Travelling Through... London, the World and Life

060 Tacos, Tortillas, Moles and Music - The Tastes and Sounds of MEXICO in May

San Miguel de Allende in Central Mexico is one of the most popular towns to where Mexicans, Americans, Canadians and many others are drawn to eat, live, marry, paint, hear good music and generally seek out a good life. The climate is agreeable most of the time and likewise the people. This is a town which attracts expats but not in such large numbers that they outweigh the Mexican population. The surrounding areas produce good wines, and are agriculturally rich, and although San Miguel de Allende considers tourism to be its main source of income it is done elegantly and with panache. Everyone seems proud of their town and every evening the main square, El Jardin, throngs with families and visitors enjoying the music, the food and bonhomie.
On a whim, I began recording my walkabouts with my partner Stephen Marriott, in the hope of conveying to you some of the sights, sounds and tastes of this magical town in the middle of Mexico. Enjoy your armchair trip to this fascinating and hugely friendly part of Mexico.
To find out about Stephen Marriott go to: https://stephenrmarriott.com/ or @stephenrmarriott
To learn more about some of the places and people we met check out this list:
Instagram:
@Megatanoz with guitarists Alejandro Camarena and Almitri Tzigane
@miguelandrade752 with artist Miguel Andrade
@carinito.tacos in Roma District, Mexico City
@kennysplacesanmiguel
@casacarly_bnb
Facebook:
@Wcantina with chef J.J. Castaneda and owner Irving Barraza
@Kenny's place sma - great bar in Guadalupe District of San Miguel
@The Duncans - with Mike Duncan, Tony Duncan, Rodrigo RV and Sergio Carrillo
@casacrayola - we stayed at Casa Carly in San Miguel - highly recommend.
To find out about your podcast host EMMA go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/

059 People Who Live Differently - ELISABETH BLANCHET talks about Documenting Through Photography

ELISABETH BLANCHET documents the world through photography. She has travelled widely and her interest and patience in getting to know communities who live differently have resulted in her being able to capture peoples’ worlds beyond the ones in which we ourselves live. Elisabeth’s photography takes us to the Normandy beaches, the worlds of the Irish travellers and Romany, an orphanage in Romania from Ceaușescu’s era, and to the world of Britain’s post war prefab communities.
As well as photography, Elisabeth is a writer and a filmmaker. She is the author of several books one of which was in collaboration with Historic England on the social and architectural history of Britain's prefabs.
Lieberland is a place forgotten, but not to be forgotten. Situated on the Danube River in a disputed area between Serbia and Croatia, it became a place for libertarians to dream of another world with its President Vit Jedlička at the helm. Elisabeth spent some time documenting the early stages of Vit’s political adventure.
Elisabeth believes her role in documenting involves observing and making a link between the outside world and those worlds where people live differently.
“So people see that they live normally,
They eat, they love their children, or not, like everyone else.”
More recently, Elisabeth bought a camera in a flea market in Moscow. Inside the camera was an undeveloped film that she got developed. The black and white photos depicted a young boy’s first day at school. It was 1990 in the then USSR. The images inspired Elisabeth and set her on a mission to find this Russian boy and to return the photographs. The events that follow are currently influencing one of Elisabeth’s latest projects.
Finally, if you have a prefab or know someone who lives in one, do get in touch with Elisabeth she would love to hear from you – the details are below.
To know more about Elisabeth Blanchet go to: www.elisabethblanchet.com
Where you can BUY her BOOKS and PHOTOGRAPHY.
Instagram: @elisabethblanchet_photography
Facebook: @ElisabethBlanchetPhotography
Twitter: @BlanchetElisa
To find out about your podcast host EMMA go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/
A big thanks to MARISKA Martina at https://www.mariskamartina.com/ for creating our wonderful podcast jingle!
 

058 Is Your Life The Life You Want To Lead? - MARI WILLIAMS talks about Being An Alternative Leader

MARI WILLIAMS is a trained coach, therapist and mediator. Her business, The Mind Architect, attracts clients from all walks of life and includes many at the top of their professional game looking for solutions to be better leaders. Mari believes this leadership comes from within you, and in her mind is based on five guiding principles, which she explores in an accessible way in her book It Begins With You – Transform Your Mind To Excel As An Alternative Leader.
“Is your life the life you want to lead?
And if it isn’t, why isn’t it?”
Mari sees herself as a girl who reads. She is an optimistic realist and believes when we are stressed that we can manage this by finding the inner version of ourselves that is always calm.
A number of years ago Mari challenged herself to interview 100 leaders in 100 days. Leaders and entrepreneurs who themselves had had challenges. She reached 57 interviews and realised this was enough. She used her own principles of being an Alternative Leader, to lead from within, lead authentically, and be consciously aware of her life. Are you leading with intention in your life?
Mari Williams' book carefully develops five succinct but inter-related principles:
Understanding how you think.
Clearing your past - our past creates us.
Finding self-worth - which can be mistaken for confidence.
Understanding the nuances of control.
Understanding how to make great decisions.
Your unconscious brain is running you most of the time. Your conscious brain makes up only five percent of your decisions. The core you should be the same. Ninety percent of whom you present to the world should be you. So staying authentic is key and the goal is getting yourself to that true honesty place of I am, who I am.
“I love it,
When I see people, who have influence,
Using it for greater good.”
 
To find out more about Mari Williams go to her website: www.mari-williams.com
To BUY her BOOK, eBOOK, AUDIBLE go to her website or Amazon.
Facebook: Mari Williams
Twitter: @WilliamsThinks
LinkedIn: Mari Williams
Search also Mari Williams, The Mind Architect, for more information.
 
To find out about your podcast host EMMA go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/
 
A big thanks to MARISKA Martina at https://www.mariskamartina.com/ for creating our wonderful podcast jingle!
 

057 Wild Swimming, Urban Solos And Cycle Rides - ABIGAIL TRIPP talks about London Outdoors

ABIGAIL TRIPP has lived in London Waterloo for almost 25 years. She is an avid swimmer, cyclist and traveller and loves searching out the wild swimming and lido spots in and around London.
“Being in touch with the water is so important to me.”
Abigail is also a huge cycling fan and cycles all around London. Her idea of finding peace and quiet is going on early morning urban solos, a concept she first discovered while on a silent walking retreat on the west coast of Scotland near Inverie.
Closer to London, one of Abigail's favourite camping and swimming destinations is to Brightlingsea Lido and to Mersea Island.
Abigail is a founding member of Flux Soup, a collective musical and artistic group who initiate creative events around theatre, music and song. At last year’s Waterloo Festival, they collaborated with writer Sarah Gray in a production of Sarah's written work, entitled Heartwood.
On our walk from Archbishop’s Park in London SE1 she took me to the Thames and along the path between Lambeth Bridge and Westminster Bridge passing the Covid Memorial Wall of red and pink hearts. Where our discussion turns to cycling and Abigail's involvement in Wednesday morning cycle rides for women, as well as the plans she has for community building at St John's Waterloo through art, and collective creativity.
To contact Abigail at St Johns, Waterloo go to: https://stjohnswaterloo.org/
To go cycling with Abigail or others go to: https://www.letsride.co.uk/
To know more about Flux Soup go to: https://fluxsoup.weebly.com/
Facebook: Flux Soup ; Instagram: @fluxsouparts
To find out about your podcast host EMMA go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/
A big thanks to MARISKA Martina at https://www.mariskamartina.com/ for creating our wonderful podcast jingle!
 

056 Community, Gardening And Lockdown On A London Estate - CAROLE WRIGHT talks about Feeling Rooted

Carole Wright is the founder of Blak Outside a multi-disciplinary creative collective providing culturally diverse and inclusive events for the community both online and in person. This collective had its beginnings in the Peabody Blackfriars Estate also known as Peabody Square where Carole has lived for many years. Through her extensive knowledge and management of community gardening, she has been able to combine and integrate the collective - whose central theme is about feeling “rooted” - with their involvement in this shared activity which goes well beyond gardening itself.
Carole takes me on a tour around the community garden at the Peabody Blackfriars Estate and talks about the More Than A Shed Project, plus plans that are underway for a forest garden at the Brookwood community garden just two minutes walk away. Carole strongly believes in promoting the community gardens for after school activities for the children on the estate, as well as inter-generational activities, and Saturday morning events, creating a space “where people can hang out and feel safe”.
Carole talks about the challenges of living on the estate during the lockdown, the increased police presence and, in response, the creation of Blak Outside by the community, for the community.
“We like the mash up of cultures here…
We’ve got to have music and food…
People, sharing, is so important.”
Presently, there’s a cultural block around gardening and horticulture. Carole believes this is changing and is therefore very excited for the next generation and the opportunities it may bring for them.
“A community gardening project isn’t just about gardening,
It’s about the conversations around it.”
To learn more about Blak Outside go to https://blakoutside.org/
Instagram: @blak_outside
Facebook: @Blak Outside
Twitter: @blak_outside
To find out about your podcast host EMMA go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/
A big thanks to MARISKA Martina at https://www.mariskamartina.com/ for creating our wonderful podcast jingle!

055 Sentio Is To Feel - OLIVER TRACE talks about Art, Animation and Augmented Reality

“Sentio is to feel.”
OLIVER TRACE is an artist and animator and the founder of SENTIO SPACE. His company has collaborated with other artists and has been commissioned by Tate Britain, Tate Modern, BBC and Cambridge University amongst other prestigious, high profile organisations to help them tell their stories in a short form, animated context to huge success and acclaim - particularly resonating with those on social media platforms.
Britain by Bike was Sentio Space’s first animation project illustrating four friends’ bike ride across the UK from John o’Groats to Lands End through imagery that symbolises the diversity of landscapes of Britain. Check out Britain by Bike animated short created by Sentio Space on YouTube.
Oliver is experimenting with augmented reality, the artistic realm that blends the physical with the digital. Check out sentio.space website for more information on this. Sentio also collaborates with artists to create animated cards. And finally, they have created Soulday Thursdays to reflect the idea that one should take time out to relax from their hectic and busy worlds - Oliver is experimenting with immersive storytelling events online and in person at the Sentio Space studio.
“Just because it’s innovative doesn’t mean that it’s something worthwhile.”
To find out more about OLIVER and SENTIO SPACE go to https://sentio.space
Instagram @sentio.space
Twitter: @SentioSpace
To find out about your podcast host EMMA you can go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/
A big thanks to MARISKA Martina at https://www.mariskamartina.com/ for creating our wonderful podcast jingle!
 
 

054 Gender And Identity Are Different Things - CHARLOTTE HARKER talks about Being A Creative and Transgender

“I think gender and identity are different things.
My identity is not related to my gender.”
CHARLOTTE HARKER is an artist, writer and performer.
She wrote A Species of Trees; collaborated with Tamar Yoseloff with Nowheres; has written The Wear and Tear of Conversation; The Poetry of Lost Landscapes. She is currently completing The Novel and Other Incidents this will be published in the autumn.
Charlotte’s style of artwork is wide ranging and includes giclee and dry point, to studies of both trees and buildings. She has recently been experimenting with collage.
Charlotte has been involved in a number of art residencies across London, the most recent being at the Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner. She will also be involved in an exhibition at St Pancras’ Churchyard in central London in the Autumn - the result of a creative collaboration – she will be posting more information on her social media sites check these out below.
To learn more about Charlotte Harker go to: charlotteharker.wordpress.com
Email Charlotte at: charker2001@hotmail.com
Charlotte is on Instagram @charker2001
Charlotte is on Facebook @CharlotteHarker
Charlote is also on www.charlotteharker.net
“Writing and making art,
That’s the most important thing.
The question of my identity is not,
That comes deeply from within me."
To find out about your podcast host EMMA you can go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/
A big thanks to MARISKA Martina at https://www.mariskamartina.com/ for creating our wonderful podcast jingle!

053 Everyone Has Their Own Uniqueness - LIZA PADERES talks about Books, Publishing and Children’s Heroes

What can make you happy can change constantly.
LIZA PADERES works for the independent publishing house Legend Press, an arm of the Legend Times publishing group.
People buy books visually.
Liza is a first generation Londoner born to Filipino immigrants. She was brought up with English and a smattering of her parents’ native tongue. She grew up in Barnet, north London and after studying media and communications at university, Liza entered the publishing world excited by the prospects of travel that this industry offered.
Liza reflects on how the publishing world has changed, what the current trends and genres are in publishing, the difficulties that authors face whether published or self-published, and how as a mother, Liza is observing her children’s relationships to books, bookshops, the library and who they define as their heroes.
It’s a real eye opener having children,
and knowing the intricacies
of making them happy.
 
To find out more about Legend Press: https://www.legendpress.co.uk
To find out about your podcast host EMMA you can go to https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/
A big thanks to MARISKA Martina at https://www.mariskamartina.com/ for creating our wonderful podcast jingle!