The Travel Diaries

On today’s Destination Special, we’re taking you somewhere that, for so many travellers, represents the ultimate holiday feeling: Queensland, Australia.

This is a state seven times the size of Britain! A place where one trip can take you from the cultural heartbeat and riverside energy of Brisbane, to the al fresco beach lifestyle of the Gold Coast, to ancient rainforest, island life, wildlife encounters, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island cultures, First Nations storytelling, and one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef.

Known as Australia’s Sunshine State, Queensland is, of course, famous for its blue skies, golden beaches and that blissful sense of switching off the moment you arrive. But as I discovered through making this episode, it is so much more than that.

And that, really, is what makes Queensland so compelling - it’s not just one kind of holiday. It’s a whole collection of holidays in one place. You can wake up in Brisbane, wandering along the river as the city comes to life, stop for brilliant coffee and world-class food, then be out in nature within minutes, perhaps heading to nearby Minjerribah, also known as North Stradbroke Island, for First Nations culture and extraordinary natural landscapes. You can head south towards the Gold Coast for beach walks, coastal drives, wineries, rainforest and incredible produce. Or you can travel north to the Whitsundays, where Hamilton Island, Whitehaven Beach and the Great Barrier Reef deliver that almost dreamlike version of Australia with its turquoise water, white sand, sailing, seafood, and warm tropical air.

Today’s guest is someone who experienced Queensland through one of its great strengths: food. Matt Tebbutt, chef, broadcaster and host of Saturday Kitchen, recently travelled there, eating his way through the state, from riverside restaurants and beachside lunches to extraordinary seafood and island dining.
What struck me most in speaking to Matt was that the food became a way into everything else: the landscape, the wildlife, the culture, the openness, the warmth, and that easy-going Aussie outdoor lifestyle. This episode is wanderlust, guaranteed. So let’s buckle up and get started.

Destination Recap

Brisbane
Stanley Restaurant, Brisbane
Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane
James Street, Brisbane
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane
North Stradbroke Island / Minjerribah
Lady Elliot Island
The Great Barrier Reef
Gold Coast
Rick Shores, Gold Coast
Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk
Mason Winery, Mount Tamborine
The Whitsundays
Hamilton Island
The Sundays, Hamilton Island
Whitehaven Beach
Catseye Pool Club, Hamilton Island
Long Pavilion at qualia
Bommie, Hamilton Island
Passage Peak, Hamilton Island

Thank you to Tourism and Events Queensland for working with me on this episode. For more information and further inspiration about travelling to Queensland, visit queensland.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening. It really helps the podcast grow, allows me to keep bringing you these incredible guests - and it means you’re delivered a fresh dose of wanderlust each week.

And if you’d like a little more Travel Diaries in your life, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok @hollyrubenstein.

Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is a global tv star, bestselling author, food obsessive and one of the most beloved members of one of Netflix’s biggest ever shows…Antoni Porowski.

You’ll know Antoni as the much-loved food and wine expert from Netflix’s global phenomenon Queer Eye, where for ten seasons he helped people transform not just the way they cooked and ate, but the way they saw themselves.

Antoni’s own story is such a fascinating journey in itself. In today’s episode, we travel through his life from childhood road trips to the North Carolina coast and the first meal that truly blew his mind, to the trip he saved up for as a young waiter in New York that made him fall completely in love with travel.

We talk about the years before Queer Eye, when he was auditioning, working in restaurants, hustling, and trying to find his way in New York, and what it felt like when the show suddenly changed everything.

And, of course, we dive into his new National Geographic series, Best of the World with Antoni Porowski, which takes him to Paris, Mexico City, London and New York.

Destination Recap:
Holly: AKI Family Resort, Italy

Pennsylvania, USA
New York City, USA
Philadelphia, USA
Montreal, Canada
September Cafe, Montreal, Canada
Rotisserie Italienne, Montreal, Canada
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Mount Royal, Montreal, Canada
Outremont, Montreal, Canada
Le Merc, Montreal, Canada
Bilboquet, Montreal, Canada
Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA
Dirty Dick’s Crab House, Cape Hatteras, USA
The Labrador, Cape Hatteras, USA
Canadian Hole, Cape Hatteras, USA
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA
West Virginia, USA
Vancouver, Canada
Florence, Italy
Rome, Italy
Mexico City, Mexico
Roma Norte, Mexico City, Mexico
Rosetta, Mexico City, Mexico
Canals of Mexico City, Mexico
Alebrijes Festival, Mexico City, Mexico
Museo de Arte Popular / Folkloric Museum, Mexico City, Mexico
Borneo, Malaysia
Kuching, Malaysia
Iban longhouses, Sarawak, Malaysia
Kuching waterfront / canal, Kuching, Malaysia
Kuching food kiosks, Kuching, Malaysia
Fire Island, New York, USA
Long Island, New York, USA
Ibiza, Spain
Iceland
Istanbul, Turkey
Morocco
Patagonia, Argentina/Chile

Best of the World with Antoni Porowski premieres June 7 on National Geographic and will be available to stream June 8 on Disney+ and Hulu.

With thanks to...

Richard Haworth - Discover their luxury hotel-quality bedding, towels and table linen at Richard Haworth At Home

Airbnb - Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.co.uk/host

If you enjoyed this episode, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening. It really helps the podcast grow, allows me to keep bringing you these incredible guests - and it means you’re delivered a fresh dose of wanderlust each week.

And if you’d like a little more Travel Diaries in your life, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok @hollyrubenstein.

Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you next week.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is an adventurer, filmmaker, writer and one of the most extraordinary travel storytellers of her generation.

Eva zu Beck's life reads like something from a film. She was Oxford-educated, working in travel media, married, successful, and living the kind of polished, high-achieving life so many people are told to want. But behind the scenes, she knew something wasn’t right. So she walked away from it all. The marriage, the career, the security, the neatly mapped-out future, and bought a one-way ticket to Nepal.

Over the past nine years, Eva has travelled almost constantly, often to some of the wildest, most remote and most misunderstood places on earth. She has crossed the Mongolian wilderness on horseback, travelled through the mountains of Pakistan living alongside local families, spent months on the otherworldly island of Socotra in Yemen during lockdown, and driven her old Land Rover Defender, Odyssey, from Mexico through Central America and the United States, all the way to the northernmost point of Alaska.

You’re going to love this one guys.

Destination recap:

Holly - Forestis, Dolomites, Italy
Carpathian Mountains, Poland
Marrakech, Morocco
Nepal
Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Gobi Desert, Mongolia
Pakistan
Northern Pakistan, Pakistan
Himalayas, Pakistan
Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan
Arabian Sea, Pakistan
United States
Montana, United States
Alaska, United States
Mexico
Dalton Highway, United States
Deadhorse, United States
Romania
Carpathian Mountains, Romania
Transylvania, Romania
Transalpina, Romania
Maramureș, Romania
Socotra, Yemen
Central Asia
Russia
Central Africa
Sahara
Northern Canada, Canada
Patagonia, Argentina and Chile

Eva’s new book, The Wilder Way, is out now, and if you loved this conversation, I think you’ll absolutely love the book too.

With thanks to...

Richard Haworth - Discover their luxury hotel-quality bedding, towels and table linen at Richard Haworth At Home

Airbnb - Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.co.uk/host

If you enjoyed this episode, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening. It really helps the podcast grow, allows me to keep bringing you these incredible guests - and it means you’re delivered a fresh dose of wanderlust each week.

And if you’d like a little more Travel Diaries in your life, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok @hollyrubenstein.

Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you next week.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re heading to the sun-soaked Southern California coast in the USA, arriving at Newport Beach.

Now, if you’re listening in the UK and thinking, hang on, where exactly is Newport Beach? - it’s just south of Los Angeles, in Orange County.

For a lot of you listening, that name might immediately conjure up The O.C., or the The Real Housewives of Orange County - it’s one of those places that really captures that classic California coastal lifestyle: long sandy beaches, a beautiful harbour dotted with boats, waterfront restaurants serving the freshest seafood, surf culture, spectacular houses, and that sense that life is lived largely outdoors.

It’s glamorous, yes, but it’s also very accessible for all price points and surprisingly varied once you get to know it - and that’s what this episode is all about.
I’m joined today by Gary Sherwin, a Newport Beach local for the last 25 years, travel expert and CEO of Visit Newport Beach - he knows the area inside out.

He shares the places, experiences and little details that really give you a feel for the destination. Because this isn’t just somewhere to come for a quick beach stop. It’s a destination in its own right, and one that seems to offer a really lovely mix of things: that classic California coast feeling, yes, but also a lot of variety within it - from smart hotels and great food to beach days, boat days, family-friendly experiences, little pockets with their own personality, and plenty of ways to slow down and enjoy being by the water.

So whether you’re plotting a wider California trip, looking for a different side of Southern California, or just in the mood for a little armchair travel to somewhere sunny and coastal, this should give you a very good feel for it.

Destination Recap:

Newport Harbor
Gulfstream Restaurant
Louie’s by the Bay
A Restaurant
21 Oceanfront Restaurant
Balboa Bay Resort
Pendry Newport Beach
VEA Newport Beach, A Marriott Resort & Spa
The Resort at Pelican Hill (becoming A St. Regis Estate in 2027)
Crystal Cove
Balboa Island
Inspiration Point, Corona del Mar
Mastro’s Ocean Club
Blackie’s by the Sea
Fashion Island
Back Bay (Upper Newport Bay)

You can discover more about Newport Beach here.

As always, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed it, do share it with someone who’s planning a California trip, and don’t forget to follow or subscribe on your podcast app so you never miss an episode.

I’ll be back on Tuesday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is one of the most distinctive and brilliantly funny voices in British comedy. Born in Cornwall by accident, raised in Hull with pride, Lucy Beaumont has built a career out of finding the strange, hilarious and deeply human moments in everyday life. You’ll know her from shows like Would I Lie To You?, Taskmaster, Meet the Richardsons, The Celebrity Traitors, and so much more, as well as from her acclaimed stand-up and writing.

In today’s conversation, we travel from an out-of-season teenage trip to Magaluf, to sneaking off to Torquay in search of surfers, falling in love with Menorca, finding magic in New York and New Orleans, and the spiritual pull of Robin Hood’s Bay. We also talk about Hull, panel shows, pad Thai on tour, Celebrity Traitors secrets, travelling with Johnny Vegas, and her brilliant new tour, Bad at Quiz Shows, Good with Weirdos, which begins this September.

Holly's Destination Recap
Coworth Park, England

Lucy's Destination Recap
Magaluf, Mallorca, Spain
Truro, Cornwall, England
Torquay, Devon, England
Newquay, Cornwall, England
Hull, England
Hornsea, Yorkshire, England
Ciutadella, Menorca, Spain
Deià, Mallorca, Spain
Kavos, Greece
Ibiza, Spain
New York City, USA
Brooklyn, New York, USA
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Robin Hood’s Bay, Yorkshire, England
Whitby, Yorkshire, England
Montenegro
Croatia
Maldives
St Lucia

Tickets are available for Lucy's new tour, Bad at Quiz Shows, Good with Weirdos, which begins this September.

Thank you to the London Marriot County Hall for having us to film the episode.

With thanks to...

Airbnb - Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.co.uk/host

If you enjoyed this episode, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening. It really helps the podcast grow, allows me to keep bringing you these incredible guests - and it means you’re delivered a fresh dose of wanderlust each week.

And if you’d like a little more Travel Diaries in your life, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok @hollyrubenstein.

Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you next week.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.