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Peak Travel

Peak Travel

By: WHYY
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Travel can do amazing things: broaden horizons, build relationships, and rejuvenate the soul. But often, those experiences come at a cost.

This is Peak Travel, a new podcast from WHYY about how travel shapes communities in hot-spots around the world. We’ll share the wonder that comes with exploring new places, as well as the harm that our worst travel habits can cause. And we’ll try to figure out how we can do it better.

Each episode transports you to a new destination. You’ll meet the people who call that place home, hear their stories, and come to understand how tourism has changed their everyday lives. Supported by rich, on-location sound from around the world, Peak Travel unpacks the $1.9 trillion travel industry and its impact on people and the planet.

980967 Social Sciences Travel Writing & Commentary
Episodes
  • You Can Visit All Seven Continents. But Should You?

    You Can Visit All Seven Continents. But Should You?
    Apr 8 2025

    For many travelers, Antarctica is a bucket-list destination, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to touch all seven continents. In 2023, a record-breaking 100,000 tourists made the trip. But the journey begs a fundamental question: What do we risk by traveling to a place that is supposed to be uninhabited by humans? And as the climate warms, should we really be going to Antarctica in the first place?


    SHOW NOTES:

    • Kara Weller: The Impossible Dilemma of a Polar Guide
    • Marilyn Raphael: A twenty-first century structural change in Antarctica’s sea ice system
    • Karl Watson: First Time in Antarctica
    • Jeb Brooks: 7 Days in Antarctica (Journey to the South Pole)
    • Metallica - Freeze 'Em All: Live in Antarctica
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    27 mins
  • Why Petra Needs Its People

    Why Petra Needs Its People
    Apr 1 2025

    For centuries, members of the B’doul Bedouin tribe lived in the caves around the ancient city of Petra, Jordan. Then, in the 1980s, the government forced the tribe to move in the name of preserving the geological site for tourists. But if the residents are forced to leave, and if their heritage has been permanently changed, then what exactly is being preserved?


    SHOW NOTES:

    • Meet The Man Living in The Lost City Carved in Stone
    • Jordan: Petra's tourism authority cracks down on Bedouin cave dwellers
    • The tribes paying the brutal price of conservation
    • “There is no future for Umm Sayhoun”
    • Jordan’s Young Bedouins Are Documenting Their Traditions on TikTok
    • Check out Sami's company Jordan Inspiration Tours
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    29 mins
  • How a Destination Goes Viral

    How a Destination Goes Viral
    Mar 25 2025

    Have you ever opened Instagram to see a bunch of people posting from the same place — Lisbon? The Amalfi Coast? Charleston? Japan? It’s no coincidence that every year, it feels like everyone is going on the exact same trips. In this episode, we’re going to pull back the curtain on the travel media industry and show you how a place becomes a viral destination.


    SHOW NOTES:

    • Check out Where to Next Y’all on Instagram
    • Read Natasha Nyanin’s stories and look through her photos on her blog
    • The Differences Between Paid and Organic Content on Social Media
    • Under the Influence: Social Influencers and the Travel Industry
    • How COVID Changed Travel Writing
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    21 mins
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