Figure out your escape from a prison island. Shop for raw rabbit meat in the local supermarket. Find job security by choosing the right pen to lend to your boss on a plane. Get travel advice from a sociopath! It’s all covered in the latest Sini-Mini, a “snack-sized” podcast, this time on keeping a travel journal.

Tips, hints, and how to make your travel experience last longer and feel more meaningful with pre-trip prompts, what to write about before breakfast, reasons why you’re collecting rubbish in the back of your book, as well as how to impress your friends later with your amazing memory. A mix of global anecdotes plus practical advice which hopefully gets you itching to write the next time you book a holiday.

Sini-Mini’s are a little deviation from The Lead Story podcast which I will work my way back to soon. Hope you get some inspiration from these in the meantime.

SFX from the amazing library at BBC Sounds.

"The Lead Story" episodes 1-5 + 4 Sini-Mini's are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts and other podcast platforms.

Episode 3 of the Sini-Mini “snack-sized” podcast is all about one journaling prompt: exploration. This can be used as a writing prompt, a meditation, or good practice to enhance your travel writing. We’ll go into the minute detail of a piece of fruit, I sing the praises of the plain digestive biscuit, and you should come out of this with the strong urge to go shopping somewhere you’ve never been before. Or simple curl up on your sofa and start scribbling.

"The Lead Story" episodes 1-5 + 4 Sini-Mini's are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts and other podcast platforms.

So you want to try journaling. But where to start? I use my decades of journaling practice to get you going, whether you’re writing with your first cup of tea in the morning or trying out Oprah’s favourite practice of a gratitude journal at the end of the day. I go into more detail about the many different types of journals, tapping into your emotional self (and how to get that onto the page) and how music might help you get that pen to paper.

Episodes 1 & 2 Intro to Journaling and Prompts for Journaling are available now. Enjoy!

"The Lead Story" episodes 1-5 + 4 Sini-Mini's are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts and other podcast platforms.