You should have been there

Discover the five mysterious and intriguing countries of Central Asia with names that all end in  ........ stan. 

Simon Calder and Mick Webb share views on working as travel writers- the rewards, the challenges and how to do it well.

The Great Green Wall,  electric planes, vacuum trains....   Simon Calder and Mick Webb look forward to the next decade of travel and what it might bring.  Electronic music is from the track "Hallon"  by Christian Bjoerklund on the album Skapmat. 

Every road, like every picture, has a story to tell. The A23, on its route between London and Brighton, has seen some of the best and worst of travel. Mick Webb and Simon Calder uncover tales of highwaymen, princely misdemeanours and old crocks (cars not them). They are joined by Rachel Birch and Beverley Keech    

Simon Calder and Mick Webb visit the UK's Gatwick Airport to discuss the carbon impact of flying

Simon Calder and Mick Webb create an alternative bucket list of places they've glimpsed from cars, planes and buses, and which they would love to return to one day.  Like this Greek village in the Peloponnese. 

...............Is it better than arriving?   SImon Calder and Mick Webb discuss Robert Louis Stevenson's famous quotation.  And they trek hopefully through the vast expanses of the World Travel Market, playing Crazy Golf, Abu Dhabi style, and collecting freebies, daft marketing slogans and inspirational ideas about  tourism.

........       should you do as the Romans or behave like a tourist? And how about in places like Dohar, Dubai or Australia's Ayres Rock?  

Simon and Mick have made getting lost into an art form. They recall their most memorable experiences and discuss various ways to avoid losing the plot.  Do send us your own stories via the audio link

Crossing frontiers is a crucial part of the travelling experience.  It can be time-consuming,worrying, frightening, often fascinating and sometimes downright entertaining .   In this Podcast, travel journalists, Simon Calder and Mick Webb, who have travelled far and wide, reflect on the borders they have crossed. Like the unforgettable night  spent trying to convince the Panamanian soldiers on the frontier between Colombia and Panama that they were bona fide tourists.  Far from any road, in the thick rainforest of the Darien Gap, where most travellers were smugglers, Colombian guerrillas or paramilitaries, it took some doing. The photo shows a border marker ( and Simon). Some remote border crossings seem to have very little serious connection with monitoring comings and goings, others, ironically, have become tourist attractions in their own right: Simon discusses the origins of the name and his own experience of crossing during the Cold War. And sometimes you get the feeling that it’s the border-crossing travellers who are providing the entertainment for the frontier officials.  Do send us your own tales of frontier experiences- the good, the bad and the ugly.