Follow best-selling travel author Brian Thacker on a unique, mad-cap adventure to three of the remotest countries on Earth. Inspired by the intrepid spirit of explorers of old, Brian decided to tear up the guidebook, switch off the phone and turn up to a country knowing absolutely nothing about it in advance.

He picked three countries at random: the east African country of Togo, the South Pacific islands of Wallis & Futuna and the Central Asian mountains of Kyrgyzstan. He boarded the plane with absolutely no clue of the language, culture, where to stay or what to see. He was simply rolling the dice and letting the universe decide what kind of trip he would have.

Like his heroes of the golden age of exploration, when much of the world was still undiscovered and no one knew what wonders awaited beyond the horizon, Brian was taking a step into the unknown.

But, unlike those legends of adventure, Brian’s just an ordinary bloke. He wouldn’t be risking his life searching for lost tribes in the Amazon or crossing deadly deserts, he was just traveling, like all of us do, in search of good times, new experiences and the pure joy of exploring this amazing planet.

Brian’s story inspires all of us that we needn’t be extreme adventurers to be real explorers, we just need to tear up the guidebook, turn off your phone and step into the unknown.

CONNECT WITH BRIAN

Brian’s book of this story if called ‘Where’s Wallis: Travels Without a Guidebook’, you can find out more about that and all Brian’s other books at www.brianthacker.tv. Instagram: @bthacker

Brian writes and presents a bunch of our other podcasts, if you enjoyed this one check out The Travel South Dakota Stories podcast. Scroll back and look for the episodes about Palm Springs too!

CONNECT WITH US

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.

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Armchair Explorer is produced by Armchair Productions. Aaron Millar and Jason Paton presented the show, Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design. Our theme music is by the artist Sweet Chap.

BEST OF EXPLORER: Where’s Wallis? No Guidebook, No Google, No Clue with Best-selling Travel Author Brian Thacker

Armchair Explorer

BEST OF EXPLORER: Where’s Wallis? No Guidebook, No Google, No Clue with Best-selling Travel Author Brian Thacker