Each year, Erin French receives 60,000 postcards from people asking if they can dine at her Maine restaurant The Lost Kitchen. “It really becomes a luck of the draw lottery. We have big post office bins that arrive and we literally reach in, we grab a postcard, we call that person immediately and say, ‘Okay, when do you want to come?’” This episode, Erin shares with Lale what it’s like to experience her beloved restaurant, now in its 11th season, and spills on her new cooking and travel show on Max, Getting Lost With Erin French, which sees the chef road trip across the US in search of new ingredients and inspiration, and sharing meals with Texas farmers, New Orleans chefs, and more.

Traveling with kids can be all manner of things—educational yet exhausting, transformative yet taxing, magical yet maddening. In this week’s episode, three listeners share dispatches about the joys and challenges of seeing the world alongside children of all ages, from chasing a total eclipse in Dallas to seeking out new adventures in Japan. Plus, look out for more stories on the topic on the Condé Nast Traveler site later this year.

Reporting by Ashlea Halpern

We travel for all sorts of reasons: self-discovery, something new, a chance to break out of our routines. But how often is it truly restorative? In a rerun of an episode from last year, Lale talks to activist, educator, entrepreneur, and ardent solo traveler Rachel Cargle about creating calm in every step of a journey—and her new memoir and manifesto, A Renaissance of Our Own

Ever dreamed of swapping your current life for a brand new one in Paris? That’s what Jane Bertch did, who chronicles her own journey, and the French cooking school she subsequently opened, in her new memoir The French Ingredient. Lale chats with Jane about the lessons she’s learned (culinary and otherwise) from her years spent in Paris, her tips for shopping the city’s many boulangeries and fromageries, and all the characters she’s met along the way.

In her book Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad, Dr. Tamara J. Walker recounts stories of 20th-century African-Americans who chose to build their lives outside of the United States—everywhere from Paris to Nairobi. Lale chats with Tamara about the romantic notions of 20th-century Paris and the creatives who made it their home, like James Baldwin and Florence Mills, as well as her own travel experiences around the world and what it means to be a global citizen.

Mumtaz Mustafa and Laura Klynstra are best friends who love to cook—and host—together. Lale chats with them about how their respective childhoods in Pakistan and Michigan helped shape their passion for food, travels in Guatemala, and memories of Karachi street snacks and Dutch potlucks.

There’s nothing quite like the magic of a Scandinavian summer, where daylight is near endless and hundreds of islands come to life for locals to explore and retreat to. Author Dorthe Nors—and repeat guest on this show—joins us to share stories of life on the Danish island of Fano, fascinating folklore, and tips on creating your own island hopping journey this summer.

Gabe and her husband have befriended an American couple in Treviso, Italy, where they all live. In order to give them a taste of home, Gabe would love to cook her new friends an American meal. But what typifies American food? And how can she source the right ingredients in the Veneto? Host of Dinner SOS Chris Morocco enlists the help of Bon Appetit's resident Aussie, Adam Moussa, and sommelier André Mack of BA's World of Wine series, to figure out what Gabe should make.

Listen to and follow Dinner SOS here: https://listen.bonappetit.com/badinnersos

It’s summer, which means we're grabbing every chance there is to hit the beach or dive into a hotel swimming pool. But some travelers are a little more intrepid, plunging into wild, frigid waters for all manner of reasons. To find out why, Lale chats with writer and wild swimmer Freya Bromley about her recent memoir The Tidal Year and catches up with friend of the podcast and author Dorthe Nors, who lives on a remote part of Denmark’s west coast.

What is it like growing up in one of the most storied and iconic hotels in Italy? Ask Valentina de Santis, who was raised in the kitchens and ballrooms of Lake Como's Grand Hotel Tremezzo and now runs the charismatic Passalacqua along with her parents nearby. Lale chats with the hotelier to hear stories of life on Lake Como, get tips on traveling in both summer and the off-season, and what it really means to live La Dolce Vita.