The World Awaits 
travel podcast

Greece & Bulgaria by rail, tracing your Italian roots & world's best sunsets

Co-host Belle takes us to Greece and Bulgaria, travelling by rail on a slow food, slow travel journey of these neighbouring countries, eurail.com She travelled on a Eurail pass, which criss-crosses 33 European countries, all without flying. She also gives us a peek at the new Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino on the Peloponnese peninsula, on the Greek mainland - and it's as glamorous as you would expect! mandarinoriental.com

Also, would you let your 15-year-old train around Europe with their friends? And where's the most popular place to see the sunset in the world? The answer may not surprise you...

Finally, if you have Italian heritage, check out the Italea project, which aims to link people with the villages of their ancestors, see italea.com

For Belle's list of where to eat and sleep in Greece & Bulgaria's two main cities, click on our show notes.

Living a nomadic life; the ‘not-hot’ list and airport departure times

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Have you ever dreamt of packing it all in and living life travelling the world? That’s what Tim and Sharyn Nilsen have done, and the only retirement plans they have are to keep ticking off the list of countries they visit – well, those that are left. This week, Sharyn gives some great advice as to how you can do it too. https://catchourtravelbug.com

We also cover Intrepid’s ‘not-hot’ list which are the best lesser-known places you need to know about (intrepidtravel.com/au/newsroom/releases/intrepid-releases-2025-not-hot-list) and we have the great debate about what time you should arrive at the airport.

Stargazing around the world; best Aussie towns & making travel memories

When was the last time you really soaked up the night sky? Spotted a full moon? Admired the Milky Way? Saw an aurora?

Marnie Ogg joins us to talk about astrotourism. Marnie designs and leads stargazing tours, and she is also the founder of the Australasian Dark Sky Alliance, which educates people about light pollution. So stay with us to learn the best places on Earth to go stargazing, aurora hunting and spotting all sorts of celestial bodies. See darkskytraveller.com.au

We also reveal the best little town in Australia: it's official, with the winner of the Top Tourism Town Awards, and we've got some tips about how to make the best memories when you travel.  See toptourismtowns.com.

Deserted island escapes, new flight routes, inflight self-care

Would you let yourself be dropped on a remote island, for total solitude?  That’s explorer and entrepreneur Alvaro Cerezo’s job – he drops willing travellers on deserted islands in the most remote corners of the globe.

“We give fake names to protect our islands so they are secret to protect them from mass tourism.. [otherwise] we will destroy the feeling of isolation for the client… so that’s important to us to keep them secret,” he says.

We also cover off the top new international airline routes from Australia, and we have some tips about how to best take care of yourself while you travel; from Andrea Powis of travellingdivas.com