Today’s guest is a global tv star, bestselling author, food obsessive and one of the most beloved members of one of Netflix’s biggest ever shows…Antoni Porowski.

You’ll know Antoni as the much-loved food and wine expert from Netflix’s global phenomenon Queer Eye, where for ten seasons he helped people transform not just the way they cooked and ate, but the way they saw themselves.

Antoni’s own story is such a fascinating journey in itself. In today’s episode, we travel through his life from childhood road trips to the North Carolina coast and the first meal that truly blew his mind, to the trip he saved up for as a young waiter in New York that made him fall completely in love with travel.

We talk about the years before Queer Eye, when he was auditioning, working in restaurants, hustling, and trying to find his way in New York, and what it felt like when the show suddenly changed everything.

And, of course, we dive into his new National Geographic series, Best of the World with Antoni Porowski, which takes him to Paris, Mexico City, London and New York.

Destination Recap:

Holly: AKI Family Resort, Italy

• Pennsylvania, USA
• New York City, USA
• Philadelphia, USA
• Montreal, Canada
• September Cafe, Montreal, Canada
• Rotisserie Italienne, Montreal, Canada
• McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• Mount Royal, Montreal, Canada
• Outremont, Montreal, Canada
• Le Merc, Montreal, Canada
• Bilboquet, Montreal, Canada
• Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA
• Dirty Dick’s Crab House, Cape Hatteras, USA
• The Labrador, Cape Hatteras, USA
• Canadian Hole, Cape Hatteras, USA
• Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA
• West Virginia, USA
• Vancouver, Canada
• Florence, Italy
• Rome, Italy
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Roma Norte, Mexico City, Mexico
• Rosetta, Mexico City, Mexico
• Canals of Mexico City, Mexico
• Alebrijes Festival, Mexico City, Mexico
• Museo de Arte Popular / Folkloric Museum, Mexico City, Mexico
• Borneo, Malaysia
• Kuching, Malaysia
• Iban longhouses, Sarawak, Malaysia
• Kuching waterfront / canal, Kuching, Malaysia
• Kuching food kiosks, Kuching, Malaysia
• Fire Island, New York, USA
• Long Island, New York, USA
• Ibiza, Spain
• Iceland
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Morocco
• Patagonia, Argentina/Chile

Best of the World with Antoni Porowski premieres June 7 on National Geographic and will be available to stream June 8 on Disney+ and Hulu.

With thanks to...

Richard Haworth - Discover their luxury hotel-quality bedding, towels and table linen at Richard Haworth At Home

Airbnb - Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.co.uk/host

If you enjoyed this episode, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening. It really helps the podcast grow, allows me to keep bringing you these incredible guests - and it means you’re delivered a fresh dose of wanderlust each week.

And if you’d like a little more Travel Diaries in your life, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok @hollyrubenstein.

Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you next week.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is an adventurer, filmmaker, writer and one of the most extraordinary travel storytellers of her generation.

Eva zu Beck's life reads like something from a film. She was Oxford-educated, working in travel media, married, successful, and living the kind of polished, high-achieving life so many people are told to want. But behind the scenes, she knew something wasn’t right. So she walked away from it all. The marriage, the career, the security, the neatly mapped-out future, and bought a one-way ticket to Nepal.

Over the past nine years, Eva has travelled almost constantly, often to some of the wildest, most remote and most misunderstood places on earth. She has crossed the Mongolian wilderness on horseback, travelled through the mountains of Pakistan living alongside local families, spent months on the otherworldly island of Socotra in Yemen during lockdown, and driven her old Land Rover Defender, Odyssey, from Mexico through Central America and the United States, all the way to the northernmost point of Alaska.

You’re going to love this one guys.

Destination recap:

• Holly - Forestis, Dolomites, Italy
• Carpathian Mountains, Poland
• Marrakech, Morocco
• Nepal
• Mongolia
• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• Gobi Desert, Mongolia
• Pakistan
• Northern Pakistan, Pakistan
• Himalayas, Pakistan
• Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan
• Arabian Sea, Pakistan
• United States
• Montana, United States
• Alaska, United States
• Mexico
• Dalton Highway, United States
• Deadhorse, United States
• Romania
• Carpathian Mountains, Romania
• Transylvania, Romania
• Transalpina, Romania
• Maramureș, Romania
• Socotra, Yemen
• Central Asia
• Russia
• Central Africa
• Sahara
• Northern Canada, Canada
• Patagonia, Argentina and Chile

Eva’s new book, The Wilder Way, is out now, and if you loved this conversation, I think you’ll absolutely love the book too.

With thanks to...

Richard Haworth - Discover their luxury hotel-quality bedding, towels and table linen at Richard Haworth At Home

Airbnb - Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.co.uk/host

If you enjoyed this episode, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening. It really helps the podcast grow, allows me to keep bringing you these incredible guests - and it means you’re delivered a fresh dose of wanderlust each week.

And if you’d like a little more Travel Diaries in your life, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok @hollyrubenstein.

Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you next week.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re heading to the sun-soaked Southern California coast in the USA, arriving at Newport Beach.

Now, if you’re listening in the UK and thinking, hang on, where exactly is Newport Beach? - it’s just south of Los Angeles, in Orange County.

For a lot of you listening, that name might immediately conjure up The O.C., or the The Real Housewives of Orange County - it’s one of those places that really captures that classic California coastal lifestyle: long sandy beaches, a beautiful harbour dotted with boats, waterfront restaurants serving the freshest seafood, surf culture, spectacular houses, and that sense that life is lived largely outdoors.

It’s glamorous, yes, but it’s also very accessible for all price points and surprisingly varied once you get to know it - and that’s what this episode is all about.

I’m joined today by Gary Sherwin, a Newport Beach local for the last 25 years, travel expert and CEO of Visit Newport Beach - he knows the area inside out.

He shares the places, experiences and little details that really give you a feel for the destination. Because this isn’t just somewhere to come for a quick beach stop. It’s a destination in its own right, and one that seems to offer a really lovely mix of things: that classic California coast feeling, yes, but also a lot of variety within it - from smart hotels and great food to beach days, boat days, family-friendly experiences, little pockets with their own personality, and plenty of ways to slow down and enjoy being by the water.

So whether you’re plotting a wider California trip, looking for a different side of Southern California, or just in the mood for a little armchair travel to somewhere sunny and coastal, this should give you a very good feel for it.

Destination Recap:

• Newport Harbor
• Gulfstream Restaurant
• Louie’s by the Bay
• A Restaurant
• 21 Oceanfront Restaurant
• Balboa Bay Resort
• Pendry Newport Beach
• VEA Newport Beach, A Marriott Resort & Spa
• The Resort at Pelican Hill (becoming A St. Regis Estate in 2027)
• Crystal Cove
• Balboa Island
• Inspiration Point, Corona del Mar
• Mastro’s Ocean Club
• Blackie’s by the Sea
• Fashion Island
• Back Bay (Upper Newport Bay)

You can discover more about Newport Beach here.

As always, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed it, do share it with someone who’s planning a California trip, and don’t forget to follow or subscribe on your podcast app so you never miss an episode.

I’ll be back on Tuesday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.