Armchair Explorer

Latest Episodes:

Navajo Nation: Beside the Medicine Man’s Fire Nov 04, 2025

Show notes

“The medicine man sits before a pile of hot coals spread out on the compacted red earth floor of his Hogan – the traditional home of the Navajo. “This is Native American church,” he tells me, pulling shiny black arrowheads and Golden Eagle feathers from his wooden medicine box, and twisting a thick translucent crystal before the flames.

Sweat beads on my forehead: medicine men are believed to see premonitions in the burning coals that divine the nature of a patient’s affliction. His eyes dilate – “I see a spider,” he says, “I see a dead man.”

A few miles away we are surrounded by the detritus of modern America but here, in Navajo country, it’s as if I’ve slipped through the cracks into another world entirely.”

In 2013, I spent a week living on the Navajo reservation with three local families. I wanted to understand the real Native America, beyond the caricatures and cliches so often portrayed in popular culture.

One night, I was invited into the home of a Medicine Man to take part in a traditional healing ceremony. It was one of the most powerful and moving experiences of my life. This is the story I wrote about that experience, and I dedicate it to those three families who welcomed me into their lives and trusted me with the honor of sharing it with you.

FIND OUT MORE

Discover Navajo: if you want to visit the Navajo Nation is a way that benefits the local tribal people economically and through employment this is a great resource. It’s got lots of great ideas for native led tours and experiences that will really make the culture of the navajo Nation come alive. discovernavajo.com

Ira Vandever, my guide and host, is involved in various Navajo community projects and is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. Connect with him on Instagram: @navajohemp2020

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

This episode is the first in our month-long series celebrating Native American Heritage Month. Over the years, I’ve been lucky to have so many incredible experiences with indigenous peoples around the world. I’ve learnt so much from them, and wanted to do something that will hopefully inspire you to visit tribal owned tourism businesses and be inspired too.

Find out more at: NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov

#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

#NativeAmericanHeritage

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CREDITS

Armchair Explorer is produced by ⁠Armchair Productions⁠. Aaron Millar wrote and presented the show, Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠.

HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: Searching for Sasquatch in the Valleys of the Noble Beyond Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

Whether you known him as Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Yeti, Thla'Thla, Sninik, or something else, you've heard the legends - the stories of the hairy mountain man who lives, as writer John Zada says, "in primeval nature and collective memory." And today, we're plunging deep into Canada's ancient forests to find him.

But make no mistake - this isn't Bigfoot searching like you've seen before. There are no infrared cameras, scanners, or traps. Instead, we'll follow John as he listens and learns from Canada's First Nations peoples, framing his investigation within a greater story of indigenous myth, community, and sacred land.

When John first began hearing about a flurry of Sasquatch sightings, he was visiting the Heiltsuk Nation in British Columbia on an unrelated assignment. But he couldn't shake the stories from his mind. Intrigued, he decided to embark on a trip dedicated entirely to following these stories to their roots. And in so doing, he uncovered something that goes much deeper than footprints or rumors.

This is a story about monsters - but it's also one that tells us about ourselves. And along the way, it's about the power of myth, the need for environmental activism, and the tangled webs of our own psyches.

CONNECT WITH JOHN ZADA

Get a copy of John's book, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch, online or from your local bookstore. Connect with John and see more of his work, including his photography, at his website johnzada.com, and follow him on Instagram @JohnZada.

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CREDITS

Botswana Safari: From the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans to the Okavango Delta Oct 22, 2025

Show notes

Botswana is the Africa in our heads, the one we see in nature documentaries, and think of when we say the word.

It is a vast and untempered land filled with one of the richest concentrations of wildlife on the continent. In a single game drive you could see up to 50 different species: elephant, lion, buffalo, leopard, hippos, baboons and more.

But beyond the wildlife there is something else too. Africa is our home. They call her the ‘Mother’, the place we all come from. And if that’s true, then Botswana is her beating heart.

Taking us there is safari guide and author Peter Allison, who has been guiding in Botswana and elsewhere in Africa for nearly 30 years. He’ll tell us the story of his ultimate Botswana safari, traveling from Makgadikgadi Salt Pans to the Okavango Delta. It’s an adventure filled with wildlife, wisdom and more than one of his crazy stories.

Get ready for an adventure into the Africa of our dreams.

Highlights include:

Learning to track wild animals with the San Bushmen, one of the oldest continuously surviving cultures on Earth.
Walking on the surreal landscapes of the largest salt pan in the world - three times bigger than Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni.
Going on game drives in the Okavango Delta, a vast network of floodplains that draws one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa.
Finding out what it’s like to be stalked by a lion in the pitch black of night with only a kerosene lantern for company.
Discovering the story of Salvador the elephant, and one of the most magical wildlife experiences you can ever imagine.
Hearing about the time a leopard walked into Peter’s cabin, with him inside it. It’s OK, he survived to tell the tale.

FIND OUT MORE

A lot of our episodes are about huge expeditions and epic adventures.This one is about something you can actually do.

We’ve partnered with Peter’s safari company Natural Selection Safaris, and tour operator Africa Endeavours - two of the most highly regarded sustainable operators on the continent - to create our dream Botswana itinerary. And it’s a trip you can actually book and do yourself.

To find out more go to AfricaEndeavours.com/Armchair and you will get $500 off your next trip. Even if you’re just dreaming about going one day, checking out what they do is a great way to support the show.

Follow Peter on Instagram @peterallisonsafari

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CREDITS

BUCKET LIST: Kayaking with a Whale & Climbing Crater Lake National Park Oct 16, 2025

Show notes

Do you want to know what it's like to go kayaking with a whale?

How about climbing to the top of Crater Lake National Park to see one of the most beautiful views in America?

Well, that’s what we’re doing today. Our Bucket List episodes highlight what we think are the best adventures on the planet, and these two certainly fit the bill. Recorded on-location in surround sound audio, this bucket list episode is designed to put you in the heart of two of America's most spectacular travel experiences.

If you enjoy today's episode you can check out the full series, Hidden Trails of Oregon, for an immersive first-person journey across America’s wild, weird, and wonder-filled state. Just scroll down in the feed to check those out, or search up Hidden Trails of Oregon wherever you get your podcasts. Caving in lava tubes, sand boarding with a world champion, hiking in Redwoods and lots more.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts of the travel industry. Written and presented by Aaron Millar; recorded, mixed and mastered by Jason Paton; additional editing Charles Tyrie. Check out our other shows at armchair-productions.com

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATION

Check out the Smart Travel Podcast:

This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel here.

CREDITS

JANE GOODALL SPECIAL: Trekking with Chimpanzees and Mountain Gorillas Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

Today, we’re sharing a special episode honouring a true explorer who we lost last week.

Dr. Jane Goodall was a pioneering primatologist, and conservationist best known for her groundbreaking work with wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. With no formal scientific training at the time, she began observing chimpanzees in 1960 and soon made discoveries that redefined our understanding of animals — including tool use, emotional depth, and complex social behavior. Over her lifetime, she became a global icon for wildlife conservation and animal welfare, and her work continues to inspire millions to protect the planet and live in harmony with nature.

Unfortunately, we were never able to get Jane on the show – that would have been a dream come true! So, it’s not an episode directly about her. But it does raise some themes that were inspired and borne from the work she did … and it does feature chimpanzees, as well as Mountain Gorillas, who as primates are our distant ancestors too.

Today, we’re going to follow Praveen Moman, one of the world's leading primate conservationists, into the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda in search of the critically endangered mountain gorilla, and to the Kyambura Gorge, in Uganda, in search of a lost troop of Chimpanzees.

Seeing mountain gorillas, or chimpanzees in the wild is one of the rarest and most inspiring wildlife experiences on the planet. There is an immediate bond, a sense of connection. And what we’ll discover is, when you look a mountain gorilla in the eye, you see yourself reflected back.

Highlights include:

- Trekking in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda in search of the critically endangered mountain gorilla

- Hearing what it feels like to sit quietly among the troop, as babies come curiously up to explore, and the 400lb male silverback brushes past

- Walking into the Kyambura Gorge as the lost troop of Chimpanzees comes down from the canopy and surrounds you on all side- Being inspired by Praveen's story, a refugee of Uganda who returned to his beloved homeland to help rebuild one of the most war-torn regions on the planet

FIND OUT MORE

Janegoodall.org

volcanoessafaris.com

gorillafund.org

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CREDITS

IMMERSION: Exploring Rocky Mountain National Park’s Living Lab Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, recorded on location, we’ll discover a side to Rocky Mountain National

Park that most people don’t even know exists. Beyond the beautiful mountains and

trails, the park is a Living Laboratory of science with about 100 scientific projects

happening at any one time. Some of the most cutting-edge ecology, biology and

conservation in the world is being done right here.

Rocky Mountain National Park may feel isolated from the cities and industry of the

plains, but it’s not. It’s part of inter-connected system in which every piece is dependent

on one another. And to understand how that works, and why that’s important, we’re

going to hike up to more than 10,000-feet to one of the most remote research stations in

the country to find out about an experiment that has been going on in the park for more

than 38-years. It’s one of the longest running ecological research studies in the world

and it’s changing the way we understand the park, the plains and even our own

relationship to the wild places we love.

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Newsletter: ⁠armchair-explorer.com⁠

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 helps us grow the show and continue to bring inspiring

travel stories your way.

Armchair Explorer is produced by ⁠Armchair Productions⁠.

Aaron Millar wrote and presented the show, Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and

sound design. Jason Paton is our lead producer, and our theme music is by the artist

⁠Sweet Chap⁠.

BEST OF EXPLORER: Land of the Thunder Dragon: Exploring Bhutan Sep 22, 2025

Show notes

Bhutan is the last of the great Himalayan kingdoms. Still largely untouched by outside influences, shrouded in mystery and magic, this Buddhist country, hidden for centuries on the roof of the world, is like nowhere else on the planet.

Follow British Travel Writer of the Year Emma Thomson as she explores the culture and majesty of Druk Yul, Land of the Thunder Dragon, as it's known by its people. Shunning the usual group tour, Emma stays with local families miles from the tourist trail and discovers, because of that, a glimpse of the real Bhutan most travellers will never see.

But this is more than just an adventure. Cut off from the rest of the world until 1974, and surrounded by virtually impenetrable Himalayan peaks on all sides, Bhutan has remained culturally intact for centuries. It is a real-life Shangri-La, a kind of fabled mythical kingdom hidden in the mountains, where spirituality and happiness are more important than money and economic development.

Intrepid travellers whisper its name in hushed and reverent tones for a reason. Bhutan is, perhaps, the most enlightened country on Earth, and when we visit some of that wisdom and inspiration becomes a part of us too.

Highlights include:

• Staying with two local Bhutanese families in remote rural villages, far off the usual tourist trail

• Experiencing real Bhutanese daily life: tending the fields, bathing in hot stone baths and helping to prepare the meals - fresh dumplings, curries, chillies and cheese

• Exploring Punaka Dzong, the most beautiful of all of Bhutan's fortress temples

• Trekking to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, which clings to the face of a sheer cliff and is the holiest site in the country

• Visiting Bhutan's head of astrology, which is usually forbidden to tourists and discovering a surprise message there that might just shake your scepticism.

• Be inspired by the peace and serenity of the most enlightened country on Earth, and learn how to take that wisdom and stillness into your own life too

CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST

Instagram: @emmathomsontravels

CONNECTION: Life Lived Wild with Rick Ridgeway Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

"A life worth living is lived at the edges, where it is wild"

- Rick Ridgeway

Rick Ridgeway is one of the greatest mountaineers of all time. In this in-depth interview he shares the adventures that have come to define his life, and the wisdom he has learned along the way.

Highlights include

Getting lost while sailing across the Pacific Ocean in search of Tahit.i
Taking the famous newscaster Tom Brokaw to the summit of Mount Rainier with legendary climbers Yvonne Chouinard and Doug Tompkins.
Nearly dying of hypothermia while kayaking across a frozen lake in Chilean Patagonia.
Discovering what it feels like to be trapped in an avalanche facing certain death.
The most profound adventure of his life, a journey through the Himalayas in search of a lost friend.
Learning the wisdom of a life spent in the wild and how nature can be our greatest teacher

CONNECT WITH RICK

Rick's latest book is called 'Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map'. It is a beautiful memoir of a life lived to the full, immersed in the beauty and adventure of the natural world. Through this episode we will also hear some of Rick's other favorite tales of adventure and learn the wisdom those wild places have given him. More info at www.patagonia.com

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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Special Offer: we’ve revived our NEWSLETTER! (scroll to the bottom of our homepage to sign up). And contact us for a free copy of our my ebook: The 50 Greatest Wonders of the World

Award-winning travel journalist Aaron Millar reveals the greatest wonders of the world and the insider secrets on how to see them. From where to catch the perfect sunrise over the Grand Canyon to how to swim up to the very edge of the Victoria Falls, this is a road map for discovering the greatest experiences of your life.

Armchair Explorer is produced by Armchair Productions. Aaron Millar presented the show, Charles Tyrie does the audio editing and sound design.

PATHWAYS September: Desert Stars, Swiss Hikes and the Funniest Hot Air Balloon Crash of All Time Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Every month on Pathways, host Aaron Millar and producer Jason Paton crack open a few stories, play their favorite clips, and take you on a whirlwind preview of what’s coming up this month on Armchair Explorer. It’s part travel hangout, part behind-the-scenes, and a whole lot of part “wait, you did what?”

Special Offer: we’ve revived our ⁠NEWSLETTER!⁠ (scroll to the bottom of our homepage to signup)

And contact us for a freecopy of our fearless leader Aaron Millar’s ebook:

⁠The 50 Greatest Wonders of the World⁠

Award-winning travel journalist Aaron Millar reveals the greatest wonders of the world and the insider secrets on how to see them. From where to catch the perfect sunrise over the Grand Canyon to how to swim up to the very edge of the Victoria Falls, this is a road map for discovering the greatest experiences of your life.

This Month on Pathways:

Stargazing with the Bedouin in the Arabian DesertNight has fallen over the Arabian desert, pillows and blankets are laid out in the sand, and our guide, Badrea, begins to share the secrets of bedouin stars

‘Giggly Landings’ in a Hot Air BalloonEver wondered what it feels like to crash land a balloon in the middle of a UNESCO heritage site? Turns out it’s surprisingly funny.

In the Footsteps of J.R.R Tolkien in SwitzerlandDiscover the hike that inspired Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings … and a swiss mountain hut, that might just be the coolest place to stay in the alps.

Hamming it up in a Kyrgyzstani JailCurious how to survive in a Kyrgyzstani prison?In the middle of his 16,000-mile trek around the world, Arjun Bhogle learns how …

Busking for your Supper in SpainCelebrated adventurer Alastair Humphreys takes on his most daunting challenge yet: 500-miles across Spain with nothing but busking and bad violin playing to pay for his food.

Ready to Explore? If you're into real stories of epic places told by the people who’ve lived them, make sure to subscribe—that way you choose the adventure, not the algorithm.

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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.

BUCKET LIST: Stargazing with the Bedouin Sep 01, 2025

Show notes

Our Bucket List episodes showcase the greatest travel experiences on the planet. Today, we’re going to the deserts of Arabia to go stargazing with the Bedouin and learn their secrets of the stars.

This episode is about learning to see the stars through the eyes of a people who have lived in the Arabian desert for thousands of years, and whose very existence, and survival,l was shaped by the night sky.

Recorded on location in our immersive documentary style, this episode is a chance to hear the Bedouin’s stories of the sky. For it is through those stories of love, tragedy and revenge that they passed down the secrets of ancient astronomy. When we look at the night’s sky we see fiery distant suns and orbiting planets. When they look at it, they see poetry, and the whole gamut of human experience written into each far off sparkling light.

Let’s set the scene: We have travelled for two hours into the El Harameal desert, from the oasis town of Alula, in Saudi Arabia, a place that few outsiders have seen before. Blankets and pillows are laid out in the sand, night has fallen, and a young Saudi woman named Badrea begins to speak…

FIND OUT MORE

If you enjoyed this episode, check out our full documentary series which we recorded on location: the Elements of Alula. Our first three episodes: water, earth and air were out last year. It was an incredible trip filled with ancient heritage sites, insane adventures, Arabian horses and one hot air balloon crash that turned out to be the most we’ve laughed on any trip.

Find out more about the destination at ExperienceAlula.com. Check out @experiencealula on Instagram, Facebook and X for more inspiration and ideas.

CONNECT WITH US

Following the show on socials will definitely maybe bring you good travel karma!

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