Audio production by Charles Tyrie.

Nassau & Paradise Island are the cultural heartbeat of The Bahamas, densely layered islands whose history has shaped a culture unlike anywhere else in the Caribbean. The beaches are extraordinary, and the waters are among the clearest in the world. But prepare to be surprised by how much more there is.

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, host Aaron Millar is joined by Arlene Nash Ferguson, founder of the Educulture Junkanoo Museum in Nassau, and Chef Tevin Kemp, chef de cuisine at The Kitchen at Baha Mar, for a conversation full of laughter, fierce opinions about Johnny Cake, Bahamian dance tips and why Junkanoo is the most extraordinary Caribbean festival you’ve probably never heard of.

Get ready to discover The Bahamas beyond the beaches.

Highlights include:

•       The beat that gets inside you. Goatskin drums in the dark, cowbells tied to the waist, costumes towering twenty feet in the air - all made from cardboard nobody else wanted. Junkanoo happens at night, in the streets, at full volume. There is nothing else like it on Earth.

•       An act of defiance that became a national festival. During the days of slavery, enslaved Africans were granted just three days of holiday at Christmas. They used them to secretly recreate their festivals from home - in the dark, out of sight - as a profound act of resistance and identity. Two hundred years later, The Bahamas are still dancing.

•       Why every dish tells a story. From Johnny Cake (the journey cake that lost its journey but kept its soul) to conch, boiled fish and guava duff, Chef Tevin unpacks the African, Caribbean and British threads woven into every Bahamian recipe, and why honouring those flavours is, as he puts it, about honouring the people who came before.

Find Out More

Discover Nassau & Paradise Island: nassauparadiseisland.com

Fly direct to Nassau from Heathrow on British Airways: britishairways.com

·      Arlene Nash Ferguson: educulturebahamas.com

·      Educulture Junkanoo Museum: nassauandparadiseisland.com

·      Chef Tevin Kemp, Instagram: @cheftevinkemp

·      The Kitchen at Baha Mar bahamar.com/the-kitchen

Read our latest feature on Nassau & Paradise Island at wanderlustmagazine.com

Both Arlene Nash Ferguson and Chef Tevin Kemp featured in Ainsley’s Taste of The Bahamas, a 10-part series broadcast on ITV January-March 2026.  https://www.nassauparadiseisland.com/taste-of-the-bahamas

Intrepid Travel

Thanks to our series sponsor Intrepid, the leading specialists in small group adventures. For over 35 years, Intrepid small group trips have connected travellers with passionate, locally based leaders in more than 100 countries. Find out more at intrepidtravel.com

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK’s leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993. Find out more at wanderlustmagazine.com

Become a Wanderlust Club Member to join a community of passionate travellers, with print editions, exclusive content and more.

Credits

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and James Bainbridge introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor. Audio production by Charles Tyrie.

Sun, surf, snow and an insatiable appetite for doing things differently, California is unlike anywhere else on Earth. It has more national parks than any other US state, world-class ski resorts within driving distance of world-class surf breaks, and a state of mind that has produced more sporting innovators than perhaps anywhere else in the world.

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, host Aaron Millar is joined by Johnny Mosley - Olympic gold medalist, freestyle skiing pioneer and lifelong Californian - to explore the state’s extraordinary sports culture, its legendary outdoor adventures, and the California state of mind that makes it all possible.

Get ready to experience California’s ultimate playground.

Highlights include:

• The gold medal run. Johnny Mosley takes us back to the Nagano Olympics and the 32 seconds that changed his life. Plus: find out why a Dinner Roll is not always something you eat on your plate.
• California ski safari From the legendary terrain of Palisades Tahoe where some of the most iconic lines in ski film history have been shot, to the vast snowfields of Mammoth Mountain, Johnny maps out the best mountains for every kind of skier.
• The Californian Tri-fecta. It’s not a myth. Come spring it’s possible to surf a world-class wave in the morning, skate down the boulevard and still be on the slopes by afternoon.
• How to experience California’s surf culture  even if you can’t surf. From beginner lessons at Oceanside to watching the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, there are more ways into California’s most iconic culture than you might think.
• The empty pool that changed sport forever. California’s 1970s drought drained the swimming pools, and the skaters who jumped the fences to ride them invented a sport. Hear the story of Dogtown, Venice Beach skate parks and why Carlsbad is still the spiritual home of skate culture.
• World Cup, Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics. California is about to host the biggest sporting events on the planet - find out how you can join in. Plus: why American tailgating is the greatest sporting ritual you’ve never experienced.
• The California state of mind. What is it that makes California produce more sporting innovators per square mile than anywhere else on Earth? Johnny’s answer is worth the listen alone.

Find Out More

For more California travel inspiration, check out visitcalifornia.com. 

And to make the most of British Airways’ comprehensive flight network into California with flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, visit ba.com/california.

Connect with Johnny Mosley on Instagram: @jonnymoseley

Read Wanderlust’s California features at wanderlustmagazine.com

Intrepid Travel

Thanks to our series sponsor Intrepid, the leading specialists in small group adventures. For over 35 years, Intrepid small group trips have connected travellers with passionate, locally based leaders in more than 100 countries. Find out more at intrepidtravel.com

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK’s leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993. Find out more at wanderlustmagazine.com

Become a Wanderlust Club Member to join a community of passionate travellers, with print editions, exclusive content and more.

Credits

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and Laura Field introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor. Audio production by Charles Tyrie.

Tucked between the Apennines and the Ligurian Sea, Genoa is one of Italy’s most captivating cities, and one of its most overlooked. 

Home to one of the largest medieval centres in Europe, a UNESCO-listed collection of Renaissance palaces and a food culture that gave the world pesto and focaccia, Genoa is a city to be savoured. 

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, host Aaron Millar is joined by regular Wanderlust contributor Tristan Rutherford, who fell in love with the city on his first visit over 25 years ago and is still coming back for more.

Receiving just a fraction of visitors as the county’s better-known cities, this is a journey on the road less travelled into the heart of one of Italy’s most beautiful, historic, and delicious destinations.

Highlights include:

•       Spend a night in a palace. On select occasions, Genoa's tourist board opens up  the city's UNESCO-listed aristocratic palaces for visitors to spend the night. It’s a rare chance to experience the extraordinary opulence of what was once one of Renaissance Italy's most powerful cities.

•       See a once-in-a-generation Van Dyck exhibition. Van Dyck spent six formative years in Genoa, and this summer the city is reuniting the greatest collection of his portraits ever assembled, many never publicly displayed before.

•       Get lost in the caruggi. Genoa's medieval old town is one of the largest in Europe - a labyrinth of narrow alleyways, historic shops and ancient bakeries where locals still get lost today.

•       Pesto, focaccia and wildflower gelato. Genoa invented pesto, mastered focaccia and has been perfecting the art of wildflower gelato and candied fruit for centuries. 

•       The best-value base in northern Italy. Portofino in 30 minutes away. Cinque Terre just over an hour. Milan, Florence and the Italian Alps all within easy reach.  Genoa is the perfect base for day trips to explore the surrounding area, without breaking the bank.

•       The Rolli Days - and why 2026 is the year to go. Every October, Genoa’s most extraordinary private palaces open to the public. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the Palazzi dei Rolli’s UNESCO inscription, making it the perfect moment to visit.

Find Out More

Plan your Genoa adventure: visitgenoa.it/en

Discover more about Genoa at: wanderlustmagazine.com

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK’s leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993. Find out more at wanderlustmagazine.com

Become a Wanderlust Club Member to join a community of passionate travellers, with print editions, exclusive content and more.

Credits

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and Laura Field introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor. Audio production by Charles Tyrie.

Think you know Texas? San Antonio will surprise you. It moves at its own pace, wears its history on every street corner, and welcomes strangers to its table as if they’ve always belonged. 

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, host Aaron Millar is joined by Wanderlust’s North America Editor Jacqui Agate; Manuel Davila - artist, Indigenous tour guide and member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation; and celebrated chef Johnny Hernandez, to explore the food, culture and extraordinary history of the Lone Star state’s best-kept secret.

Highlights include:

•       The Alamo - but not as you know it. Everyone knows the name. Almost nobody knows the full story. Manuel Davila reveals 13,000 years of history hiding in plain sight - and why the account of the famous battle only survived because of the women who lived to tell it.

•       The city that wears its culture on its walls. From ochre pigments gathered at the riverbank - the same ones his ancestors used on the missions — to murals covering entire neighbourhoods, Manuel Davila shows why San Antonio doesn’t put its culture in a museum. It lives it.

•       UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. Chef Johnny Hernandez fills us in on what it takes to be recognised as one of the United States’ best foodie cities, and how they express their history, cultural foundations and welcome through their food fusions.

•       365 festivals a year. Fiesta San Antonio is 11 official days of parties - but every San Antonian knows the whole of April is fair game. And come October, the city hosts the largest Día de los Muertos celebration in the United States. Plus, 363 other festivals - yes, really - throughout the year.

Find Out More

• Plan your San Antonio adventure: visitsanantonio.com

Authentic. Alive. And Unmistakably San Antonio.

• Book your trip to San Antonio: journeyscape.com

• Chef Johnny Hernandez: chefjohnnyhernandez.com | Instagram: @iamchefjohnny

• Manuel Davila (Mesquite Papi), artist and Indigenous tour guide: mesquitepapi.com | Instagram: @mesquitepapi

• Jacqui Agate, Wanderlust North America Editor: Instagram: @jacquiagate

Read Wanderlust’s latest coverage of San Antonio at wanderlustmagazine.com

Intrepid Travel

Thanks to our series sponsor Intrepid, the leading specialists in small group adventures. For over 35 years, Intrepid small group trips have connected travellers with passionate, locally based leaders in more than 100 countries. Find out more at intrepidtravel.com

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK’s leading independent travel magazine, taking the road less travelled since 1993. Find out more at wanderlustmagazine.com

Become a Wanderlust Club Member to join a community of passionate travellers, with print editions, exclusive content and more.

Credits

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and Laura Field introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor. Audio production by Charles Tyrie.

Rugged coastlines, world-record tides, legendary lobster, and a warmth of welcome that lingers long after you’ve left - Nova Scotia is one of North America’s most quietly spectacular destinations. 

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, host Aaron Millar is joined by three passionate advocates for Canada’s ocean province to make the case for slow travel done right.

Daniel Lopez from specialist tour operator Canadian Affair maps out the itineraries; award-winning travel writer and photographer Stuart Forster brings vivid first-hand storytelling from his own trips; and Alain Bossé - aka the Kilted Chef, one of Nova Scotia’s most celebrated culinary ambassadors - takes us deep into the food, heritage and extraordinary community spirit that make this province like nowhere else on Earth.

Nova Scotia is a destination that rewards curiosity, spontaneity, and the simple pleasure of exploring slowly and deeply. Get ready to explore Canada’s Ocean Playground.

Highlights include:

• The art of the “trip to nowhere”. Why Nova Scotia is the perfect canvas for slow travel - a province of winding coastal drives, unplanned detours and communities that seem almost designed for spontaneous connection.

• Driving the iconic Cabot Trail. Move through landscapes at a natural pace on Cape Breton’s legendary coastal road trip – renowned as one of the best in the country. 

• The Bay of Fundy - tides, whales and foraging. Home to the highest tides on Earth, the Bay of Fundy is also one of the best places in Canada to spot humpback whales, and forage for your supper on the ocean floor at low tide.

• Paddling the Kejimkujik canoe trail. Experience adventure as immersion rather than adrenaline. Stuart Forster takes us onto the still waters of one of Nova Scotia’s most beautiful national parks - a designated dark sky preserve where, after an evening paddle, the night sky is “dialed up tenfold.”

• Deep roots, living heritage. Alain Bossé shares his journey to revive 17th and 18th-century Acadian recipes, including working with the Fortress of Louisbourg’s historic archives and how the province’s Mi’kmaq, Acadian, Scottish and French cultures weave together in every bowl and community.

• Planning your trip. Discover how to build the perfect Nova Scotia itinerary - from Halifax and Lunenburg to the Annapolis Valley wine region, up to the Cabot Trail and back along the eastern shore.

Find Out More

Plan your Nova Scotia adventure: novascotia.com

Book your Nova Scotia trip with Canadian travel experts Canadian Affair: canadianaffair.com/nova-scotia

Fly direct year-round from London Heathrow to Halifax with Air Canada: aircanada.com

Alain Bossé, The Kilted Chef: kiltedchef.ca

Stuart Forster, travel writer and photographer:  go-eat-do.com

Check out our digital immersive article about Nova Scotia: wanderlustmagazine.com/inspiration/nova-scotia-top-travel-experiences/

Wanderlust: Off the Page

Take the road less travelled with us and subscribe to the show so you never miss an adventure.

Wanderlust Magazine

Wanderlust is the UK’s leading independent travel

Far from the mega-ships and endless buffets of mainstream cruising, UnCruise Adventures takes travellers somewhere altogether wilder — remote coastlines, glacier-carved bays and untouched jungle waterways that can only be reached by small vessels. 

In this episode of Wanderlust: Off the Page, host Aaron Millar sits down with Captain Dan Blanchard, master mariner, back-country guide and the beating heart behind UnCruise Adventures, for a conversation full of bear encounters, whale-side kayaking and a skincare tip you won't find at any spa.

Adopted by the Tlingit tribe of southeast Alaska, Dan brings a deep respect for indigenous culture and the land to everything UnCruise does. His philosophy is simple: follow nature's clock, not your own. No two voyages are ever the same.

Highlights include:

Alaska

Explore UnCruise's spiritual home, from Prince William Sound and Glacier Bay National Park to the Aleutian islands and beyond. The wildlife alone — from brown bears to sperm whales — is unlike anywhere else on Earth.

Costa Rica & Panama

Go beyond the postcard. Sail into the raw, untamed heart of Central America, where extraordinary wildlife and vibrant local culture make for an experience that lingers long after you've left.

Hawaii

Discover the hidden bays of one of the world's most visited destinations, including the untouched Molokai, Lanai and little-known parts of the Big Island that will, as Dan puts it, "blow your socks off."

The Galápagos 

Encounter wildlife with no fear of humans, trails that put you within touching distance of blue-footed boobies and sea lions, and a national park system so well managed that you may never see another boat.

FIND OUT MORE

Plan your own expedition at uncruise.com

Read more about UnCruise Adventures at wanderlustmagazine.com

INTREPID TRAVEL

Thanks to our series sponsor Intrepid, the leading specialists in small group adventures. To book a cultural exploration of Europe this summer, go to intrepidtravel.com/uk/europe 

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CREDITS This episode was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Lyn Hughes and Laura Field introduce the show. Aaron Millar is the interviewer and script editor.