Podcasts by The Low Season

64. Canden (Washington, D.C.) from 2020-08-21T05:30

It's the final episode! And playing us out is Washington D.C.'s Canden Arciniega. We recorded this conversation back in May, when she was restoring an old mill with friends and focusing on what ...

63. Ken (Dublin) from 2020-08-19T05:30

Today's guest is Ken Walsh, a former Berlin guide who gave it all up to make radio in Dublin. For him, the "neoliberal freelance nightmare" of guiding in the German capital was a big factor in t...

62. Anouschka (Amsterdam) from 2020-08-17T05:30

Today we're in Amsterdam talking to Anouschka Trauschke- a guide who tried to become invisible in a city famously troubled by overtourism. But is tourism itself the root cause of the Dutch capit...

61. Marcus (Prague) from 2020-08-14T05:30

We're in beautiful Prague talking to naked tour guide Marcus Bradshaw, who is delighted to see Prague no longer caving under mass tourism. On the show today: what travel once was vs. what it has be...

60. Peter (Bratislava) from 2020-08-12T05:30

Today we're talking to Peter Chrenka in Bratislava, a city that (at the time of recording) was just beginning to wake up and remove its facemask. Peter runs Authentic Slovakia and offers guided ...

59. Tomer (Tel Aviv) from 2020-08-10T05:30

We're in Tel Aviv today, talking to Tomer Chelouche - a guide and fellow podcaster who comes from one of the city's founding families. Working also as an urban consultant, he is fascinated by how...

58. Kasia (Paris) from 2020-08-07T05:30

Bonjour mes amis! Meet Kasia Klon, a guide who came to Paris from Poland- via New York and Berlin- only to be disappointed. Getting over an initial dislike of the French capital, she soon fell i...

57. Bart (Antwerp) from 2020-08-05T05:30

We made it to Belgium! Antwerp, specifically. And today we're talking to Bart Verhoeven, who has spent the last couple of years guiding all over the country that gave us Art Nouveau. We talk low...

56. John&Hugo (Melbourne) from 2020-08-03T05:30

Today we're in Melbourne, Australia - the cocktail capital of the world. We're talking to John O'Sullivan and Hugo Mylecharane of Depot Adventures (formerly Walks 1010) who operate a rather unus...

55. Margaret (London) from 2020-07-31T05:30

We're in London chatting to self-proclaimed monarchist Margaret Stockton-Davies - a guide who just loves the drama of the Royal Family. We weigh up the possibilities vs the risks of the Free Tou...

54. Rick (Steves) from 2020-07-29T05:30

Today, we're in Edmonds, Washington talking to Rick Steves. Yes, that Rick Steves. The 'Rick Steves Europe' Rick Steves. The travel guru is on a decades-long mission to move people- namely U.S. ...

53. Arja (Berlin) from 2020-07-27T05:30

With over ten years’ experience running her own tour guide business, Arja Jacob is confident that she’ll be back on her feet once tourism is. She’s well-connected. We’re back in Berlin to talk a...

52. Ramzi (Beit Sahour) from 2020-07-24T05:30

This Friday and we’re in conversation with Ramzi Salsa, a Catholic Palestinian guide who got into tourism between the First and Second Intifadas. This is not the first time his career has been a...

51. Michal (Bratislava) from 2020-07-22T05:30

Hello from Bratislava! We’re having a chat with Michal Nejeschleba, a guide and new dad for whom the evaporation of tourism came at an ok time. We talk about the positives of life on board a cru...

50. Pål (Oslo) from 2020-07-20T05:30

Today we’re talking to Pål Johansen in Oslo, a guide and travel writer who has worked all over Scandinavia. We discuss ways to keep your brand alive, how to make Norwegian pancakes and of course...

49. Samantha (Zürich) from 2020-07-17T05:30

Today's guide is Samantha from Zürich. Before landing a tour guiding job, Samantha was a croupier on a cruise ship, a translator for the Swiss police, volunteered to help zones hit by earthquake...

48. Bonita (Prague) from 2020-07-15T05:30

Originally from New York City, Bonita Rhoads has been operating a travel business in Prague since 2014. Despite the pressure it puts on a small city, she’d never tell her colleagues not to take ...

47. Heidi (Paris) from 2020-07-13T05:30

Heidi Evans is the founder of Women of Paris, a tour business illuminating the women who shaped the City of Lights. We chat about the difficulty of guiding in a city that’s already been hit by o...

46. Shira (Haifa) from 2020-07-10T05:30

Today’s conversation is with Shira Kleinman, a guide in Haifa who immersed herself in Hebrew- and tears- in order to get her license. We talk about the importance of food, staying positive and w...

45. Matthew (Liverpool) from 2020-07-08T05:30

Today we’re chatting to original Liverpudlian Matthew Staunton, who’d been guiding in the “Pool of Life” for only eight months when corona shut it all down. We talk about the free tour model vs ...

44. Kaitlin (Washington, D.C.) from 2020-07-06T05:30

It’s somehow been two whole months since we spoke to A Tour of Her Own founder Kaitlin Calogera in Washington, D.C. Today we’re talking about tourism as a very personal form of education, the un...

43. Alessia (NYC) from 2020-07-03T05:30

We're talking to Alessia Nencioni, a native of Florence who has spent almost twenty years introducing guests to the hidden sights of NYC. We talk about why a visit to Times Square does not mean ...

42. Patrick (Munich) from 2020-07-01T05:30

We're back in Germany! But this time we're in Bavaria, talking to tour guide, museum historian and OG Munich-er Patrick Charell, who believes history is something we can disagree on. We discuss ...

41. Henk (Amsterdam) from 2020-06-29T05:30

Today we're popping over to the Dutch capital to chat with Henk de Vries, who has spent years leading LGBTQ tours in Amsterdam - gay capital of the world since the '90s. We talk about the city's...

40. Alexander (Saint Petersburg) from 2020-06-26T05:30

Today it's all about Alexander Shmidke! We catch up with him fresh from a trip to the tax office in Saint Petersburg - one of the few places in Russia you can visit without a visa. We're talking...

39. Jeanie (London) from 2020-06-24T05:30

We're in London talking to proud Blue Badge guide, Jeanie Carmichael. A big believer in licensing, this lady is serious about guiding and founded the Guides Association of London to help give th...

38. Amir (Vienna) from 2020-06-22T05:30

A Vienna-native, Amir Karim has been guiding all over Europe for almost a decade. He was on a mission to revitalise the profession in the Austrian capital and this should have been the year he m...

37. Lucy (Melbourne) from 2020-06-19T05:30

G'day from Melbourne! Australia's high and low seasons are the exact opposite of most countries we've heard from so far. Lucy Gardner- tour guide, teacher and Tigers fan- tells us how the bushfi...

36. Francesca (Rome) from 2020-06-17T05:30

When we spoke to Francesca in early May, Rome had just entered Phase 2, meaning citizens were finally allowed to venture more than 200m from their doorsteps. From too many tourists to none at al...

35. Andrew (San Francisco) from 2020-06-15T05:30

We’re in conversation with Andrew Wong, a San Franciscan who sees his tour guiding profession as an opportunity to share stories you wouldn’t otherwise hear - particularly stories from marginali...

34. Bert (NYC) from 2020-06-12T05:30

We’re in NYC talking to food tour guide Bert James. Our first conversation in May centred on what pandemic restrictions might mean for a city that’s famously nocturnal. Given the recent BLM prot...

33. Jorge (Madrid) from 2020-06-10T05:30

Hola from the Spanish capital! We're talking to Jorge Román, a guide with 23 years of experience who just started a blog to stay sane. We don't shy away from the big topics today. We're talking ...

32. Anna (Jerusalem) from 2020-06-08T05:30

If you thought her city was just one square kilometer of old walls, Anna Kreynin has news for you. Today's tour guide talks about strategic employment situations, how social distancing killed th...

Black Lives Matter from 2020-06-05T14:17:55

A brief update. We're back on Monday.

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Afropean by Johny Pitts.

Listen

30. Lizzy from 2020-05-21T05:30

Today's guest tells us why Germans don't have a Plan B, how applause can be a kick-starter for sound mental health, and how we're currently filling our time rather than living it.

Convers...

29. Pip from 2020-05-20T05:30

Today's guide is not a guide at all! At least not any more. We talk to our "chronically lazy" friend about the lack of suitable synonyms for 'weird', the benefits of living with someone who is n...

28. Wouter from 2020-05-19T05:30

An update from the front.

27. Rodrigo from 2020-05-18T05:30

Today's guide was going to take it easy this year, settle into Berlin and have a stable job. Little did he know that taking it easy was all there was to have...Also; jogging pants, dulce the lec...

26. Stéphanie from 2020-05-15T05:30

Today's guide is conflicted about her staying in Berlin, she doesn't like tourists on her doorstep, and is one of the few guides that doesn't know what a low season is.

Conversation from ...

25. Bethan from 2020-05-14T05:30

How do you tell the difference between a rollercoaster and a history tour...? Today's guide decided pretty quickly that jokes were not her thing. We talk pre-tour nerves, teenage bullies and the...

24. Asaf from 2020-05-13T05:30

Today's guide is all about cycling, cycling and cycling. We learn what a 'durchgangszimmer' is, the correct way of putting a stick behind the door, and how to market yourself for the future tour...

23. Josh from 2020-05-12T05:30

Our guest today couldn't believe it snowed in March. Or that he couldn't get a corona-test while showing flu symptoms. We talk about improving our lives as guides, the inability to make decision...

22. Mal from 2020-05-11T05:30

In their 14 years in Berlin this anthropologist and guide has seen the city transformed. And not always in a good way. We talk capitalist baggage, the death star of tourism and dancing for menta...

21. Lorna from 2020-05-08T05:30

Having broken her ankle last year, the Refugee Voices founder understands how precarious tour guiding can be. We talk to the star of her own tragicomedy about how a relatively comfortable crisis...

20. Kevin from 2020-05-07T05:30

This guide from the UK had a feeling that things might have to change. From severed connections to strengthened bonds, isolation has made his world curiously bigger. We talk about keeping it sim...

19. Beate from 2020-05-06T05:30

This guide has been in the game since before the Berlin Wall came down. And now she’s a housewife for the first time. We talk about the importance of spending time apart and why she doesn’t give...

18. Mohamad from 2020-05-05T05:30

Today’s guide left Syria in 2013 and became a founding member of the Refugee Voices team in Berlin. His brother chose to stay behind but is now stuck in the German capital on an ill-fated resear...

17. Jonathan from 2020-05-04T05:30

Coming from Venezuela, Coronavirus is not this guide’s first crisis. Is that why his outlook is so sunny? We talk about embracing the new normal, the Titanic that kept on sinking and the tour of...

16. Kai from 2020-05-01T05:30

Today’s guide talks to us from his own private island. He moved to Berlin to get away from the countryside, but now rural Brandenburg is his refuge from city life. We talk about how much water i...

15. Eyal from 2020-04-30T05:30

This guide makes a mean Shakshuka. We talk about what lockdown looks like in Lichterfelde, experiments in drive-by tourism and why older guests are his favourite.

Conversation from April ...

14. Ysanne from 2020-04-29T05:30

Since moving to the city seven years ago, Berlin’s resilience has long been a source of inspiration for today’s guide. We discuss history as therapy and why her husband is locked in the bedroom....

13. Marc from 2020-04-28T05:30

In his three years as a guide, this Valencian says there have been no bad days - just good days and very very good days. That doesn’t mean he’s not conflicted about the morality of tour guiding ...

12. Caroline from 2020-04-27T06:30

I want to be a tour guide when I grow up. Said no one ever. We’re talking to a seasoned pro about the professional identity crisis faced by tour guides and the surprising gift presented by our n...

11. Rob from 2020-04-24T05:30

Talking from a country whose leader thinks Corona is a hoax, this guide and new dad can’t get home. We talk about raising a baby when the world is shaking, why taking to Twitter is worth it, and...

10. Campbell from 2020-04-23T05:30

Home is where your life is. We catch up with an Aussie guide and climate activist stuck on the other side of the world. On his last day of quarantine to talk bullshit jobs, storm clouds and unce...

9. Chris and Steve from 2020-04-22T05:30

Way before Steve abandoned his travel plans halfway to Australia, Chris was in self-isolation to avoid compromising his girlfriend. We talk to two flatmates about letting go of control and what ...

8. Kathinka from 2020-04-21T05:30

Did you hear the one about the tour guide who single-handedly put Berlin’s comedy scene on lockdown? We call the Corona Information Hotline to talk German bureaucracy, the tourists who never lef...

6. Nick from 2020-04-20T20:39:24

Having been on someone else’s holiday all this time, we now face a choice: Endless January, or post-pandemic plotting. We’re talking to a guide with a million years’ experience about existential...

7. India and Sam from 2020-04-20T05:30

We’re talking to our first guide couple. His flatmate was one of Berlin’s first confirmed COVID-19 cases. Her flatmate is gone, leaving her home alone. Both have to self-quarantine apart. We cha...

5. Maisie from 2020-04-16T05:30

From her mum’s place in the English countryside, we talk German gangsta rap and nose-picker's regret with a guide plagued by visions of her fridge exploding. Conversation from April 7th 2020. Listen

4. Torben from 2020-04-15T05:30

This guide’s three-year-old knows something’s up, but how do you explain it? Swimming petri dishes, the Boogeyman and why we’re waving at Grandpa from the window. Conversation from April 7th 202...

3. Heidi from 2020-04-14T06:05

We are back in Berlin, talking to a guide and mother about self-motivation, financial pressure and being grateful for what you’ve got. Oh, and a certain fat pigeon. Conversation from April 9th 2...

2. Susan from 2020-04-14T06:01

When your day was supposed to start with a visa appointment but ends with a puppy. We talk accelerated cohabitation, rules for Netflix and what Susan’s mum means by ten good years. Conversation ...

1. Michael from 2020-04-14T06:00

All the way in from Italy’s northwestern frontier, we hear from a former Berlin tour guide whose past as a Carthusian monk has prepared him for life in lockdown. We talk silence, solitude and fi...

Intro: A Day At The Lake from 2020-04-12T23:05:27

A Day At The Lake marks the beginning of this series on tour guides navigating a pandemic. The Low Season is about people who have seen their livelihoods dissapear. On top of all the quarantin...