Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

I first visited Cambodia in 1993, as the south east Asian country was recovering from the genocide of the appalling Khmer Rouge regime under the dictatorship of Pol Pot. In 2025, Global Travel Editor Annabel Grossman has just returned from Cambodia and describes a nation transformed – except for the warm welcome that visitors enjoy.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Claire Jones is chief executive of Polar Steps, a travel planning up that takes you worldwide (not just the Arctic and Antarctic). The idea is that all your plans and photos are in one place, so a close group of friends and family can follow your journey. As you go along, it generates a diary for you. And at the end of the trip, you can create a book of your experiences.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

In the second part of my conversation with Martin Rolfe, chief executive of NATS – formerly National Air Traffic Services – we discuss the need to modernise the skies, why aircraft holding to land at London Heathrow are necessary and how air-traffic controllers will handle extra runways at Gatwick and Heathrow.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Today and tomorrow I'm talking to Martin Rolfe, chief executive of NATS – formerly National Air Traffic Services – about the work air-traffic controllers do to keep the skies safe for passengers and crew. He also tackles the systems failure on Bank Holiday Monday, and warns that technical issues are an inevitability in an industry as complex as aviation.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Great Western Railway has just unveiled "Formula 1" high-speed internet connectivity on one of its intercity express trains, connecting London Paddington with the West of England and South Wales. It uses technology from the world of motorsport to harness satellite and phone mast signals to maximum effect.I have been on a train from Paddington to Newbury in Berkshire and back, sounding out the views of Nick Fry from Motion Applied, Andy Jasper of the Eden Project and GWR managing director Mark Hopwood.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Travel Desk Tuesday, and The Independent's Deputy Travel Editor has top tips on travelling around by rail and road. Sophie's highlight: the Golden Temple at Amritsar. And, she adds:"The food was the best thing about the trip."This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Katherine Moloney is founder of Elevate(her) Aviation. She started flying at 18, and is licensed to fly both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Katherine has been telling me: "Aviation as a whole is actually 30% female, but less than 5% in key roles such as engineering, pilot roles, and air traffic control." And she intends to change that ...This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Heilbronn is a small city in western Germany. It is notable for being selected as European Green Capital for 2027. But what I find rather more amazing is that there are two medieval towers that you can climb, on your own, having picked up the key from the tourist office.Wild and wonderful: I hope you will try it too.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

I'm finding out about how to survive in jungles and other wildernesses with Dr Joshua Allison, Medical Director at Unique Expeditions. All you need to know about them is that they are, quote, “experts in the extreme.”This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.