The World Awaits: travel tales to inspire your wanderlust

Welcome to our Winter Series! This week is all about hiking, from the French Camino to the wilds of Tasmania.
But first, we have a winner for our competition!  Truc Pham has won a night’s stay at the Moxy Sydney Airport hotel, buffet breakfast for two at the Moxy Kitchen, return airport shuttle transfers and up to 14 nights valet parking at the hotel! See marriott.com
Onto our winter series, Kirstie is chatting with UTracks hiking guide Jaclyn Beagley, who leads guests along the Le Puy Camino, also known as the French Camino. Jaclyn talks about the difference in the French section of the Camino compared with other hikes in the network of ancient pilgrimage routes across Europe, utracks.com
And for our second interview, Belle catches up with author Caro Ryan OAM, whose book, How to Navigate, teaches people the art of navigation and map reading, which she says is essential for safe bushwalking and getting people outdoors, connected to and caring for nature, lotsafreshair.com
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Hey set-jetters, it's the movie episode, and Belle is teaming up with our entertainment reporter Alaisdair Leith to talk the best of travel films. 
We’re chatting movie destinations, because  set-jetting is one of the hottest trends in travel at the moment, where you decide where to travel based on something you saw in a movie. But also, we want you to take this as a list of movies you should watch on your way to your next destination. 
Think New Zealand and Hobbiton, Game of Thrones for Northern Ireland and what’s now called the White Lotus effect - the fourth season is currently being filmed on the French Riviera, and expected to drop mid-to-late 2027 so buckle up for an overload of Saint Tropez.
Emily in Paris (and Rome), Eat Pray Love, North of North, The English Patient.... Alaisdair shares the best new films while Belle digs up the classics, and we throw a a few wild cards. 
Also, we share a roll-call of great film festivals coming up in Australia, diaries out!
Fire Pit Festival, Sydney christmasinjuly.com.au
South African Film Festival, Sydney 2026, 21 June–26 July saff.org.au
Melbourne International Film Festival (August 6–23) miff.com.au 
Adelaide Film Festival (October 14–25) adelaidefilmfestival.org 
Nordic Film Festival, national (July- August) nordicfilmfestival.com.au  

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This week, we are celebrating our third birthday! Yes, we're basically toddlers! 
Please indulges us as all three of us - Kirstie, Belle and our sound producer Alaisdair share their favourite interviews, from the woman walking the length of the earth to eating on the Amalfi Coast, and best travel fashion hits and misses. 
And to our interview this week, we merge two of the hottest trends in travel right now - small-ship cruising and Japan, as co-host Belle shares life on board the Japanese cruise group Mitsui Ocean Liners, in a bid to explore the country more deeply.
Sailing the Seto Inland sea, there are origami crafternoons, sushi degustations, explorations of 16th-century castles and the joys of an oily massage when the seas are rough. To learn more about Mitsui's cruises, visit their Australian representative cruisetraveller.com.au
And make sure you enter our current giveaway, a night’s stay for two at the chic Moxy Sydney Airport hotel, breakfast and an incredible 14 days' valet parking! Enter via our Instagram or Facebook page @theworldawaitspodcast  

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Would you let readers of your blog choose where you travel? Carole Rosenblat did, and it’s seen her travel to 74 countries around the world. 
The freelance journalist, copywriter, and small-group tour operator started interactive travel site Drop me Anywhere in 2014, letting readers choose where she travels - and it can be anywhere in the world.
This week, she talks to us about how she came up with the idea, and how it led her to starting up solo trips to empower women in their travels. 
We also reveal the world’s favourite destinations for billionaires according to Maui Elite Property; and our tip this week is about the best winter light festivals around the country.
And make sure you enter our current giveaway, a night’s stay for two at the chic Moxy Sydney Airport hotel, breakfast and an incredible 14 days' valet parking! Enter via our Instagram or Facebook page @theworldawaitspodcast 
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At 50, filmmaker Dianne Whelan set out to walk and kayak the longest trail in the world, the 24,000km-long Trans Canada Trail. 
Her film, 500 days in the Wild, opened recently in Australia and documents her extraordinary six-year journey. She tells Belle about the project, paddling 8000km of water trails and walking, biking and even snowshowing 16,000km across land on a journey that has defined an entire decade of her life. 
She tells of not seeing anyone for months at a time, of escaping bears (all while carrying a cup of coffee) and paddling for months across the world's largest freshwater lake, Lake Superior. In her six-year odyssey, she also found peace, awareness, acceptance and even love.  
Make sure you enter our current giveaway, a night’s stay for two at the chic Moxy Sydney Airport hotel, breakfast and an incredible 14 days' valet parking! Enter via our instagram or facebook page - @theworldawaitspodcast 
Also, our best and worst airline experiences - tune in for Belle's horror story on Ural Airlines, and Kirstie names an Australian carrier for her worst experience.  
And finally, Australian Traveller recently named its 100 best Aussie towns, and the #1 is a Tasmanian beauty. Listen to see if your town was named. 
Watch the trailer for Dianne's film: garage.com.au/500-days-in-the-wild/
Read about Belle's $900 flight from Perth to Melbourne: thecourier.com.au/story/9241171/would-you-pay-900-for-a-perth-to-melbourne-economy-flight-form-hell/ 
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