Welcome to our Winter Series!

This week we're taking you to Greece.

First up, host Kirstie chats to Andria Mitsakos, founder of Anthologist and global founder of AMPR, who takes us to some of the country's best artisans where she buys her artefacts, and shares insider tips on the best way to enjoy a Greek getaway.

Next, host Belle Jackson takes us to Greece and Bulgaria, travelling by rail on a slow food, slow travel journey of these neighbouring countries. She travelled on a Eurail pass, which crisscrosses 33 European countries.

And for those who haven’t heard, we have a trip to Thailand to give away. Our friends at Avani Hotels and Resorts have partnered with us to celebrate our 100th episode … kicking off the party with a tropical holiday to give away!

You can win four nights for two people in a deluxe room at Avani+ Khao Lak, with daily breakfast and dinner, airport transfers and a Muay Thai boxing class!

All you have to do is go to The World Awaits Instagram competition post, like it and tag a friend and follow both TWA and Avani, and you are in for the win!

Entrants can be located anywhere in the world. Entries close on 31st July.

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Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

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Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Welcome to our Winter Series!

This week is all about Italy. We are taking you from the Amalfi Coast to a tiny town south of Rome.

First up, host Belinda Jackson’s chats with author Maria Pasquale, who explores the food histories and dishes across regional Italy. Maria, born to Italian parents and raised in Melbourne, is the author of four books and has readers in more than 100 countries.

Then, host Kirstie Bedford talks to award-winning freelance journalist, Natascha Mirosch, who swapped the sunny shores of Brisbane to move temporarily to a tiny village south of Rome. If you ever considered a move to Italy, this is the episode for you.

And for those who haven’t heard, we have a trip to Thailand to give away. Our friends at Avani Hotels and Resorts have partnered with us to celebrate our 100th episode … kicking off the party with a tropical holiday to give away!

You can win four nights for two people in a deluxe room at Avani+ Khao Lak, with daily breakfast and dinner, airport transfers and a Muay Thai boxing class!

All you have to do is go to The World Awaits Instagram competition post, like it and tag a friend and follow both TWA and Avani, and you are in for the win!

Entrants can be located anywhere in the world. Entries close on 31st July.

Support the show

Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Send us a text

Support the show

Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au

Veteran journalist Andrew Conway has been to India four times, but this time he's doing things differently. His latest month-long sojourn was self-funded, and he took his husband, Greg, who had never been to India before.

Andrew talks about how having a personal driver (details below) changed his entire experience and lets us in on some of the lesser-known places to go in this often chaotic country.

1 Hotels opened its first property in Australia recently, and host Kirstie Bedford was there to review it, while host Belle Jackson was among the first to stay in the new villas at Alba Thermal Springs & Spa on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. We also cover all the other new hotel openings in Australia you need to know about.

And, love a good roadie? We cover off Australia's best road trips with Rollin' car insurance.

Contact Andrew's driver Manoj via email: agmtourntravels@gmail.com

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The World Awaits has hit a remarkable milestone, celebrating its 100th episode!

To get the party started, Avani Hotels & Resorts has partnered with us for a listener giveaway a tropical holiday in Thailand! To enter, simply like, follow and tag a friend on our Instagram page here.

On this special episode, our sound producer Alaisdair Leith joins us, and we chat about our favourite guests over the last two years (after all, there are now 100 to choose from!)

And it's time to ask ourselves the question we ask all our guests: What’s the most bizarre thing that’s ever happened to you on your travels? Flying pigs, anyone? Listen in to hear all about that escapade, and we also share our upcoming travels.

We’d like to give a big shout-out to those who have partnered with us over the past 100 episodes and shown so much support for the show: thanks to Avani Hotels & Resorts, Explore Worldwide and Tourism Ireland.

And finally, thank you to you, our listeners. We are so grateful to you. And we love hearing from you, so drop us a line at hello@theworldawaits.au to let us know your thoughts or discuss upcoming partnership opportunities.

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Meet the singing teacher who founded a hiking company in Bhutan. Keen hiker Karen Haranis, of Rare Air Himalayan Travel, shares her favourite hikes, through the territory of Bengal tigers and red pandas, from the high mountain passes and lush rhododendron forests of this tiny mountain kingdom.

Together with her guides Tashi and Namgyel, they scout new routes and cultural experiences in Bhutan, including the little visited East Bhutan, also known for its handicraft villages, rareairtravel.com.au

Also, we track down the most disappointing of the world's famous beaches. The USA has a strong showing at the top, with rubbish, noise and overcrowding destroying the experience at some of its iconic strips of sand, says with research by cloudwards.net

And our tip is all about wellness tourism, which is forecast to be worth $1.35 trillion in 2028. The AvaniWell program focuses on personalised wellness at its resorts, where you can do everything from freediving to football camps, avanihotels.com

This mini-series is brought to you by Avani Hotels & Resorts. With more than 40 properties across five continents, Avani offers city hotels, tropical resorts and retreats in nature. For more, visit avanihotels.com

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“These dolphins surrounded me and I was hovering above the sand and they were playing with me and I swam up with them and thought I would die for them to be safe, it was like my heart was cracked open and I came up thinking how can I be more impactful in the ocean space,” says freediving champion turned conservationist Hanli Prinsloo.

It was this encounter with dolphins in Mozambique while teaching a freediving course that made Hanli Prinsloo turn conservationist, and now she hosts retreats to teach others how to freedive and educate about marine conservation.

For more about her next retreat in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Baa Atoll while staying at Avani+ Fares Maldives Resort, go to avanihotels.com. For more information about Hanli, go to hanliprinsloo.com

Also, do you ever wonder when and where you should tip? Travelex has put a guide together to help you know which countries you should tip in and how much you should be handing over. For the full tipping guide, go to https://www.travelex.com.au/media/1338/tipping-guide.pdf

And our tip this week is from Travelinsurance.com.au about how to maximise your frequent flyer points. For more, go to https://www.travelinsurance.com.au/

This mini-series is brought to you by Avani Hotels & Resorts. With more than 40 properties across five continents, Avani offers city hotels, tropical resorts and retreats in nature. For more, visit avanihotels.com

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"Southern Africa is very hard to describe; for many people, you get bitten by something, or you breathe something in, and you become hooked," says Australian author Tony Park.

Speaking to us from his home just north of Kruger National Park in South Africa, Tony shares his vast experience about going on safari in southern and east Africa. From the Kruger to the Kalahari, we're taking self-drive safaris on a budget, which regions are better for different wildlife and wildlife poaching.

"The best way to tackle poaching is to uplift the communities and the people, who feel that their only option is to turn to wildlife crime," he says. "So the best thing for wildlife is to visit Africa."

Tony has published 22 novels set in southern Africa; his 23rd, Die by the Sword, is out at the end of July, and like all his novels, it has a strong environmental and wildlife conservation angle. See tonypark.net

Also, what's new on the slopes for the Australian ski season? From lifts to going cashless. Visit perisher.com, thredbo.com.au, charlottepass.com.au and perisher.com.au

And find out which of the Avani Tribes you belong to, and then match your destination to your personality type at https://tribes.avanihotels.com.

This mini-series is brought to you by Avani Hotels & Resorts. With more than 40 properties across five continents, Avani offers city hotels, tropical resorts and retreats in nature. For more, visit avanihotels.com

Tony’s picks:

For a great, all-inclusive luxury safari experience in South Africa, check out the Sabi Sabi collection of lodges in South Africa's Sabi Sand Game Reserve: sabisabi.com

A bit cheaper, but in a great game viewing area inside the Kruger National Park is Imbali Game Reserve (and also check out its neighbouring, affiliate properties, Hamiltons and Hoyo Hoyo), imbali.com

If you’re game for a self-drive trip (which will save you loads), fly from Johannesburg’s OR Tambo Airport to Skukuza in the Kruger National Park and hire an Avis or Europcar rental car and stay in self-catering accommodation (there are also restaurants in most of Kruger’s rest camps), sanparks.org

For a get-away-from-it-all safari in an untouristy-park, check out Hwange National Park, close to Victoria Falls. These are good places: hideawaysafrica.com, robinscamp.com

In East Africa, Tony prefers the Serengeti in Tanzania to Kenya’s Masai Mara. Maasai Wanderings, owned by an Aussie woman does excellent mobile safaris, maasaiwanderings.com

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On the fringe of the Sahara, at the birthplace of Star Wars, the little Northern African country of Tunisia's drawcards are its medinas and souqs, its Roman ruins and Mediterranean seaside resorts. Stay in desert camps or in cave hotels carved into the mountains; you'll find spicy harissa, dramatic doors and ornate tiles everywhere.

"What's not to love?" asks co-host Belle Jackson, who travelled through Tunisia recently with Intrepid Travel, intrepidtravel.com

Also, if you enjoy going off the beaten track, travel insurance company Insure & Go lists the 10 global destinations you must visit before they boom, insureandgo.com And the bulk-billed travel vaccination clinic TravAX lets you search your travel destination and the vaccinations it recommends, travax.nhs.uk

Finally, our tip this week is about how to get a good dose of culture when you travel to Italy, from mask making in Venice to touring Milan in a Fiat 500. Find out more at avanihotels.com

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS

The full length, 19-minute documentary about Belle's slow-food travels in Greece and Bulgaria with Eurail has now been released; watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf7ldApatlQ

This mini-series is brought to you by Avani Hotels & Resorts. With more than 40 properties across five continents, Avani offers city hotels, tropical resorts and retreats in nature. For more, visit avanihotels.com

Send us a text

Support the show

Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au