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Hilary Bradt MBE is one of the living legends of the travel writing world. In 1974, she co-founded Bradt Guides, which thrives today as one of the best-loved brands in travel writing and independent publishing with over 200 titles in print.

An award-winning writer and an expert on Madagascar, Hilary has been appointed Officier de l’Ordre de Madagascar – the Malagasy equivalent of an OBE, in recognition of four decades’ pioneering promotion of the country’s tourism potential. She has also been appointed Member of the British Empire; an honour she received with characteristic humility ("I wondered what I’d done to upset Gordon Brown" she wrote near the time).

Hilary generously joined the Travel Writing Podcast to share her journey from the early days stapling together the first copies of her first guidebook to how Bradt is adapting to the changing needs of readers in the digital world.

We discussed Hilary's article in the recent British Guild of Travel Writers' anthology, Around the World in 65 Years, where Hilary takes a thought-provoking perspective on what ethical travel really means. We spoke about Bradt Guides' new Journey Books imprint, and why she still believes in the enduring power of print.

Hilary Bradt, Co-Founder of Bradt Guides, on 50 Years of Travel, Publishing, and Writing

Welcome to a new series from the Travel Writing Podcast where we invite select authors from Intrepid Times to read their articles. This series will supplement our regular interviews, which will continue with gusto. Today, B.A Van Sise, internationally known writer, photographer and author, reads his story, "The Saints and All Their Bones," titled on Intrepid Times as "As the Pope Was Dying, I Browsed Human Bones in the Vatican’s Gift Shops" and available to read here: https://intrepidtimes.com/2026/01/pope-dying-vatican-city-human-bones/

Editor's Travel Writing Picks: B.A. Van Sise Reads "The Saints and All Their Bones"

As a 20-something travel scrabbling together an existence in the youth hostels of Istanbul and Berlin, Charly Wilder began writing. A cold email led to a blogging role at the New York Times, which soon developed into dozens of features, including contributions to their highly successful '36 Hours In' series.

Charly's stories resist the cliches of travel writing and challenge assumptions - about whether a truly transformative travel experience can be engineered, about travel in the footsteps of your ancestors, or literary heroes.

Two years ago, Charly took a job as Executive Editor at Roads & Kingdoms. The platform had ceased publishing new travel stories following the death of Anthony Bourdain, their champion, partner, and benefactor. Under Charly's guidance, their engine is revving up again, and they've just launched a new membership and a 144-page print magazine.

On the Travel Writing Podcast, Charly talks about her travel writing journey, what makes the travel stories Roads & Kingdoms publishes so unusual, and what they are looking for in new travel writing. 



Charly Wilder: From the New York Times Travel Section to Executive Editor at Roads & Kingdoms

Meera Dattani's family story is rich in voyages and the intermingling of cultures between India, Uganda, and the United Kingdom. It is perhaps no surprise then that, in a freelance travel writing career now entering its third decade, Meera is known for incisive cultural observation and a sense of moral purpose behind her writing.

As the executive editor of Adventure.com, Meera has a potent platform from which to shape the conversation in a volatile time for media of all kinds. On the Travel Writing Podcast, we talked about Meera's background and how that influenced her worldview, her advice for freelance writers looking to break into travel, and how her dual role as a freelance travel writer and an executive editor shapes her approach to both positions.


Meera Dattani Takes Us Behind the Editor's Desk at Adventure.com and Talks 20 Years of Freelance Writing

In his late thirties, burned out from 18 years in the corporate world, Phil Thomas was given a chance to walk away and start again. He had always dreamed of being a travel writer. Now, he was going to make it happen.

Phil knew it would take time. He was methodical. He refined his pitching style. He carefully built up a portfolio before putting himself forward for major, well-paying publications.

Not long ago, he received his first clippings in the BBC and Travel & Leisure, the latter going on to win the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association 2025 Excellence in Journalism "Best in Show" award:

https://www.travelandleisure.com/lofoten-islands-norway-summer-11772065 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20250801-are-the-worlds-most-beautiful-islands-in-danger

In today's episode of the Travel Writing Podcast, Phil talks about how he got there, step by step.

(If you notice this episode is a lot more polished than our usual haphazard productions, that's because it was edited by the wonderful Shebs Alom, @shebsthewanderer, big thanks for helping to lift our game here!)

Writing for BBC Travel and Travel & Leisure After an 18 Year Corporate Career with Phil Thomas

When Tom Sykes was rushed through the clogged streets of Manila in an ambulance, he knew it wasn't the exotic surroundings of the Philippines that had sent his system into panic mode. A seasoned expat, travel writer, journalist and author, he was accustomed to the physical and psychological challenges of travel. No, the root of his debilitating anxiety was looking much deeper. He set out to find it.

In "The Years of Travelling Anxiously: A Travel Writer’s Search for Peace of Mind" Tom Sykes has authored neither a macho memoir nor a self-help text. It's a frank and thoughtful meditation on where this fear that so many travelers feel truly comes from. Intrepid Times will be supporting the launch of this book by publishing a series of interviews conducted by Tom with notable travelers and writers every Monday in March, starting next week.

Dr Tom Sykes is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Global Journalism at the University of Portsmouth. He is the author of six books, including the travelogues The Realm of the Punisher (2018) and Coast of Teeth (2023), and the novel Tangled Saviours (2023). His books have been praised in the Times Literary Supplement, the London Magazine, and his expertise has been sought by the New York Times, the BBC World Service and the universities of Oxford, Sydney, the Philippines and Hawai’i.

Tom Sykes Asks the Hard Questions About Anxiety and Travel

Most conversations on the Travel Writing Podcast look, in one way or another, at the professional world of writing, travel, and publication.

But not everything worth writing is meant to be read. And the value of your writing cannot be accurately determined by the fickle media ecosystem.

Sometimes, you write for yourself. To explore an idea. To purge an emotion. To confront a truth. To document a transformation. And yes, sometimes those lines blur.

Valley Haggard is an expert in guiding writers to look inside, not outside, and summon the courage to confront the deeper challenges of confidence and self-worth that dog so many writers, from beginners all the way to published authors.

Valley joins the travel writing podcast to share her journey - through pain, addiction, and healing - and her advice to writers struggling with the internal aspect of the craft. She will be leading the Writer's Workshop in East Africa, facilitated by the Global Livingston Institute, and we look forward to publishing many of the resulting stories in Intrepid Times.

Valley Haggard on Why Your Writing Matters - Even When No One is Reading

Like many travelers, I used to feel that the purpose was to collect as many passport stamps as possible. To race through cities and countries, seeing as much as I could. Only when I got a bit older did I realize that, as Caroline Mills also learned, the best travel experience often comes when you stay still.

Staying still is not so simple. The environment around you changes, and these changes can be exciting, but they can also be distressing. The Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined the term 'solastalgia' to explain this particular feeling of hurt when a familiar place changes due to forces, often malevolent, often unstoppable. 

Caroline Mills joined the travel writing podcast to discuss slow travel, pitching slow-travel stories to editors, the life of a professional travel writer trying not to move too fast, and her new book "This is Not My Land" about 30 years on a farm in the Cotswolds in the British countryside, published by Bradt Guides and out now.

Caroline Mills on 'Solastalgia' and Making Slow Travel Work as a Professional Travel Writer

Tens of thousands of flights cancelled. Fuel costs are variously described as spiking, surging, or skyrocketing. Travelers still stranded, unable to complete their journeys or return home. Once again, the world has been plunged into chaos. What role does the travel writer play in times like this? How do travel writers guide travelers when the best laid plans all fall apart?

For this special episode, I was joined by Shebs Alom, AKA Shebs the Wanderer. He is not only a media figure, podcast host, and editor, but also the newly minted producer of the Travel Writing Podcast. Not to mention, a sworn rival, we are going head-to-head for the Inspire Global Media award for best broadcast in London in May this year. May the best podcast win!

Listen here, or find the Travel Writing Podcast on Spotify or iTunes.

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