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Travel Secrets

Travel Secrets

By: Tanya Rose
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Welcome to Travel Secrets with Tanya Rose – the podcast sharing wisdom for fellow travellers. Tanya will be joined by an ensemble of well-travelled guests, sharing perspectives on the art of travel shaped by their varied lifestyles; from the worlds of film, fashion and more. During these conversations, Tanya will discover the guests' six Travel Secrets and learn about the experiences that uncovered them. Unlock insider secrets and learn how to get under the skin of a destination like a local and not a tourist. This podcast might not change your life, but it might just change your plans. Keep up with everything Travel Secrets at @travelsecretsthepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Tanya Rose Social Sciences Travel Writing & Commentary
Episodes
  • Lucy Fleming & Simon Williams’ Travel Secrets | Sailing Across the Atlantic at 50

    Lucy Fleming & Simon Williams’ Travel Secrets | Sailing Across the Atlantic at 50
    Sep 7 2026
    Recorded live at the HoT Podcast Festival in Henley 🎙️ Tanya Rose is joined by acting couple Lucy Fleming and Simon Williams for a wonderfully entertaining conversation filled with extraordinary travel stories, family history and adventures around the world. Lucy, daughter of Brief Encounter actress Celia Johnson and writer and explorer Peter Fleming, shares stories from her remarkable family history. Her uncle Ian Fleming created James Bond, and Lucy recalls visiting his Jamaican home, GoldenEye, where she sat at the desk where he wrote the Bond novels. She also reveals how she entered a competition to sail around the world, despite not really wanting to, and ended up spending five and a half weeks at sea from Cape Town to Boston, celebrating her 50th birthday along the way. Simon, best known for his role as James Bellamy in Upstairs, Downstairs, shares why his first visit to New York completely blew his mind, memories of travelling through China and eating oysters straight from the rocks in Oman, and why meeting the people who live in a destination is one of the greatest pleasures of travel. Together, Lucy and Simon take Tanya from the tea country and wildlife of Sri Lanka to leopard spotting in Rajasthan and a magical New Year’s Day watching the sun rise over the Himalayas. Plus, Lucy reveals how her father became known as “Professor Nitpick” when Ian Fleming sent him his James Bond manuscripts to read and make notes on, and the couple share the travel advice they’ve picked up from a lifetime of adventures. CHAPTERS 00:00 Peter Fleming: traveller, adventurer & wartime deception 00:23 Welcome to Travel Secrets LIVE00:52 Introducing Lucy Fleming & Simon Williams 02:06 Posting Letters to the Moon & Lucy’s extraordinary family 04:40 Travel Secret #1: New York 06:07 Arriving in New York by sea 07:05 Lucy’s most unexpected adventure: sailing the Atlantic 09:58 Simon’s experience filming in China 11:49 Ian Fleming, Naval Intelligence & the origins of James Bond 12:47 Oysters on the beach in Oman 13:54 The Savoy Grill, The Ivy & Noel Coward 16:18 Lucy & Simon’s top travel tips 17:25 Why they love Sri Lanka 18:54 Leopard spotting in Rajasthan 20:04 The wartime letters behind Posting Letters to the Moon 23:39 Lucy’s poignant visit to GoldenEye in Jamaica 27:31 The photograph that sums up travel for Lucy & Simon 28:02 New Year’s Day in the Himalayas 29:06 Watching their children leave on their gap years List of places mentioned: • New York, USA • Cape Town, South Africa • Boston, USA • China • India • Oman • Sri Lanka • Galle, Sri Lanka • Rajasthan, India • Jamaica • GoldenEye, Jamaica • The Himalayas Listen to Travel Secrets wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to the channel for more conversations with some of the world’s most fascinating travellers. With special thanks to Hot Podcast Festival and Good Full Media for such a wonderful evening, Gillan Williams for capturing it all, and Lara Shardlow for the wonderful photographs.
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    31 mins
  • Christopher Biggins: I Was on Virgin Atlantic’s First Ever Flight to New York | Travel Secrets LIVE

    Christopher Biggins: I Was on Virgin Atlantic’s First Ever Flight to New York | Travel Secrets LIVE
    Sep 1 2026
    Recorded live at the HoT Podcast Festival in Henley 🎙️ For Travel Secrets’ very first live recording, Tanya was joined on stage by someone who really needs no introduction: actor, national treasure, king of the jungle and one of the greatest storytellers around, Christopher Biggins. Christopher is also a dear friend of Tanya’s, a former Travel Secrets guest and someone she has been lucky enough to travel with herself, making him the perfect person to bring Travel Secrets to life in front of an audience. And he certainly didn’t disappoint. From flying to New York on Virgin Atlantic’s first flight and taking a rather unconventional military plane to see China’s Terracotta Warriors, to an unforgettable party in St Petersburg, meeting Hillary Clinton in full Austrian costume and encountering a professional mermaid on a cruise around Japan, Christopher takes us around the world in his own completely inimitable way. He also shares why he still loves the Maldives, his memories of sailing to Easter Island on an unforgettable world cruise and the very different side of travel he has experienced through his work with the HOPE Foundation in Kolkata. Funny, outrageous and occasionally rather moving, this was such a special evening and we’re delighted to finally be able to share it with you. Chapters: 00:00 Christopher Biggins’ travel stories 01:00 Welcome to Travel Secrets LIVE at the HoT Podcast Festival 03:20 How travel changes as you get older 05:17 The joy of travelling by private jet 07:12 Christopher’s childhood holidays at Butlin’s 09:14 China, the Great Wall & an unforgettable flight to Xi’an 11:41 The Peace Hotel in Shanghai 12:09 The unfortunate story of the terracotta horse 13:11 Travel Secret #1: New York 16:31 Most unexpected experience: the Maldives 18:30 Overrated or underrated: the Isle of Man 19:34 Cruising the Mekong & arriving in Saigon 21:30 An extraordinary party in St Petersburg 24:05 Meeting Hillary Clinton in Austria 25:07 Christopher’s top travel tip 25:58 Meeting a professional mermaid in Japan 27:28 Sailing to Easter Island on an unforgettable world cruise 29:19 The photograph that sums up travel for Christopher 29:28 Kolkata & the HOPE Foundation 31:15 Private jets, first class & the other side of travel Places mentioned: • New York, USA • Great Wall of China, China • Xi’an & the Terracotta Warriors, China • Shanghai & the Peace Hotel, China • The Maldives • Isle of Man • Mekong River, Vietnam • Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam • St Petersburg, Russia • Japan • Easter Island, Chile • Tonga • Tahiti, French Polynesia • New Zealand • Sydney, Australia • Kolkata, India • Dubai, UAE Listen to Travel Secrets wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to the channel for more conversations with some of the world’s most fascinating travellers.
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    34 mins
  • What It Was Really Like Travelling the World with The Rolling Stones | Jo Wood’s Travel Secrets

    What It Was Really Like Travelling the World with The Rolling Stones | Jo Wood’s Travel Secrets
    Aug 24 2026
    What happens when a life of travel begins with a modelling trip to Acapulco at 16 and goes on to include touring the world with The Rolling Stones, climbing to 17,000ft in Tibet and even spotting a UFO in Brazil? This week, Tanya is joined by Jo Wood, model, entrepreneur, writer and founder of Jo Wood Organics, whose extraordinary life has taken her all over the world. Jo started travelling as a teenage model, but when she met Ronnie Wood at 22, she began joining him on tour and, as she tells Tanya, thinks she has now been to “most places in the world.” In this episode, Jo shares: Why Japan is the one country Jo thinks everyone should visit Touring Japan with The Rolling Stones and seeing how dramatically the country changed between visits Why Buenos Aires completely surprised her, and arriving there with The Rolling Stones to scenes she describes as “Beatlemania” Spending a month travelling through Tibet with Sadhguru and climbing to 17,000ft at Mount Kailash The night Jo and Ronnie saw what she describes as a “proper UFO” while on holiday in Brazil and her other unexplained sightings while travelling in South America and Zanzibar Taking her own home-grown organic potatoes to Paris while on tour The restaurant hidden in the Spanish mountains that she recommends Her travels through India, from Kerala and Goa to Mumbai and Rajasthan Why she loves Zanzibar and keeps going back The Seychelles trip and photograph that sums up travel for her Her favourite restaurants and what she always takes with her when she travels From rock ’n’ roll tours to remote pilgrimages, this is a life very well travelled. Subscribe to Travel Secrets for a new episode every week, as Tanya asks her guests to reveal their six travel secrets and the holidays and adventures that surround them. And remember: this podcast might not change your life, but it might just change your plans. Chapters: 01:20 How has travel impacted the person you’ve become? 05:44 What’s the one destination everyone should visit once in their lifetime? 08:38 What’s your most unexpected travel experience? 10:52 What’s your most overrated or underrated destination? 20:36 What and where do you love to eat and drink when you travel? 24:39 What’s your top travel tip? 27:58 What’s your most poignant travel memory? 31:51 What photograph sums up travel for you? 34:33 Where are you going next? Places mentioned Japan and Mount Fuji Buenos Aires, Argentina Tibet, Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash Nepal Brazil, including Recife and São Paulo Zanzibar, Tanzania The Seychelles Egypt India, including Coimbatore, Kerala, Goa, Mumbai and Rajasthan Acapulco, Mexico Paris and Cannes, France Tenerife and mainland Spain Los Angeles and Miami, USA London
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    40 mins
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