podcast Archives - Books And Travel

Thoughts On Traveling To The USA Again Post Pandemic And Differences Between The US And UK Cultures

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I’ve been traveling to the USA regularly since the mid-90s, for family trips and then business conferences and book research. The pandemic years meant a long hiatus (for us all!) but recently I went back to the US for my first trip in a long time and it felt quite foreign in many ways. I’d forgotten so much about how our cultures differ, and I thought it might be interesting to record my thoughts before I get used to it all again.

Context and my history with the USA
Flying again post-pandemic
Arriving in Phoenix, Arizona, and some immediate differences
Visiting the Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix, and a day trip to Sedona
Other things I’d forgotten about the USA

I’d love to know what you think about our cultural differences, so please leave a comment, or tweet me @thecreativepenn or contact me here.

The Unexpected Road To An Unconventional Life With Brianna Madia

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How can we step away from the established patterns of life and choose a path that makes us truly happy? How can we redefine travel to find it in our own country, and choose a home in a place that calls to our soul?

Brianna Madia talks about her unexpected road to an unconventional life in the desert of Moab with her four dogs.

Brianna Madia is the author of Nowhere For Very Long: The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life.

Show notes

Questioning the established patterns of life — even when that’s hard
The freedom and challenges of #vanlife
Travel as an attitude, even without your own country
Highlights of the desert in Utah
The power of feeling insignificant in the face of natural beauty and how it helps to find perspective
Traveling with four dogs — and redefining happiness
Recommended travel books

You can find Brianna Madia at BriannaMadia.com and on Instagram @briannamadia

An Ocean-Gazing People. A Gentle Country. Portugal With Louise Ross

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Sometimes we find home in a place where we don’t even speak the language. Louise Ross talks about discovering Portugal, a gentle country with ocean-gazing people, and recommends places to visit, as well as an attitude to self-reinvention.

Louise Ross is the author of Women Who Walk and The Winding Road to Portugal. She’s an Australian currently living in Portugal where she explores the immigrant and expatriate journey through her writing and her podcast, Women Who Walk.

Show notes

The similarities between Australia and Portugal as ‘ocean gazing’ cultures
Cultural differences between Portugal, Australia, and the US
Portuguese food and wine as an undiscovered gem
Historical, cultural, and religious places to visit in Portugal
Natural sites around Lisbon
Finding community as an expat
Making a space away from home feel like home
Movement and walking as a metaphor for reinvention
Recommended travel books about or set in Portugal

You can find Louise Ross at LouiseRoss.com

Catnip For A Novelist. Traveling For Book Research With Thriller Author Layton Green

Unusual Places

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There are certain places in the world that are so full of stories, they become ‘catnip for a novelist,‘ as Layton Green talks about in this interview. We delve into the lure of far-off cities, why the occult draws us both, and how to turn a trip to a new place into a book.

In the introduction, I talk about my own experience of traveling for book research and how I find story ideas in new places including Amsterdam, New Orleans, and Bath, plus how synchronicity often happens when I delve deeper into history, culture, and religion.

Layton Green is the award-nominated, international bestselling author of the Dominic Grey thrillers, as well as the Blackwood Saga fantasy series and loads of other books.

Researching The Summoner in Zimbabwe
Why occult and religion continue to inspire stories
Planning travel around book ideas
Tracking ideas while traveling
Writing about a place as an outsider
Some of our favorite graveyards, cemeteries, and museums
Why New Orleans inspires so many stories
Recommended books with a sense of place

You can find Layton at LaytonGreen.com

Adventure, Walking, And My Midsummer Morning With Alastair Humphreys

Travel Memoir

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How does a book inspire a journey a generation later? How does an adventurer who loves to travel alone reconcile himself to a life more ordinary?

In today’s interview, I talk to Alastair Humphreys about his walk across Spain in homage to Laurie Lee.

Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer, author, and motivational speaker named as National Geographic adventurer of the year in 2012. He has cycled around the world, walked across India, and The Empty Quarter desert, rowed the Atlantic, and run the Marathon Des Sables, as well as going on many other micro-adventures. His latest book is My Midsummer Morning: Rediscovering a Life of Adventure.

Show Notes

The necessary element of vulnerability in an adventure

The uniqueness of travel when walking

The difference between type-1 and type-2 fun

Which adventures are chosen to be shared as books, and which are not

How photographs and film change the dynamic of a trip

What is ‘truth’ when writing a travel memoir?

Micro-adventures and living adventurously close to home

Finding adventure in seemingly mundane places

You can find Alastair Humphreys at AlastairHumphreys.com and on Instagram @al_humphreys

Macabre Montreal with Mark Leslie

Unusual Places

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Montreal is more than just music festivals, street art and the St Laurence river. It also has a dark side.

Mark Leslie is a Canadian horror writer with a passion for haunted places and, today, we’re talking about his book, Macabre Montreal.

Show Notes

On the old world feel of Montreal and it’s history

The influence of the St. Lawrence river on Montreal’s feel

Interesting places to look for history in Montreal, including the cemeteries

Making connections to history through city ghost tours

Recommendations for good books based in Montreal

On the pleasure of walking through a new city

You can find Mark at www.MarkLeslie.ca and on Twitter @MarkLeslie

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