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

The sky is stirring over Canada's Northwest Territories, and we wanted to know what it really means when the norhtern lights dance. So Wander Woman Phoebe Smith sent her editor and correspondent Daniel Neilson to travel to Yellowknife to sit with Dene guides who treat the aurora as memory and medicine, not a bucket list stunt. Join us for stories that bring light to the darkness and stir the sky - and the soul.

Also coming up:

• Celebrity Chef Rick Stein on his new series about Australia airing on the BBC
• Travel Hack: How to photograph the aurora borealis
• Top 10 winter festivities around the world that aren't Christmas - from Up Helly Aa to Diwali and moew
• Meet the man behind the former hunting farm that became a stronghold in Namibia for protecting endangered species - and ensuring local people benefitted too
• Gear chat: what to wear when stood watching for the Northern Lights
• Shaaw Tláa - a pioneering prospector and proud member of the Tagish community is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

Cold breath on the air, pancakes at dawn, and the hush before a bear appears at the treeline – join Wander Woman Phoebe Smith as she journeys from Finland’s close‑to‑Helsinki wilds with a foraging guide to paddle a quiet nine kilometres to a lean‑to where two dogs double as companions and hot‑water bottles. The theme is deliberate slowness: built in boredom, and the forest fills the space. Before a finale at dusk with an elusive sighting of the European 'Spirit Bear' on the Finland-Russia border.

Also coming up:

• BBC Radio 4 Women's Hour presenter Anita Rani on what drew her to Race Across the World...
• Travel Hack: How to keep warm in cold climates
• Top 10 species of bears to spot around the world - from polar to grizzly and all those in between
• Meet the tour company in Jasper National Park Canada who is embracing the change caused by the 2024 wildfires to teach travellers about ancient indigenious practises
• Gear chat: what to pack for a night out in an unheated hut (or bear hide)
• Mina Benson Hubbard - a pioneering Canadian explorer is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

A simple walk can change a life and a place. Join Wander Woman Phoebe Smith as she head's to Umbria to undertake part of Italy’s lesser-known pilgrim path - the St Francis Way - and see how it is bringing life back into the region. In association with this episode's podcast partner Sloways. From truffle hunts on the village edges to choirs echoing through convents, to ridge walks above Assisi and stamps in a well-worn pilgrim passport, this journey shows how slow travel creates real ties between people and landscape.

Also coming up:

• Co-founder of the British Pilgrimage Trust Guy Hayward about his mission to change the path of walks with purpose to enable everyone to bring their own beliefs...
• Travel Hack: How to have a meaningful pilgrimage
• Top 10 non-religious pilgrimages around the world
• Meet Andrea Devicenzi – the Italian Paralympic cyclist who is using pilgrimages to change people's perceptions about disability
• Gear chat: what to pack when doing activities in very hot weather
• Margery Kempe - pilgrim and author of the first memoir in history is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

With the rise of the Far Right across the globe, things have never been so tough for refugees and asylum seekers. So I head out with a new social enterprise that’s training immigrant women to become tour guides across Britain so they can celebrate their culture whilst earning their own income and teach us all a thing or too about our most well-known cities. Join Phoebe on an exploration of Syrian-Palestinian culture right here in London.

Also coming up:

• Award-winning chef Ahu Hettema - who spent a decade stuck in the US immigration system - shares how she managed to cook her way out of depression…
• Travel Hack: How to travel everywhere without going anywhere
• Top 10 ethnic enclaves in unexpected places around the world
• Meet Beki Henderson the adventure producer/director behind some of TVs most popular male-fronted shows – from Will Smith to Levison Wood and more
• Gear chat: what to pack for a walking city tour
• Mabel Barker – the Lakeland teacher, inventor of the microadventure and fearless climber is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith

Think you have to travel far to feel like you've had a proper expedition? Think again. In an effort to prove that you don’t need to travel to far flung lands – or spend very much money at all to have a proper expedition, Wander Woman Phoebe Smith attempts a timed walking challenge with the Long Distance Walkers Association across two counties, to discover the joys (and pain) of walking 50 miles in a single day. Along the way expect epic sunsets, camaraderie and Jelly Baby fuelled hallucinations as she attempts to answer the question – why on earth would anyone do it?

Also coming up:

• TV naturalist Mike Dilger shares his journey from being an awkward kid who hid in bushes to a wildlife expert
• Travel Hack: How undertaking an endurance event can help prepare you for your next big trip
• Top 10 short walks with BIG views around the world
• Meet Roberto Battista the man breathing new life into near-abandoned Italian mountain towns - through the power of adventure
• Gear chat: what to pack for an endurance challenge
• Florence Dixie - Victorian Patagonia explorer and women's rights activist is our Wander Woman of the Month

Contact Wander Woman

www.Phoebe-Smith.com; @PhoebeRSmith