Comedians and musicians are sharing their weird and wonderful stories of trips abroad on a podcast produced and edited by Leamington man

Jo Taylor had the idea for Miss Adventures in Travel after she had an eventful trip to North America and her friend Steven Stamps is helping the podcast go from strength to strength
Jo Taylor and Steven Stamps, the Miss Adventures in Travel team.Jo Taylor and Steven Stamps, the Miss Adventures in Travel team.
Jo Taylor and Steven Stamps, the Miss Adventures in Travel team.

Rock stars and comedians have been sharing their weird, wonderful, funny and sometimes bizarre stories from their trips abroad on a podcast which is being produced and edited by a Leamington man.

Steven Stamps, 39, offered to help his friend and colleague Jo Taylor 27, of Coventry, when she told him about her idea to start a travel podcast with a twist.

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That was a few months ago and since then they have welcomed guests such as Steve Firth, the bass player from chart-topping rock band Embrace, and comedians including former Xtra Factor host Matt Richardson, Freddy Quinne, Ruth Cockburn, Zoe Lyons and folk singer Beans on Toast.

Jo and Steven promote the podcast through their Instagram account missadventuresintravelJo and Steven promote the podcast through their Instagram account missadventuresintravel
Jo and Steven promote the podcast through their Instagram account missadventuresintravel

The guests have shared stories and anecdotes ranging from losing passports, the curse of always having an upset stomach when abroad to being used as a human shield by their mother when they were a child.

Such has been the positive response to their invites to join the podcast that Jo and Steven have had to record shows more regularly on a weekly rather than fortnightly basis.

Steven and Jo met when they worked in IT together at Severn Trent Water.

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He said: "Jo asked me to help her setup the podcast and she didn’t really know where to get started with the idea or what platforms to use et cetera.

"The initial idea was that I would set it up for her, and then sit in and listen on each episode to chip in with the odd comment, do a bit of research on the fly while she was talking etc.

"However it has escalated very quickly, so I guess I am now the 'producer' and 'co-host'.

"I do all the initially recording, editing write-ups for the shows, and then run them all past Jo for any final edits before they go live.

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"Having lived abroad definitely gives me some context when talking to the guests.

"I’m not as well travelled as Jo or most of the people we have spoken to, but I do have a head full of useful/useless information which seems to help."

Always having wanted to travel but instead getting herself settled with a mortgage and career first, Jo decided to venture over to the 'less touristy' parts of the USA and took five weeks off work to do so between September and October in 2019.

She was keen to visit places known for country music, which both she and Steven are big fans of.

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Her fly-drive trip started in Newark and she went on to visit Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington DC, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, the whole coast of Florida, Tallahassee, New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Tennessee, The Smoky Mountains Pittsburgh, parts of Canada and the Niagara Falls.

Jo said: "It was a massive adventure.

"I didn't know what was in store but I had a rough route, spoke to locals and let the people I spoke to in bars guide me where to go.

"I had plenty of near misses and misadventures of my own.

"When I got back people didn't ask me 'did I see the White House?' or wherever they wanted to know more of the juicy stuff like the mishaps and one-off experiences - that's what made it 'my trip'.

"When lockdown started I needed something to do and I always wanted to do something creative and have something to work towards and make for myself.

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"So I had the thought that there must be other people who have great stories from when they have traveled so let's hear them.

"I spoke to Steven and he liked the idea and said he would like to help me and it's gone on from there."

Jo plans to return to the USA and possibly travel around Australia in the near future.

To keep up to date with news about Jo and Steven's latest and forthcoming podcast episodes follow missadventuresintravel on Instagram

To listen to the podcast visit https://missadventuresintravel.podbean.com/ or search for Miss Adventures in Travel on your favourite podcast app.

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