DISCOVER: South Australia Road Trip: From Adelaide to the Edge of the Outback

There is a moment in every great adventure when the world shifts beneath your feet. For explorer Charlie Walker, it came in a Siberian supermarket, comparing brands of pasta at minus 38 degrees, when his phone buzzed with a BBC alert: Russia has invaded Ukraine. He was about to begin a 600-mile solo trek through northern Russia, crossing some of the most remote, frozen wilderness on Earth. The official advice was to leave as soon as possible. He chose to stay. On Thin Ice is the story of what happened next. A journey across a Siberian Zimnik, a frozen winter road through silent forests and tundra, past Gulag towns and disappearing indigenous villages, into the heart of a country at war with itself as much as with its neighbour. It is a story of extraordinary human warmth in the coldest place on Earth, of state surveillance and midnight knocks at the door, of weeks spent in a Russian prison cell, counting days up instead of days down. And it is a story, ultimately, about the nature of truth and a mirror it holds up to all of us. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS Stranded in Yakutsk Hear how Charlie found himself in Yakutsk the morning Russia invaded Ukraine, standing in a supermarket comparing pasta packets when his phone buzzed with the news that changed everything. Siberia’s Ice Road Travel with Charlie along the Zimnik, one of Siberia’s frozen winter roads, through total whiteout, wolf tracks, blinding cold, and drunk lorry drivers navigating in the dark without headlights. The Coldest Place on Earth Discover the warmth hidden in the coldest place on Earth: Sakha women who dressed Charlie in traditional ceremonial costumes, fed him horse blood sausage, danced with him, and sent him off with a shaman’s blessing the next morning. Imprisoned in Putin’s Russia Find out what it feels like to be arrested, tried, and imprisoned in Putin’s Russia, and how Charlie spent nearly four weeks in an Arctic prison cell, counting shuffling footsteps from one wall to the other. FIND OUT MORE Charlie Walker’s book On Thin Ice is available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold. Explore Charlie’s other expeditions and books at cwexplore.com Follow Charlie on Instagram: @cwexplore KNOW SOMEONE WHO NEEDS THIS? If this episode lit something up in you, do me a favour - send it to just one person. One friend, one family member, one person who needs a little adventure in their life right now. Hit the share button in your podcast app - it takes about ten seconds, and it genuinely helps us keep bringing these stories to you. FOLLOW US Instagram: @armchairexplorerpodcast Website: armchair-explorer.com CONNECT WITH US If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss a thing, and if you have a spare moment, look up - there’s five stars waiting to be clicked! It goes a long way in helping others find the show. CREDITS Armchair Explorer is written and presented by Aaron Millar. Audio editing and sound design by Charles Tyrie. Produced by Armchair Productions. Find our other shows at Armchair-Productions.com Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world This podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape Podcast Network For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape Advertising.

In this first episode of our seven-part road trip through Arizona, we walk among the ancient cactus forests of Saguaro National Park. Then we saddle up at White Stallion Ranch for legendary guns, dusty arenas and a campfire under the stars with a cowboy poet. It's a journey into the heart of one of the most remarkable deserts in the world, and into the mythology of the American West that this landscape helped shape. This is Arizona - the Wonder of the Desert. Episode Highlights: The Desert Miracle Hear why Ranger Jordan Camp from Saguaro National Park calls the giant saguaro a "miracle of the desert," and discover the extraordinary biology behind one of nature's most remarkable survivors. The Symbol of the West Find out how a cactus that grows only in the Sonoran Desert became Hollywood's defining image of the Wild West, and why the real desert is nothing like the movies. Guns of the Wild West Step into the armory at White Stallion Ranch as the resident gunslinger and raconteur lays out some of the most legendary weapons in American history, from the Colt revolver made famous by Wyatt Earp to Billy the Kid's fast-draw pistol. Team Penning Get into the heart of the action as Aaron, mic'd up and in the saddle for the first time, attempts to herd cattle on horseback at White Stallion Ranch. Spoiler: the cows were not impressed. The Keeper of the Fire As the sun drops behind the Tucson Mountains and the saguaros turn to silhouettes on the horizon, gather around a campfire with cowboy poet and musician Buck Helton, and hear a song about memory, tradition and what it means to keep a flame alive. PLAN YOUR TRIP This isn’t just a podcast. It’s a road trip you can take. Recorded entirely on location over two extraordinary weeks, Wonders of Arizona follows a new, bookable itinerary designed and road-tested by presenter and award-winning travel writer Aaron Millar (The Times, National Geographic Traveller and more), told through the voices of the people who know these places best. Hear it first, then make the journey your own. To find out more go to: USA and Worldwide Listeners: wondersofaz.com (https://www.wondersofaz.com) UK Listeners: search up Wonders of Arizona at HaysTravel.co.uk (https://www.haystravel.co.uk/destinations/americas/rest-of-usa/arizona/wonders-of-arizona/wonders-of-arizona/) ... Or phone: 0800 408 4048. FOLLOW VISIT ARIZONA: Instagram: @visit_arizona Facebook: @arizonatravel CREDITS: Thank you to our guests: Ranger Jordan Camp, Saguaro National Park The whole team at White Stallion Ranch (WhiteStallionRanch.com) Cowboy poet and musician Buck Helton (BuckHelton.com)

At the start of every season, host Aaron Millar and producer Jason Paton preview what’s coming up on Armchair Explorer, play some of their favorite clips, and reveal the stories they’re most excited to share. A cross between a highlight reel, an interview, and two people telling travel tales down the pub, our Pathways episodes are your guide to choosing your adventures with us. Season five episodes: SEVEN WONDERS: Join us On Location for a 2,000-mile road trip in search of the Seven Wonders of Arizona. Play cowboy at White Stallion Ranch beside Saguaro National Park, stand on the rim of Meteor Crater, the best-preserved meteorite impact site on Earth, and hike down into the Grand Canyon to touch rocks 1.8 billion years old. SIBERIA INVASION: Explorer Charlie Walker sets out to walk the frozen rivers of Arctic Siberia and meet the people who live in the coldest inhabited places on Earth. Then, just as he lands, Russia invades Ukraine, and his months-long journey becomes a story nobody saw coming. ICE AGE TRAIL: We hike the Ice Age Trail, one of America’s least-known long-distance footpaths. It follows the edge of the last Ice Age across Wisconsin, where a glacier up to a mile thick carved out kettle lakes and forested hills. Plus, we paddle by canoe into the wild North Woods. UNWILDED: Aaron hangs out with adventurer Alastair Humphreys in the UK to talk about his new book, Unwilded, and why adventure is about your mindset, not your geography. It’s also the reason Aaron climbed a tree. PLUS: Our first ever game show, Two Travel Truths and One Travel Lie. Can producer Jason spot the fake fact about Japan, Iceland and Finland? ALSO COMING UP IN SEASON 5: Hiking in Slovenia, an igloo festival in Quebec, long-distance trekking in Japan, a tapas safari in Spain, a night in a former asylum that’s now a hotel, and Providencia, Aaron’s secret Caribbean island. *** If you enjoy the show, please subscribe on whatever podcast player you’re reading this on right now. Go on, do it. It means you get to choose what episodes you listen to, rather than the algorithm guess (wrongly) and kick us off your feed. Reviewing the show helps other people discover it and helps us continue to produce it. If you like episode, please consider a quick review on your favorite podcast platform. You don’t have to write anything just click those five (hopefully) stars! Following the show on socials will definitely maybe bring you good travel karma! Facebook: @armchairexplorerpodcast Instagram: @armchairexplorerpodcast Armchair Explorer is produced by Armchair Productions. Aaron Millar and Jason Paton presented the show, Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design. Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the world This podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape Podcast Network For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [email protected] or you can find more information at Voyascape Advertising.

Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast Rising over 1,000 feet straight from the red desert of Australia's Northern Territory, Uluru is one of the great wonders of the world. At sunrise it glows pink, gold, and amber. At dusk, it forms the backdrop to one of the most spectacular sunsets you will ever see. But that's just scratching the surface. What most visitors never discover is that the real wonder of Uluru lives in the stories, and culture, of the people for whom it is not just a wonder - but a part of them. In this Bucket List episode, Kylene Randall, a traditional custodian of Uluru and member of the local Anangu people, takes us deep into the Aboriginal heart of this extraordinary and sacred place. We'll discover the ancient creation law of Tjukurpa, hear the story of the Stolen Generation and how Kylene's grandfather found his way home, walk the stories at the base of Uluru, learn hands-on bush skills and traditional culture, and find out what the four pillars of Anangu wellbeing might teach us about how to live our lives too. This is a journey into the soul of Uluru and the people who have kept watch over it for more than 30,000 years. Episode Highlights: Walk the Stories at the Base of Uluru Travel with Kylene on an indigenous-led walk around Uluru, hearing the story of the Mala people, their ceremony, their fight, and the lessons it contains. Hear the Story of the Stolen Generation Learn how Kylene's grandfather was forcibly removed as a small child, spent his life searching for his mother, and ultimately found his way back to his culture - and how that extraordinary act of resilience changed her life and continues to inspire her work today. Experience Culture Hands On Discover what it's like to make traditional tools, learn bush medicine from native plants, dig for honey ants, cook kangaroo tail on a fire, and spend a night on country beneath a sky full of stars. The Four Pillars of Holistic Wellbeing Hear Kylene's grandfather's teaching on the four things that make us complete - family, country, spirit, and law - and why, when we are disconnected from any one of them, we cannot truly thrive.

Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast Wayfinding is an ancient Polynesian way of navigating by reading the ocean, stars and wind. No compass, no map, just deep observation, and experience passed down through generations. But because of that, wayfinding is more art than science. It's about trusting your instinct and using all your senses - and it's exactly the kind of travel Daniel Scheffler believes in, and exactly what this conversation is all about. Daniel Scheffler is one of the world's most successful travel writers, and in today's episode he and host Aaron Millar swap tales like a couple of mates having a laugh down the pub. Expect scorpion bites in Angola, voodoo ceremonies in Benin, Berber festivals in Morocco, and lots more. But between the wild stories, this episode is about something much deeper too. If you want to be inspired about not just what to see, but how to see - and how to make travel more than just Google reviews and ticking off lists - this is the episode for you. HIGHLIGHTS Hear how Daniel survived a scorpion bite in Angola, three minutes from death, and the tribal leader who saved his life by sucking out the venom. Travel with Aaron to a Festival Fantasia in the foothills of Morocco's Atlas Mountains, the biggest culture shock he's ever experienced, and why that discomfort was exactly the point. Discover what it's like to sit inside a voodoo ceremony in Benin, a belief system entirely outside Daniel's own, and why he calls it one of the best things he's ever done.