Unravel Travel
Unravel Travel is a weekly British travel podcast featuring honest stories, practical advice and plenty of humour from lifelong travellers Malcolm and David. Expect independent travel, walking holidays, trekking adventures, city breaks, longer journeys and the realities of living overseas.
Malcolm and David met at school when they were 14 and, by some miracle, are still friends more than 40 years later. Their travels together began with an Interrail trip after university, but both have continued exploring the world throughout their working lives and into semi-retirement.
Malcolm has travelled extensively for work and pleasure, lived in Singapore and now divides his time between the UK and Czechia. He has also been an Airbnb host for several years. David combined a career in accounting and financial services with ambitious long-distance trips before retiring early and starting a business offering walking and group holidays. He now spends much of each winter travelling in warmer parts of the world.
Each episode draws on their own experiences—from famous cities and classic journeys to remote treks, cabin life and travel before smartphones. They are regularly joined by friends with remarkable travel stories of their own.
Episodes
40 episodes
Paris City Break: The Louvre, Moulin Rouge and is the City of Love Worth the Hype?
Is Paris worth the hype? From the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre to café culture and a night at the Moulin Rouge, Malcolm and David revisit the French capital with humour, hazy memories and rather different levels of enthusiasm.This week on...
York & Yorkshire: City Breaks, Coastal Walks & God’s Own Country
Planning a York city break or a holiday in Yorkshire? Malcolm and David explore things to do in York, walking in the North York Moors and places to visit along the Yorkshire coast — with personal travel stories, childhood memories and plenty of...
Thai Islands: Koh Tao, Phuket & James Bond Island
Which Thai island should you visit—and is James Bond Island really worth the journey?Malcolm and David return to Thailand to share memories from Koh Tao, Koh Chang, Koh Lanta, Phuket and the spectacular limestone scenery around Krabi and...
Havana, Cuba: Crumbling Magnificence, Classic Cars and Famous Bars
Havana is a city of glorious contradictions: elegant Spanish colonial squares and grand hotels, crumbling balconies and improvised daily life, vintage American cars kept running with replacement engines—and music, rum and conversation around ev...
Travel Before Smartphones: Paper Maps, Guidebooks and Chaos
How did we travel before smartphones, Google Maps, WhatsApp and instant online booking—and was it actually better?In this nostalgic and frequently funny episode of Unravel Travel, Malcolm and David climb aboard a metaphorical TARDIS and ...
Travel Update: UK Walking Holidays and a Winter in Asia
What happens when a summer of UK walking holidays turns into plans to spend most of the winter travelling around Asia?Malcolm and David pause their usual destination-led episodes for a catch-up on where they have been—and where they are ...
Perth & Western Australia: The Pinnacles, Quokkas and Giant Trees
Perth may be one of the world’s most isolated major cities, but Western Australia is anything but empty.In this episode, Malcolm returns to 1997, when he travelled from Singapore to spend two weeks with friends living near Scarborough Be...
K2 Carnage: Trekking Pakistan’s Karakoram Without Porters
A trek to K2 Base Camp is difficult enough with an organised expedition and a team of porters. In 1994, aged just 21 and with very little overseas travel experience, Stewart set out with four university friends to carry everything they needed t...
From Walden to the Czech Woods: The Reality of Cabin Life
A cabin in the woods sounds wonderfully romantic—but what is everyday cabin life really like when there is no mains water, electricity or sewage, and the nearest regularly occupied neighbour is around two miles away?In this episode of Un...
Festivals and Travelling for Music: From Glastonbury to Ghent
Can a music festival replace a traditional summer holiday? In this episode of Unravel Travel, Malcolm and David revisit more than three decades of festival travel, free concerts and trips built around live music.Their festival m...
Peru and the Inca Trail
Peru and the Inca Trail: Lima, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, Machu Picchu and the AmazonIn this episode of Unravel Travel, we revisit an organised group trip to Peru, built around the legendary four-day Inca Trail t...
Alcohols of the world
Alcohols of the World: Beer First, Then Spirits of TravelSpecific episode mentionsHook Norton Brewery tours - https://www.hooky.co.uk/visit-us/book-a-brewery-tour/That bar in Bratislava - ZilVerne ...
Bath and Bristol
Bath vs Bristol: Two Cities, Two WorldsEpisode summaryIn this episode of Unravel Travel, we compare two of the great West Country city breaks: Bath and Bristol. They sit close together on the map, yet they fe...
Sri Lanka with a Driver
In this episode 27 we go back to Sri Lanka to discuss how Malcolm visited in the early 2000's with a very young family. Many shared perspectives and a few differences and an exploration of a different side of Sri Lanka. This has muc...
Questiontime
In this episode 26 we thought we would address the backlog of questions from listeners leading a to a diverse episode covering a range of topics, some on which we agree and some on which we don't.How different is it to live overseas, rat...
Sri Lanka by public transport
Join Malcolm and David on this first episode of a double header as they explore the incredible island nation of Sri Lanka.From the bustling streets of Colombo to the scenic tea-covered hills of Ella and the wildlife-rich national park of...
Bali and surrounding Islands
In this episode, David & Malcolm are joined by Izzy to take you on a tropical journey through Bali and Gili Trawangan, two of Indonesia’s most captivating destinations.The adventure begins in Ubud on Bali, where lush rice terraces -...
New York - Part 3
In this third episode of the New York Trilogy we look into some of the details of food and gallery visits.We talk shopping in New York, Old buildings and new concepts like trip planning with AI, when to trust it and when to ask again.
New York - Part 2
In this second episode of the New York Trilogy we are joined by Izzy for a slightly different take on New York. All the deep and meaningful culture that Malcolm didn't bother with.We talk about Dumbo, the best sort of Diner breakfa...
New York - Part 1
In this episode we take our first bite out of the big apple.We talk about musical influences, first impressions and getting around.Walking is good, too much walking is bad.Visa applications pitfalls, the worst immigration (...
Cornwall - part 2
In this episode we continue our review of Cornwall, this time with more of a focus on the cultural, covering:St Ives (Tate and the Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden).Tremenheere Sculpture gardensThe Minack Theatre...
Cornwall - Part 1
To celebrate the May Bank Holiday and the inevitable forecast of rain, what could be more appropriate than a discussion of Cornwall? The A30 will be packed with visitors eager to get away for some summer sun, walks, fish and chips and the...
Trekking Expeditions
In this episode David and Malcolm discuss the basics of trekking, including how best to avoid and deal with altitude sickness.They talk about how the gear is transported on a trekking expedition and they fall down the rabbit hole of wha...
Canoe Expeditions in Scotland pt 2
In the 2nd part of this episode on Scottish Canoe Expeditions we explore some of the practicalities like travel and hire. Also tents, sleeping and the usual juvenile toilet topics.We talk about how to work your way up to a trip lik...
