Hello :)

Last year, off the back of my 100th country visit to Norway, I spent three nights in Svalbard, one of the most northern archipelagos in the world. Though I wasn't there for long, I felt it was an interesting place to do a podcast about, covering history, wildlife, culture, and of course the ethical aspect of travelling to somewhere like that in the first place.

Not a spoiler: I did not see a polar bear.

Topics discussed in this episode are:
Parts One and Two: Housekeeping and Introduction

Part Three: Overview
* So remote even the Vikings didn't go there
* Whale-hunting, fur-trapping, Wild West Mining Towns, and how they became Norwegian
* Svalbard v Spitsbergen
* How its different from Norway
* Population un-Density

Part Four: Wildlife & Environment
* This is the land of the Polar Bear
* Birds, but not in winter
* Longyearbyen feels very small from above
* There are no trees, only scree

Part Five: Things To Do In Longyearbyen
* The Airport is surprisingly insta-ready
* The Seed Vault
* Museums
* The world's most northerly brewery (and why it only dates from 2015)
* You don't come here to die
* What do you mean 'Shoes are Banned'?!
* The Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights

Part Six: Ethical Travel
* The notable effects of Climate Change
* Cruise Ships and the dichotomy of tourism v environment
* How locals view tourists
* What some businesses are doing for sustainability
* Eating local means eating whale and seal
* The transient nature of the population
* Visit Svalbard's tips for ethical tourism

Part Seven: What I did when I was there
* A local orientation tour
* Hiking Sarkofagen
* Local Beer
* Sailing along Billefjorden
* Accommodation in Longyearbyen
* Did I visit ethically?

Part Eight: Final Thoughts

A PDF transcript of this podcast is available.

As always, if you have anything to say about the topics, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I have a newsletter with extra content, and where I'll be mentioning future podcast episodes if you want to make your own contribution.

I also have a Patreon - if you like what you hear, and want to access exclusive content (or just to show your appreciation), then head on over.

There is a contribution in this pod from my friend Julie, who blogs at "I Am A Polar Bear", which is an apt name for someone who's also been to Svalbard.

Until next time, bye for now. :)

Hello :)

In a recent podcast episode, I talked about aesthetics a lot, and I occasionally touched on the idea of 'senses'. I figured it made sense therefore to do a full podcast on it, on how you, I, everyone uses their senses while travelling, and whether our senses affect how we travel, and the experiences we gain through them. Consider, too, how our memories of a place, of a trip, live in the senses, and we can easily be reminded of them if the same senses are activated in the same way after the event.

So here's an episode on how senses affect us while travelling, and how we use them to experience our trips.

Topics discussed in this episode are:
Parts One and Two: Housekeeping and Introduction

Part Three: Sight and Vision
* Travel is very visual
* What makes a good 'sight'
* Photography
* Being Blind (Part One)

Part Four: Sound and Hearing
* Loud v Quiet sleep spots
* Changes in sound intensity - eg cathedrals in busy cites
* Is what you hear what you'd expect to hear
* The difference in sounds between home and abroad
* Diversity

Part Five: Smell
* People don't think about smell until it hits them
* Spices and food
* Out of place aromas
* Underground railways
* Personal hygiene and busy hostel dorms

Part Six: Taste
* The cultural aspects of food
* Coffee
* Cuisines around the world
* People have different tastes
* The textures of food

Part Seven: Touch and Texture
* The feel of buildings and trees
* Things you touch in everyday living
* Home décor
* The weather
* Being Blind (Part Two)
* Barefoot Backpacking

Part Eight: Proprioception, Movement, and Spatial Awareness
* The sense of balance
* Travel-sickness
* Ways to walk through a city
* Getting lost
* Alcohol

Part Nine: Timing
* Judging how long a journey will take
* Being angsty if you don't know when or where you are
* Liminal spaces
* Jet-lag
* Relativistic effects of busy days
* Being driven blindfolded

Part Ten: Conclusion

A PDF transcript of this podcast is available.

As always, if you have anything to say about the topics, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I also have a Patreon - if you like what you hear, and want to access exclusive content (or just to show your appreciation), then head on over.

There are no contributions in this pod, but V provides the introduction. Singing, no less. Sort of!

Until next time, bye for now. :)

Hello :)

So this podcast is mostly concerned with my recent introduction to, and experience of, stand-up comedy, and includes the audio recording of my actual performance.

Topics discussed in this episode are:
Part One: Overview and an Interview with V
* Who came to watch me perform
* The difference between spoken word and stand-up comedy
* The difference between practice and performing live
* What the comedy course consisted of
* Comedian etiquette and callbacks
* Practice makes perfect
* The other performers
* How I was on stage
* The Future

Part Two: My routine
* What is asexuality
* That bloody flag
* Why is an asexual on a gay hookup site?
* Hookup profiles
* Some people find Matt Hancock sexy

Part Three: Queer Diary
* People knew who I was before I did
* Is it better to have loved and lost than to be lonely?
* I have no idea how to flirt Part One
* Teenage Emos
* I have no idea how to flirt Part Two
* My mother never understood me
* I have always been asexual

A PDF transcript of this podcast is available.

As always, if you have anything to say about the topics, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I have a newsletter with extra content, and where I'll be mentioning future podcast episodes if you want to make your own contribution.

I also have a Patreon - if you like what you hear, and want to access exclusive content (or just to show your appreciation), then head on over.

There are no contributions, aside from my friend V at the start of the pod, because she's still my default option. Here she's quoting a line from 80s pop band Fatal Charm's song "King of Comedy", which might refer to the film of the same name. It's hard to tell.

Until next time, bye for now. :)