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Travel Tales by AFAR is a podcast series about of life-changing travel adventures. A special thanks to our season four sponsor, Avalon Waterways, who shares our belief in the power of travel.
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Episodes
In this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, on a road trip through Canada and Maine, J.R. Harris meditates on a lifetime of adventure—and the enduring power of a great road trip.
He’s a Croatian Irish radio guy who’s traveled the world. But in all his wanders, he’d never really given his Irish side a chance—until now.
On Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, a traveler and his teen daughter meet a Mike Tyson impersonator, marvel at the golden West Coast, and embrace the trancelike nature of the train.
As a kid, comedian Esteban Gast tagged along when his parents visited family in Colombia. But he’d never established his own relationship with the culture—until now.
Adventurer Erik Weihenmayer spent six years preparing to solo kayak the stretch of the Colorado River that passes through the Grand Canyon—home to some of the country’s most notorious rapids.
Kelli Jo Ford grew up traveling between Virginia and the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. A key companion on the journey? Love’s Travel Stop, where they would stop for gas, snacks—and family reunions.
Years after chef Zoe Adjonyoh started her Ghanian restaurant in London, she decided it was time to return to the country where her father was born to learn more about the food—and her long-lost relatives.
Rēnata West was born and raised in Whakarewarewa, a village on New Zealand’s North Island, where his family and community have embraced tourism that both protects his people and preserves their rich culture—a model he now seeks to spread to other Indigenous communities.
Carolina Quiroga-Stultz is a professional storyteller—but she’s never told this one: the tale of how moving from Colombia to Johnson City, Tennessee, challenged her, confused her—and, ultimately, changed her life.
Maggie Shipstead, author of the novel “Great Circle,” hadn’t written a word when she first arrived in the Norwegian Arctic seven years ago. Here’s how she found seeds of inspiration in the most barren of places.
Author Julia Cooke spent four years interviewing the fearless Pan Am stewardesses of the ’60s and ’70s—here’s what she learned along the way.
Comedian Michelle Buteau traveled with her best friend to Paris to drink wine and meet French boys, because that’s what you do when you’re in your 20s and searching for love (or lust). Only things didn’t exactly go to plan . . .
Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka hadn’t seen her dad in years. So she headed to Bali for what she thought would be a chill reunion. He had something else in mind.
Author Louis Chude-Sokei was born in Nigeria, spent part of his childhood in Jamaica, and came of age in L.A. This mix of places and cultures shaped his life—but also left him feeling unmoored. Until he stumbled upon London’s Notting Hill Carnival.
Mau‘i-based chef Sheldon Simeon thought his grandmother’s pork adobo recipe was lost to history. Then he traveled to the Philippines to film an episode of “Family Recipes” and discovered that the recipe was right where his grandmother left it.
Ready to travel again? So are we. Each week, in season two of our podcast, launching June 10, we’ll bring you tales to get the travel juices flowing.
Abdi Nor Iftin fled Somalia’s civil war—and was diagnosed with PTSD soon after immigrating to the U.S. His cure? Mother Nature.
Stranded giraffes. Resourceful conservationists. On a trip to Kenya, wildlife photographer Ami Vitale documented their dramatic tale.
On a last-minute trip to Rio de Janeiro, author Carmen Maria Machado luxuriates in beach feasts, practices small talk—and confronts her travel anxiety.
Recalling her first trip to Africa, a Black journalist reflects on missed opportunities—and a legacy she’s finally ready to explore.
Up first: A train trip that schools one traveler in the art of Canadian kindness and a journey into the world of Spain’s female flamenco guitar players.
Writer Lisa Abend steps inside the small, family-run workshops where the ancient art of bookmaking lives on and sees a side of Italy too many travelers miss.
At a time when most Americans are staying close to home, our new podcast brings the magic of travel to you.
From its deserts to its reefs, Australia’s unique ecosystems have long been under pressure from human activity. Now some humans are helping nature push back.
On a rail adventure through the Canadian Maritimes, Colleen Kinder encounters tiny towns and glittering cities, dramatic coastal landscapes and that sweet, strange brew that is Canadian kindness.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we went back in the AFAR archives to honor some of our best storytellers.
When you take the time to listen, the country speaks through the buzz of bees, the hubbub of the market, the desert wind.
A former child prodigy travels to Spain to revisit the instrument of her youth—and to learn flamenco guitar from the tocaoras playing to the top of the male-dominated world.
Anya von Bremzen dives deep into one of the most ethnically diverse places on Earth—New York City’s borough of Queens.
New York comedian Negin Farsad headed into the heartland of her country, and fell head over heels for a two-state city in the middle of America.