Travel Tales by AFAR

About

Travel Tales by AFAR is a podcast about transformative travel. Each week, we hear from a different person about a trip that changed their life.

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People near the banks of a river in India.

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

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.
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.
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.
Rahawa Haile grew up surrounded by the beauty and kitsch of South Florida. Now she returns and wonders what happens when the places we love start to disappear.
In Portugal, novelist Charmaine Craig searches for the ghost of her hero, goes on a high-speed chase for delicious pork, and ponders the mystery of a writer’s trunk.
How a nature-phobic city girl opened her eyes to the wild side of India that seethes beyond the tea plantations and languid rivers.
On an epic bike trip through the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert, a pair of travelers learns when to say yes to adventure.
On a cross-country Amtrak trip, a perpetually rushed traveler finds the gift of time.
A visually impaired traveler journeys through the wilds of Zimbabwe and discovers a side of the safari experience that very few know.
Writer Francis Lam discovers the island’s multicultural flavors when he joins a Malaysia-born San Francisco chef for a bittersweet homecoming.
Michael Evans went to Argentina to clear his head. Twelve years and a booming business later, he has no intention of leaving.
From Afghanistan to Sierra Leone, photographer Maria de la Guardia finds beauty and purpose in the most misunderstood corners of the world. Here, she shares the complicated realities of documenting stories during war.