A ferry announcement about whales comes over the tannoy and suddenly the cafeteria empties, the crew step away from their tasks, and everyone presses to the windows. That shared pause is the heartbeat of slow travel, and it’s why Adventurer Phoebe Smith takes you onboard BC Ferries’ “Milk Run” from Vancouver Island up through Canada’s Inside Passage. This isn’t a floating resort. It’s a working supply route that carries food, freight and locals between remote Indigenous coastal communities and, for travellers, it’s one of the most affordable ways to see humpbacks, orcas, sea lions and wild, rain-soaked shorelines.

Also coming up:

• Author of All My Wild Mothers and new book The Apothecary by the Sea: A Year in an Orkney Garden and self-confessed wild woman Victoria 'Vik' Bennett
• Travel Hack: how to travel on a budget without being a backpacker
• Top 10 of the best ferry rides in the world
• Meet the woman who's been making an audio record of women adventurers – of all ages, shapes and sizes – with her Tough Girl Podcast for the past 10 years, Sarah Williams
• Gear chat: what to pack for a scenic ferry ride
• Isobel Gunn – who in 1806 passed herself off as a man and inadvertantly becoming the first European woman to travel to Rupert's Land, now part of Western Canada – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If you enjoy travel stories with substance, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

What if we stopped saving our dream journey for “one day” and booked it now? Wander Woman Phoebe Smith hits pause on the grind and takes a micro‑retirement across North India by rail—soaking in Kolkata’s dawn ferry music, the riot of colour at the flower market, and the earthy taste of chai, before tracing slower paths to Bodh Gaya, Varanasi and Agra. The result is an immersion into India that her late mother always wanted but whose death age 50 meant she never got to experience.

Also coming up:

• Author and travel writer Shafik Meghji on South America's links with Britain and the perfect trip for first time visitors
• Travel Hack: Survive your first night on an Indian Sleeper Train
• Top 10 North Indian dishes you have to try... now!
• Meet the acid attack survivors at Sheroes Hangout Cafe - who turn tragedy into triumph over coffee every day
• Gear chat: what to pack for a trip to India in winter and summer
• Ida Pfeiffer – the midlife pioneer who circled the globe on grit, curiosity, and a shoestring – is our Wander Woman of the Month.

If this journey nudges your own “someday” list, make it sooner. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a push, and leave a quick review to help more travellers find us. Where would your micro‑retirement take you?

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

A rewilded valley, a returning herd, and a community finding new roots—come with Wander Woman Phoebe Smith to Portugal’s Côa Valley where tauros and sorraia horses are reshaping the land and jumpstarting local livelihoods. Join her as she learns how large herbivores create healthier mosaic habitats that reduce wildfire risk, boost biodiversity, and draw back predators like wolves, and listen in as she meets the people turning these ecological wins into sustainable nature-based tourism.

Also coming up:

• Right to Roam campaigner Guy Shrubsole on access rights and Britain's Rainforests
• Travel Hack: How to find a legit re-wilding project
• Top 10 Rewilding projects around the world and where to visit them
• Meet travel writers and authors Rhona Carrier and Tracey Davies as they discuss their memoir Wayward Women - and how mid-life women are a force to be reckoned with
• Gear chat: what to pack for a responsible wild camp
• Florence Merriam Bailey - a birdwatcher who had to persuade others to look but don't shoot (yes, really) is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith