Speaking on Saturday, December 20, 2025, we have :
1st: Speaker to be confirmed
2nd: Justyna Hellebrand – Three trips to Paraguay.
Date & Time: Saturday 20th December 2025
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
1st: Jo Bradshaw – Mountains of Patience – Climbing Everest and The 7 Summits.
As the famous saying goes ‘All good things come to those who wait’ and this is particularly relevant to Jo and her 7 summits project. She will take you on a whistle stop tour to all 7 continents, from the jungle to the polar regions and everywhere in between whilst following in the footsteps of the first woman to climb all 7, Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei. What makes each mountain so unique and why on earth did she take on this monumental project whilst raising funds and awareness for children’s mental health charity Place2Be.
2nd: Maria Hickey – Japan Unfolded: A Cultural Journey with Maria Hickey
Join Maria Hickey (aka Sakura) on Saturday 3rd May for a unique cultural experience through Japan!
Maria, a passionate photographer, will offer you an exclusive look at Japan, showcasing its beauty through her lens. From lesser-known festivals to ancient temples framed by delicate cherry blossoms (sakura), you’ll explore a side of Japan that few get to see.
Having spent approximately three years living and working in Japan with programmes like the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme, the Ship for World Youth Programme, Peace Boat and the GET Programme, Maria brings a wealth of authentic experiences. She’s even participated in the Queen Himiko contest!
As an avid artist with a love for crafting, Maria will also lead you in a hands-on demonstration of making an origami heart to take home. All you’ll need is a square piece of paper if you’d like to join in.
We encourage you to submit any questions for Maria in advance for the Q&A session.
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
Join award-winning journalist, podcaster and broadcaster Ash Bhardwaj for a captivating talk inspired by his critically acclaimed book, Why We Travel, covering what makes a journey truly meaningful, and why do some trips fall flat? Ash shares lessons from his global adventures and bestselling book “Why We Travel”. Blending psychology, storytelling, and real-world experience—from trekking across Uganda to soldering in Estonia — Ash reveals how understanding your motivation can transform travel, work, and life.
Ash has reported from 50+ countries for the BBC, The Telegraph, Guardian, and more—and brings unmatched insight to the intersection of culture, purpose, and exploration.
2nd: Mary Fogarty – Sri Lankan voyages round my father.
Returning to Sri Lanka in 2023 – for the first time since 1986, when she went to visit her father who was working in Colombo – Mary was surprised by how much the country began to affect her.
She arrived at 3 am and only discovered what lay outside her hotel window three hours later – a beach of golden sand and the glistening Indian Ocean. Soon she was off to see bears in the national park, followed by Buddhas, stupas, temples and sacred mountains. In Kandy, visits to the Temple of the Tooth and the Botanical Gardens began to bring back memories of being there with her parents – with more and more flooding back at the tea estates in Nuwara Eliya and then the wonderful fort area at Galle, back once more on the Indian Ocean.
The country slowly took its hold of her, and she went back again last year to explore more memories and discover new ground. Now, with another trip looming, Mary outlines just why and how the country means so much to her.
Date & Time: Saturday 7th June 2025
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
1st: Stuart Bradford – Across Russia from Moscow to Kamchatka
Stuart Bradford lived and worked in Russia for over seven years, a period which was the inspiration for his book Caviar Vodka and Tears. He will share some of his travel experiences in this huge and varied country, from Moscow overland to Vladivostok, and also the magical and remote region of Kamchatka.
Join Laura for on a mythical journey through the real world. Together we will travel through tiny archipelagos and explore mystical Mediterranean islands thought to be the setting of Odysseus’s epic journey.
We will encounter sea monsters and sex goddesses, fragile masculinity, toxic gods, polyamory and plenty of narcissism as we look again at this old text with fresh eyes. Together, we will explore what myths are, the importance of the stories we tell ourselves, and the magical task of mapping imaginary worlds.
Laura Coffey is not a classics scholar, she cannot read Ancient Greek, often finds herself utterly lost, and so is an unlikely author of a book on mapping The Odyssey.
Stephen Fry said it’s “a magical and hugely captivating journey – a simply marvellous read, hugely recommended”.
Laura’s book Enchanted Islands: A Mediterranean Odyssey, has also been selected by Wanderlust and Citizen Femme as a top travel book for 2024, and by Blackwells as recommended summer reading. It has been long listed for the Anglo Hellenic League Runciman Award
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
Speaking on Saturday, September 6, 2025, we have :
1st: Darran Rees – Love Letter to Romania
When Darran Rees first drove northward toward Transylvania he felt he was being transported back in time. These remarkable landscapes were like visions of the past with such odd beauty and majesty that betrayed little of their recent history. Over the following fifteen years he was fortunate enough to continue that journey and indeed accompany Romania on its own journey as it unbuckled itself from the chains of its dictatorship and looked to an independent and brighter future. These images represent a record of this unique yet often misunderstood country, its exceptional people and their rare culture, family values and traditions. It shows a moment in time, a unique time in a unique country among extraordinary people.
Darran Rees was born and raised in Wales. Originally trained in art, he later discovered the power of the ‘still’ image and photography. Following photography college and two years assisting a London based commercial photographer, Darran began his own journey with his chosen medium in 1992. This is his first book. Darran Rees, a Welshman by birth, now resides in North London, but travels internationally for his work.
2nd: Olivia McGregor – Guiana
Olivia McGregor was the recipient of the Royal Geographical Society’s 2024 Neville Shulman Challenge Award and will be talking about her journey to the savannahs and rainforests of Guyana.
Olivia travelled to The Lost World, one of the last wildernesses on Earth, a land steeped in exotic myth and legend that served as inspiration for Jurassic Park. Among its inhabitants were the Makushi people, indigenous to the region, with a rich culture dating back 11,000 years.
The Makushi people are at a crossroads, caught between traditional ways of living in close connection with their natural environment and the influences of the modern industrialised world. Olivia will talk about how they are adjusting and the implications of this for everyone. Their survival could be humanity’s own.
Date & Time: Saturday 6th September 2025
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
Speaking on Saturday, 20th September 2025, we have :
John Brinkley – India — Part 2
Barbara Brooks – TBA
Doors open at 1pm for 1:30pm start until 4:00pm Entrance fee £5 (£4 Globetrotters members*) refreshments included (cash only) info@chesterglobetrotters.com – www.chesterglobetrotters.com
Armenia today is a democratic nation with an ancient cultural heritage and was the first country to adopt Christianity as the state religion. It has 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This was a 10 day tour organised by the Chester Civic Trust.
Brian Anderson – South Georgia
Brian has visited South Georgia three times, the last trip was in October 2024. Through his stunning images, he looks at the island’s history, geography and incredibly rich flora and fauna that survives’ and in some cases, flourishes in this harsh place.
Doors open at 1pm for 1:30pm start until 4:00pm Entrance fee £5 (£4 Globetrotters members*) refreshments included (cash only) info@chesterglobetrotters.com – www.chesterglobetrotters.com
Doors open at 1pm for 1:30pm start until 4:00pm Entrance fee £5 (£4 Globetrotters members*) refreshments included (cash only) info@chesterglobetrotters.com – www.chesterglobetrotters.com
Anna Manning & Howard Jennings – Christmas in the Caribbean with a tandem The talk covers two Christmas periods spent in the Caribbean with our tandem. The first was 2022/23 in Barbados and the second was 2023/24 in Martinique and Guadeloupe
lan O’Neill – India — Street Life Ian spent many weeks travelling around the northern states of India, where he’s been lucky to meet many people who work hard to survive, but always with a smile on their faces
Doors open at 1 pm for 1:30 pm start until 4:00 pm Entrance fee £5 (£4 Globetrotters members*) refreshments included (cash only) info@chesterglobetrotters.com – www.chesterglobetrotters.com
1st: Christopher Forse – Fifty years of Travel in South East Asia
Five decades of travel through an exotic land of beautiful landscapes, beautiful cultures, beautiful people and tragic recent histories.
Chris Forse, a former resident of Hong Kong, describes his five decades of travel through the exotic landscapes and cultures of this beautiful part of the world, where until quite recently only five countries (The Philippines, Thailand. Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) were open to foreign travellers. He has hiked in jungles in Thailand, taken boats deep into Borneo and down the Mekong River in Laos, crossed tragic Cambodia by bus, and travelled overland through Sumatra and Java to exotic Bali. He was among the first to travel to Vietnam on an individual visa, later to explore Burma/Myanmar, a land that time forgot. As in his talk on Thirty Years of Travel in China, he witnessed the enormous changes that economic development (and mass tourism) has brought, for good or ill.
2nd: Jacqui Trotter – – Homegoing: Part 4
Jacqui will be talking about travelling in 2019 back to Australia through Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand.
Vietnam was a delight. Cambodia was fascinating and visiting Angkor Wat was a long-held dream! Thailand was a great place to take stock, play tourist and still visit places I had not been before.
Going home was something I had done many times before but this time was different – it would be my home for the next five years (and still is) and the world of travel would not be quite the same for any of us ever again.
Date & Time: Saturday 5th April 2025
Doors open at 14:15 in London and on Zoom with the talks starting around 14:45 (London see Event Time Announcer for local times), please arrive early so we can deal with any issues with joining.
We would ask that anyone with respiratory symptoms participate via Zoom.
Admission costs:
£7 for members. (Members can access a ticket code below or from the members area.)
