It's our birthday! The World Awaits turns one, and to celebrate, we're talking the world's oldest and rarest cultural traditions, where to drink martinis and we even have a great giveaway!Author Eliot Stein talks about how he travelled around the globe in search of people who are maintaining some of the world’s oldest and rarest cultural traditions for his book, Custodians of Wonder. He meets a Peruvian bridge weaver, Sweden's last night watchman, a 27th-generation West African griot and a woman making the world's rarest pasta. What's a birthday without a trip down memory lane? We take a look back at our favourite eps and how we got into radio and podcasting.And for our birthday, we’re giving you the presents: drop us a line at hello@theworldawaits.au and tell us your favourite episode, for a chance to win a double pass to Yarra Valley’s winter wine festival, on the weekend of the winter solstice, Shortest Lunch  shortestlunch.com.auFinally, celebrate World Martini Day with a martini (or two) - Garden Street Gin club’s mixologist George Bekarian recommends Bar Planet in Newtown, Bobby’s Free in Barcelona or his own bar, Cardea, in Sydney’s Barangaroo. See gardenstreet.comEliot Stein's book, Custodians of Wonder: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250281098/custodiansofwonder Support the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Jenny Gray is the force behind Intrepid Travel’s incredibly successful women-only expeditions, which it runs in seven countries including Saudi Arabia. Jenny and Belle travelled together recently in the kingdom, exploring its deserts and meeting its people, merging two of the hottest trends in tourism at the moment - women-only travel and Saudi Arabia, intrepid.com Also, the rise in cruising and how much does an ultra-luxe, round-the-world cruise actually cost? We ask leading liners Silversea Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and also review chef Luke Mangan’s newest restaurant, Bistrot Bisou, in Hotel Indigo  Melbourne  on Flinders, see silversea.com, regent.cruiselines.com, bistrotbisou.com.auAnd a new book recommendation; Walking the Rock Country in Kakadu/Karrire kundenge karribolknan kunwarddehwardde by Diane Lucas and Ben Tyler is written in English and Kundjeyhmi, one of the 11 Bininj Kunwok languages of Kakadu and western Arnhem Land,  allenandunwin.com Support the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

‘It’s already authentic, it’s not made for the tourist, everything is there like it has been for hundreds of years, Sanjib Raj Khanal, CEO of Explore Japan.Sanjib is a leading tour operator in West Japan, and talks about why Shikoku, Japan’s fourth largest island – with its tranquil Iya Valley,  ancient rope swings and famed ramen – offers an authentic cultural experience, and why going regional in Japan rewards curious travellers. See the Naoshima art house project benesse-artsite.jp We also talk accessible travel - Australians with disabilities spend $8 billion annually on tourism services, taking more than 20% of all day trips. We share some of Australia’s best accessible tourism experiences, such as the Three Sisters walk in the Blue Mountains and Quicksilver’s water-powered lift to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.  For more, see australia.com/en/facts-and-planning/getting-around/accessible-travel-in-australia.html or visit Travel Without Limits,  Australia’s only disability specific magazine, travelwithoutlimits.com.au Finally, MasterChef judge Melissa Leong shares her tips for eating in Hong Kong. Mix fine dining with a market street walk – take a foodie tour through Central and Sheung Wan, or a seafood lunch and walk on Lamma Island, she says. And for fine dining, Melissa plumps for the Michelin-starred Man Wah restaurant, on top of the Mandarin Oriental - while you’re there, nip into the Aubrey, currently #17 on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list. hongkongfoodietours.com/buy-tickets/central-sheung-wan-foodie-tour/discoverhongkong.com Support the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

How do you earn the right to list “Adventurer” as your occupation? Ride a bicycle 10,000km across Russia? Row a wooden boat to the Arctic Ocean? Or maybe spend 3 ½ years riding from Mongolia to Hungary on horseback? Tim Cope has done all three, and has written and filmed his epic adventures. His best known book is On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads, and he talks about Mongolia, a land where there are no fences, where people invite strangers into their homes, and hospitality is the rule, not the exception. “In truth, by the time I arrived in Mongolia, I’d only been on a horse in five days,” Tim admits. “But I learned to ride horses amongst nomadic people of Mongolia and Kazakhstan.” See timcopejourneys.comAlso this week, a look at the disruptions in the aviation industry – the good (Nauru Airlines, Qantas) and bad (Bonza, Vanuatu) – and how you can get your Australian passport faster, and cheaper. You can thank us later! .Support the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Social entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author and G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip talks to Kirstie about his decision to take his travel company into the luxury space after three decades – and what it means to you, the traveller. Stay to the end because you do not want to miss his most bizarre travel moment!  gadventures.comAlso, why not trade the southern winter for a food festival in northern Australia? The weather’s warm, they’ve got celeb chefs, and watermelon skiing. Believe us.And our tip this week is about what to look for when booking an airport hotel while you’re in transit.Taste of Port Douglas, 8-11 August tasteportdouglas.com.au Curated Plate, Sunshine Coast, July 26-4 August thecuratedplate.com.au Karrimanjbekkan An-me Kakadu (Taste of Kakadu), 24-26 May kakadutourism.comScenic Rim Eat Local Month, 1-3 June eatlocalmonth.com.au Redfest Strawberry festival, 6 – 8 September redfest.com.au Toowoomba festival of Food & Wine, 8-10 September tcof.com.auBlackbutt Avocado festival, 14 September avofest.com.au And if you’d like to check out the Chicago packages with the Sofitel Melbourne, see sofitel-melbourne.com.auAs a bonus, Belle shares her favourite clip of the week, about the fact Melbourne still doesn’t have a rail link to the airport. Sound on. abc.net.au/melbourne/sammy-j-s-ode-to-melbourne-s-ariport-rail/103830622?utm Support the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

All eyes are on Paris ahead of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games, from 26 July, 2024. Magali Déchelette joins us to talk about the world’s most beloved city, and how to get the best out of a visit to Paris. Magali, who is the founder of Family Twist, a company that creates luxury family-friendly experiences across the great cultural cities of Europe, shares her favourite times to visit, viewpoints (it’s not from the Eiffel Tower), and travelling with kids in Paris, family-twist.com Also, we swish through the luxury of Dubai’s new signature hotel, Atlantis The Royal, with its sky-high pool bar collab with Dolce&Gabbana and the super-luxe Nobu beach bar, and celebrate the news that international flight prices are going down, according to research by Flight Centre, atlantis.com, karryon.com.au Finally, Southern Cross Travel Insurance reveals the most common scams that target travellers, from the old “my taxi meter is broken” to visa application fraud, scti.com.au--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

It's the Switzerland of the Middle East, but unassuming Oman flies under the radar as a travel destination. This week co-host Belinda Jackson talks about why you should visit Oman - come for the evocative deserts, stay for the wild turtles and the rose harvest.We also take you on a quick run through the newly renovated boutique hotel The Lyall in South Yarra, and the four-star, wallet-friendly Dorsett Melbourne in central Melbourne, which just celebrated its first birthday, thelyall.com,⁠ dorsetthotels.com And which is the world’s best airport? Skytrax’ annual award for top airport in 2024 goes to ...[tune in to find out!], while Houston wins best art in an airport for its outstanding visual and performance art, and Melbourne was the highest of the Australian airports to make the list, at #19. Do you agree Melbourne is the best Aussie airport? https://www.worldairportawards.com/the-worlds-top-10-airports-of-2024/ Finally, we get to the bottom of gastro, revealing which countries where you’re most likely to suffer gastro (hint, it’s not called Bali Belly or Delhi Belly for nothing), according to healthnews.com--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Do you go on holiday, only to come back feeling like you need ...another holiday? How do we come back rested from a getaway?Journalist, author and co-founder of Life Unhurried, Celeste Mitchell talks about how to slow down when you travel, and the best places to do it, lifeunhurried.comAlso, new research on travellers' sleep habits shows how important a good night's sleep is, and we (over)share some rather ...precarious situations we've found ourselves in while trying to sleep on a holiday (hint: what ARE those people doing in next room?) And our tip this week is about how to maximise your European rail pass, thanks to Rail Europe, raileurope.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

What’s a tourism experience you can have nowhere in the world but here in Australia? Uluru is one of our great icons, and its tourist hub, Ayres Rock Resort, turns 40 this year. So it’s a great time to catch up with Matt Cameron-Smith, the CEO of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, which manages the resort. We talk about his favourite indigenous cultural experiences, with tips on where to eat, drink, see and experience country, voyages.com.au  Also, Kirstie and Belle set you up for a great little weekend away on the Bellarine Peninsula, just 90 minutes from Melbourne. It’s got it all – coastal walks, exceptional food, a cycle rail trail and some of the best wine in the country, visitgeelongbellarine.com.au And with ANZAC Day just around the corner, our tip this week is about retracing history through some of the significant Commonwealth War memorial sites around the world, cwgc.org Can’t get enough of travel? Why not buy us a coffee, so we can continue sharing great travel inspo with you, ko-fi.com/theworldawaits--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

How green is Tasmania? Lush mountainsides and emerald islands, but also farmers' markets and farmgates, and a story of pristine bays and innovative Indigenous experiences. The isle that is the apple of our eye lured Tourism Tasmania CEO Sarah Clark back home for the top job, and she tells Kirstie what makes Tassie different to anywhere else in the world, discovertasmania.com.auAlso, the world's best economy, business and first classes are named by Australia's own AirlineRatings.com And our tip is how to soak up a destination via books - search TripFiction to find books set in the location you're travelling in, tripfiction.comAnd co-host Kirstie's got a new gig, check out her news here: Karryon-Luxury --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Tune in for a masterclass on getting into Gold Class whenyou fly, with points whisperer Chris Chamberlin of Points Hacks. Chris has travelled over two million kilometers in First or Business class (that’s to the moon and back, twice) and shares his insights on which loyalty programs to focus on, and how to strategise your spending to switch your seats from beside the toilets to the champagne class. See pointhacks.com.au Also this episode, which is the world’s happiest country? Seeworldhappiness.report And where do you go to feel thegenius of Leonardo Da Vinci, when in Milan, courtesy of the new Da Vinci: 500 Years of Genius exhibition at The Lume, in Melbourne, thelumemelbourne.com--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Would you cycle around the world with three kids, including a one-year-old baby? Andrew and Nicola Hughes quit their teaching jobs to do just that – they tell Kirstie about how they finance their trips, the logistics of it all and the trick of juggling three kids on bicycles. “Challenge and persistence, perseverance and exploration…are values we hold dear and want to share with our children, says Andrew. Follow the Hughes family at ⁠swagfamily.au⁠Also, Kirstie tells us about her recent writers’ residency Varuna in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and we have two tips – the first will help ensure you sleep better when you travel and the second will help you avoid the airlines with the most delays and cancellations. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Do you love the romance of a long train journey? Do these names – The Orient Express, The Ghan, The Flying Scotsman or The Rocky Mountaineer – have you dreaming of riding the rails into the sunset? Belle chats with train aficionado and travel writer Tim Richards, author of several books including Heading South and Ultimate Train Journeys World about why sleeper trains are back in fashion, new innovations in train travel, the best, scenic train routes for and how to train on a budget. We also ask Tim: can you actually sleep on a sleeper train, and we put a call out for a high-speed rail link between Sydney and Melbourne! Also, this episode, Indonesia (read: Bali) has bumped NewZealand off its perch as most visited destination for Australians, and cost-saving site WeThrift reveals the cheapest cities to visit.See iwriter.com.auwww.seat61.comwww.thetrainline.comwww.eurail.com--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

How do you experience Māori culture? Andrew Waddel from Tourism New Zealand talks about Indigenous tourism, the balance of getting it right for both the tourist and the local tangata whenua and why it’s so important to help ensure New Zealand attracts the travellers it so badly needs to boost the economy.  Also, iconic travel photographer Steve McCurry is best known for his portrait of Sharbat Gula (the Afghan Girl), which went global as the cover shot for National Geographic in 1985 and is currently on exhibition in Melbourne. Steve shares some tips for getting that travel shot. And finally, from Turbli, a turbulence forecast tool, the world’s bumpiest airport is… can you guess? .newzealand.comstevemccurryicons.comturbli.com/historical-data/most-turbulent-airports-of-2023/--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

They’re billed as ‘the snobby travellers’ but is it all just a front for Channel Nine’s Travel Guides, Kevin Moloney and Janetta Stones? In conversation with Belle, Kevin gives us a peek behind the velvet curtains of the tv show, which has sent the pair travelling to every corner of the globe since Travel Guides started in 2017 (meanwhile collecting armfuls of gongs along the way). Also this week, which do you think is the world’s most luxurious airport? We also welcome Turkish Airlines to Melbourne for its inaugural Istanbul-Melbourne route, and a hot tip from CNN anchor Richard Quest how status should be your friend when it comes to booking an airfare. https://9now.nine.com.au/travel-guideshttps://www.turkishairlines.comhttps://www.allcleartravel.co.uk/blog/worlds-most-luxurious-airports/--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Louis Thompson from Nomadic Resorts talks about how he’s flipping luxury travel on its head by creating flat-pack hotels with a low-carbon footprint – and he’s won two UN recognitions in the process. And stay listening for Louis' thoughts on how AI will have a positive long-term impact on eco-lodges in the future, nomadicresorts.comAlso, we chat Switftonomics with Taylor Swift in Australia this week, co-host Belle gets another gong, this time as TravMedia's Travel Writer of the Year, and which bucket-list destinations should you avoid?--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Tony Wheeler is one of the most recognisable names in travel, and anyone who’s ever used a Lonely Planet guidebook will have read the story on the last page about how he and his wife Maureen wrote and published their first guidebook, Across Asia on the Cheap, on their kitchen table in 1973, finally selling the Lonely Planet behemoth in 2011. He talks about counting countries, flying with carry-on only, his favourite country and the art of travel, tonywheeler.com.au Also, do North Americans have the world’s friendliest accents? And the world’s best car-free cities;The world’s (allegedly) friendliest accent, minimumdepositcasinos.org Car-free cities comparethemarket.com.au/travel-insurance/features/best-car-less-cities/ What Tony Wheeler’s reading now:Dust On My Shoes by Peter PinneyThe Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Let us take you to a remote tropical island in the Indonesian archipelago, where young Aussie couple Jess and Dan Baldock have built Alamayah, a luxury boutique retreat. Designed by Jess and built by Dan along with the people of Sumba, the tiny, six-suite retreat has been a cultural experience, as the couple learned the local language and culture in the process, embedding Alamayah into the community, all the while raising their own young family on the island, alamayah.com We also reveal Australia’s best beaches for 2024 – can you guess which state came out on top? (Here’s a hint, it’s their first time..) See bestaustralianbeaches.com   And our travel tip is all about the invaluable online travel tool, smartraveller.com.au --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

The incoming Lunar New Year brings in the Year of the Wood Dragon – a year of opportunity and renewal, career work and success. Australian-Chinese artist Chris Chun talks us through the origins of the Chinese zodiac, and how best to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Take Chris’ recommendation and visit Melbourne’s Chinatown to see the Lunar New Year parade followed by yum cha, chinatownmelbourne.com.au then pop into the Museum of Chinese Australian History to say "Kung hei fat choi!" to the largest dragon in the world, the Millennial Dragon, whose head weighs around 200kg. Chris’s family’s favourite Chinese restaurant in Melbourne is the long-running Rock Kung has been around for decades, visit them at 101 Kingsway, Glen Waverley. Also, Booking.com releases its Top 10 Most Welcoming Places in Australia, and the Sunshine Coast and Victoria are shining bright - but who do you think got the top gong? For more Sunny Coast goodness, and to put its claim as Australia's craft beer capital to the test, see visitsunshinecoast.comAnd finally, let's save money on travel insurance! Financial comparison site Mozo shows you how, see mozo.com.au --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Should you wash elephants in Thailand? Adventure World's head Neil Rodgers talks about travelling ethically to ensure travel remains possible for our kids, including why you should avoid local tour operators who don’t protect wildlife, adventureworld.com.au Belle's just back from undertaking one of the great hikes in northern Victoria - the crossing between Falls Creek and Hotham, with Alpine Nature Experiences and Victoria's High Country.We also tell you how much we love the Australian Open and how to hack your annual leave so you can have longer holidays without sacrificing the pay packet, thanks to virginaustralia.com  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/messageSupport the Show.Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au