About
Travel Tales by AFAR is a podcast about life-changing adventures. A special thanks to our season four sponsor, Avalon Waterways, who shares our belief in the power of travel.
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Photo by Avani Rai
In season four of Travel Tales by AFAR, we explore the rivers and deserts of the U.S., the food of France, and the culture of Mumbai (pictured).
Episodes
On this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, writer Peggy Orenstein drinks brandy on a mountaintop, eats her weight in potatoes and cheese—and faces down her inner overachiever.
On this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, a traveler in Mumbai asks: How does a place change when the person who defined it for you is now gone?
On this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, an art lover on a whirlwind trip through Spain and France explores the dramatic life—and complicated legacy—of Pablo Picasso.
On this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, we talk with Baratunde Thurston, host of the PBS show America Outdoors, about the connection between nature and healing.
Looking for travel inspiration? Each week, in season four of our podcast, launching October 5, we’ll bring you tales of transformational travel.
On this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, playwright Michelle Law road trips through Cairns, Australia.
In this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, a bluegrass fiddler travels to Vienna to learn how to sing—and how to embrace the city’s most famous art: opera.
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.
On this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR: 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 this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, a traveler and his teen daughter embrace the trancelike nature of the Coast Starlight train.
On this week’s episode of Travel Tales by AFAR, a Colombian American comedian asks “Am I Colombian enough?”
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.