The Wanderlist

Alexandra Carlton is used to being asked where to eat next. As one of Australia’s most respected food and travel writers, and Oceania Academy Chair for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, she has spent years inside the restaurants, hotels and destinations serious travellers build entire itineraries around.

But when asked what reminds her why we travel, Alexandra does not begin with an impossible reservation. She begins in French Polynesia, in the water, surrounded by black-tip sharks.

That instinct runs through the conversation - a preference for places with substance over status, meals that reveal something about where you are, and stays that shape the way you judge every hotel that follows.

Credits & Links:

Guest: Alexandra Carlton - follow Alexandra on Instagram at @alexandrawrites.

Host: Sophie Baker - connect with Sophie on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or follow on Instagram ⁠@shgbaker⁠ for more travel recommendations.

Follow The Wanderlist on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the_wanderlist_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wanderlust Union⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more on the podcast.

Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Ask Elise Balzac about the South of France, and she will not start with Saint-Tropez. She starts somewhere quieter: between vineyards and the sea, where beauty was in the light, the food, the markets, and the way a table was set before anyone sat down.

As the founder of Maison Balzac, Elise has built a brand around colour, fragrance and the art of making everyday moments feel considered. But here, she traces that instinct back to its source - family rituals, village life, and the French belief that pleasure is something to be taken seriously.

She talks about travel the way she talks about a table: atmosphere first, then detail. Not the checklist version, but the sensory one - where light matters, rituals matter, and the smallest detail can become the thing you remember most.

Credits & Links:

Guest: Elise Balzac - follow Elise on Instagram at ⁠@elisepiochbalzac⁠.

Host: Sophie Baker - connect with Sophie on LinkedIn or follow on Instagram @shgbaker for more travel recommendations.

Follow The Wanderlist on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠@the_wanderlist_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠Wanderlust Union⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more on the podcast.

Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Some travellers are drawn to cities. Matt Lennon is drawn to the sea.

As Global Head of Brand at SARAH & SEBASTIAN, Matt spends his days thinking about beauty, detail and story. His travels follow a similar instinct - towards places with texture, depth and a strong sense of the natural world.

He talks about travel that happens around water: diving, island stays, and the kind of remote places where the ocean dictates the rhythm of the day. It’s less about escape, and more about what being close to nature can unlock.

Credits & Links:

Guest: Matt Lennon - follow Matt on Instagram at @matthew_lennon_.

Host: Sophie Baker - connect with Sophie on LinkedIn or follow on Instagram @shgbaker for more travel recommendations.

Follow The Wanderlist on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠@the_wanderlist_podcast⁠⁠⁠.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠Wanderlust Union⁠⁠⁠ for more on the podcast.

Produced by ⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠.

There’s a version of Greece that exists well beyond Santorini and Mykonos - wilder, slower and a little harder to reach.

For Heleena Trahanas, it’s the rugged coastline of Mani, the quiet shores of Folegandros and a perfect Hydra rhythm: sleep, coffee, swim, eat, Campari spritz, repeat.

The Alex and Trahanas co-founder opens her little black book on the places she returns to, the tavernas she’d almost rather keep secret, and the solo trip she nearly cancelled - but which ended up changing far more than her travel plans.

Credits & Links:

Guest: Heleena Trahanas - follow Jono on Instagram at @heleenatrahanas
Host: Sophie Baker - connect with Sophie on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ or follow on Instagram @sophiehgbaker for more travel recommendations.

Follow The Wanderlist on Instagram at ⁠⁠@the_wanderlist_podcast⁠⁠.

Visit ⁠⁠Wanderlust Union⁠⁠ for more on the podcast.

Produced by ⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠.

There’s the Champagne you drink, and then there’s the Champagne you discover.

Beneath Reims are ancient chalk cellars, centuries of history and a world that changed the course of Natalie Hazel’s life. What began as a fascination with wine became something much bigger - a connection to the region, its people and the rituals that keep drawing her back.

Along the way, there are Michelin-starred meals, unforgettable hotels, safari mornings and one very secret London bar - but the real luxury, she says, is feeling like you’re part of the place rather than simply passing through.

Credits & Links:

Guest: Natalie Hazel - follow Natalie on Instagram at @champagneinstyle

Host: Sophie Baker - connect with Sophie on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or follow on Instagram @sophiehgbaker for more travel recommendations.

Follow The Wanderlist on Instagram at ⁠@the_wanderlist_podcast⁠.

Visit ⁠Wanderlust Union⁠ for more on the podcast.

Produced by ⁠Mylk Media⁠.

What if the trip you think is out of reach is sitting quietly inside your points balance?

Known as The Points Whisperer, Steve Hui has built a career helping people turn everyday spending into extraordinary travel - including the kind of First Class experience that feels completely impossible until you understand how points really work.

For anyone who has ever looked at a business class seat and assumed it was out of reach, Steve makes the case that the upgrade might be closer than you think.

Credits & Links:

Guest: Steve Hui - follow Steve on Instagram at @iflyflat

Host: Sophie Baker - connect with Sophie on LinkedIn or follow on Instagram @sophiehgbaker for more travel recommendations.

Follow The Wanderlist on Instagram at @the_wanderlist_podcast.

Visit Wanderlust Union for more on the podcast.

Produced by Mylk Media.

Kirstie Clements has done travel at its most glamorous. But the moments she remembers best are a little less polished - floating beneath the stars in Iceland, listening to the Amazon rainforest, and discovering places where the most beautiful things can’t be photographed.

The former Vogue Australia editor and now travel writer takes Sophie from Paris and Fiji to Bhutan, Marrakech and the far reaches of the Amazon, sharing the places that have genuinely surprised her, and why these days she’d rather linger, get lost and let a destination unfold than race through a checklist.

Credits & Links:

Guest: Kirstie Clements - follow Kirstie on Instagram at @kirstie_clements

Host: Sophie Baker - connect with Sophie on LinkedIn or follow on Instagram @sophiehgbaker for more travel recommendations.

Follow The Wanderlist on Instagram at @the_wanderlist_podcast.

Visit Wanderlust Union for more on the podcast.

Produced by Mylk Media.

What does a designer see when they travel?

For Jono Fleming, it’s never just the destination. It’s the hotel lobby, the market stall, the perfect room, the unexpected city, the souvenir with a story, and the places that somehow look even better in real life.

From the sensory pull of Marrakech to the surprise of Taipei, this is travel through an interior designer’s eye - where colour, texture, chaos and detail become the memories you keep long after the suitcase is unpacked.

Credits & Links:

Guest: Jono Fleming - follow Jono on Instagram at @jono.fleming.

Host: Sophie Baker - connect with Sophie on LinkedIn or follow on Instagram @sophiehgbaker for more travel recommendations.

Follow The Wanderlist on Instagram at @the_wanderlist_podcast.

Visit Wanderlust Union for more on the podcast.

Produced by Mylk Media.