Follow the Elliott's on their around-the-world adventure. <br/><br/><a href="https://www.elliottshow.com?utm_medium=podcast">www.elliottshow.com</a>
Elliott Confidential Podcast
Claim This Podcastby Christopher Elliott
127 episodes
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Podcast Overview
Follow the Elliott's on their around-the-world adventure. <br/><br/><a href="https://www.elliottshow.com?utm_medium=podcast">www.elliottshow.com</a>
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Publishing Since
2/19/2022
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Recent Episodes
June 7, 2026
Vanuatu Confidential: Volcanoes, kava and a road trip we’ll never forget
<p>Vanuatu doesn’t show up in many top 10 lists, so of course we had to go.</p><p>If you look at a map of the South Pacific, you’ll find it just west of Fiji. Since we’ve been based in Sydney for the last few months, it was only a 3.5-hour flight.</p><p>Efate, Vanuatu’s main island, is a relatively flat jungle once you get outside of Port Vila. The soil is rich, dark volcanic, the palm trees are an impossible shade of green, and the roads are very rough. If you love being on a 4x4 off-roading jungle adventure, this is your place.</p><p>We should be clear: our complaints about the roads are no dig on the people of Vanuatu. Some of the roads were built by Americans during World War II, and some by the Chinese.</p><p><strong>Question of the week: What’s the weirdest drink you’ve ever had in your travels?</strong></p><p>We ask because Iden had a kava experience. More on that in just a minute. What’s the strangest thing you’ve drunk in your travels? And (bonus point) how did it affect your trip?</p><p><strong>A word of caution about kava</strong></p><p>In <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elliottshow.com/p/fiji-confidential-culture-kava-and">an earlier podcast</a>, we talked about kava, the native drink of the South Pacific. It’s made from a pepper root, and it functions as the region’s social lubricant. On Vanuatu, it’s extra strong.</p><p>As Iden came to find out, you aren’t supposed to drink two liters of kava in one night. He did. He lived to regret it. He didn’t eat anything for two days, and when he tried, he said it felt like liquid lava going down.</p><p><strong>Pro Tip:</strong> Treat Vanuatu kava with respect. One serving is plenty for first-timers. Two liters is a mistake that will make you miss two days of your trip!.</p><p><strong>Standing on an active volcano</strong></p><p>We were lucky enough to visit the island of Tanna, home to Mount Yasur, an active volcano To reach it, you cross the long flat ash plains in Tafea Province. One side of the volcano looks like chocolate, dark earth with small trees and bushes pushing through.</p><p>Once on the top, you’re standing on the caldera and watching the eruptions. You feel the ground shake, and then you see lava spewing into the sky. It is one of the few places on Earth where you can safely stand that close to the spectacle. (We’ll show you video of the eruption in the podcast.)</p><p><strong>The hotel that nursed Iden back to health</strong></p><p>We stayed at the Rockwater Hotel, which gets credit for getting Iden back to health. The garden alone was worth the trip. You walk through little passageways, and each one reveals a new section, with its own unique plant. Iden counted something like 50 sections. Banana, coconut, coffee. You name it, they’re growing it at Rockwater.</p><p>Tanna has terrific volcanic soil, so everything grows there. Bananas, coffee, you name it. Iden made a speedy recovery, which was a big relief.</p><p><strong>A culture that preserves its traditions</strong></p><p>One of the most fascinating parts of Vanuatu is its culture. We toured one of the villages and saw how people live now, still embracing many of their traditions.</p><p>Among the practices are their marriage rituals. Giving a pig to the father of the bride seals the marriage, according to our guide. (That’s one way to do it.)</p><p>Some traditions are not for the faint of heart. Male circumcision happens later in life, often around age 10, and our guide told us the boys aren’t warned beforehand. They cut using bamboo and the ceremony takes about one hour. There’s an option to go to a hospital instead, but if you take it, the village never lets you forget it. You become, in the guide’s words, the “village coward.”</p><p><strong>Who should go to Vanuatu</strong></p><p>If you love off-roading, if you want to feel genuinely lost in the rainforest, and if you want to get close to communities still living their traditions, this is the place for you.</p><p><strong>Don’t forget our question of the week:</strong> What’s the weirdest drink you’ve ever had in your travels? Our top commenter gets a free one-year subscription to Elliott Confidential, our sister newsletter.</p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.elliottshow.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.elliottshow.com</a>
April 26, 2026
We visited the adventure capital of the world. Here's what we discovered.
<p>People visit Queenstown, New Zealand, for the thrills. But maybe that’s a mistake.</p><p>You can ski the Southern Alps in August or drive a speedboat on the rapids of Shotover Canyon in January. You can even go bungee jumping off the Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge.</p><p>There’s more to this part of New Zealand than adrenaline. We were smitten by the beauty of this place—the jagged mountains (cue the Lord of the Rings theme) and the crystalline waters of Lake Wakatipu. </p><p>Queenstown, it turns out, claims to be one of the most sustainable destinations on Earth. And since we cover tourism sustainability, we had to find out if that was true. (Spoiler: Truer that you might think.)</p><p>Question of the week: What’s the most unusual form of mass transit you’ve ever taken?</p><p>We ask because Queenstown is planning to build a gondola—yes, a gondola—from the airport to town. Tell us about your mass transit experiences, from tuk-tuks to canoes. We love your comments and will read them in our next podcast.</p><p>Everything gets recycled here</p><p>Queenstown loves to repurpose things. Consider the TSS Earnslaw, a historic, coal-fired passenger steamship operating on Lake Wakatipu. It was launched in 1912 and decommissioned—and slated to be scrapped—in 1968. Conservation-minded citizens saved the ship, restored it, and it now carriers visitors around the lake. Now that’s what we call recycling.</p><p><strong>Pro Tip:</strong> If you’re thinking of visiting southern New Zealand, aim for December to February for a warmer experience. The best skiing here is in August, according to insiders. </p><p>Lots of eco-lodges in Queenstown</p><p>We visited two fascinating eco-lodges in the Queenstown area. Kinloch Wilderness Retreat is a case study in respecting the past while powering the future. It featuring solar-powered “Ecoscape” huts constructed from New Zealand-sourced materials. And, like any self-respecting eco-lodge, there’s a yoga studio.</p><p>The Headwaters Eco Lodge, another eco-lodge we saw, is designed to something called the Living Building Challenge standards. It doesn’t get much greener than that. Headwaters has a massive solar garden and guest chalets with composting toilets. We talk about that in the podcast, because composting toilets is where we draw the line</p><p>What we thought of Queenstown</p><p>Queenstown is stunning, a little pricey, and exhausting. It’s a city that prides itself on being the ultimate playground, but seasoned traveler will see past the high-gloss world of its tourism machine and see the pristine beauty of the place. And they’ll appreciate the way its tourism officials are trying to keep their destination sustainable for future generations of visitors.</p><p><strong>Don’t forget our question of the week: </strong>What’s the most unusual form of public transport you’ve ever taken? Our top commenter gets a free one-year subscription to Elliott Confidential, our sister newsletter.</p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.elliottshow.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.elliottshow.com</a>
April 12, 2026
From babkas to banh mis: Our whirlwind food tour of Melbourne
<p>Melbourne is a collection of the world’s most intriguing flavors. From the Jewish heart of Caulfield to the Greek streets of Oakleigh and the Vietnamese pulse of Windsor, we wanted to see how the city’s diaspora keeps its heritage alive through food. So we did.</p><p>Where’s the fluffiest pita in the Southern Hemisphere?</p><p>Our first stop was Caulfield, home to one of the largest Jewish diasporas in Australia. We found ourselves at The Pita Man, where the pitas have the texture of a cloud. They remind me of the ones we had when we were in Jerusalem a few years ago. The falafel here is crisp and perfectly seasoned with Amba sauce.</p><p><strong>Pro tip:</strong> If you’re there on a Friday morning, grab a babka. It’s a layered masterpiece that is worth every calorie. (We’ll show you what we mean in the podcast.)</p><p>A Greek odyssey in Oakleigh</p><p>Next, we hopped a tram to Oakleigh. You can’t walk a block here without seeing signs in Greek. We stepped into Nikos Quality Cakes, a local institution that has been serving up traditional treats for decades. The display cases are full of honey, nuts, and phyllo dough. We sampled the melomakarona. These are honey and walnut cookies that are light and dangerously addictive. The boys even found a vegan-friendly carrot cupcake that ended up being our favorite.</p><p><strong>Pro tip:</strong> In Oakleigh, the coffee is as important as the pastry. Greek coffee is finely ground coffee boiled in a small pot called a briki and served unfiltered. It’s the perfect companion to a honey cookie.</p><p>The banh mis and baos of Windsor</p><p>We rounded out our food tour in Windsor, a neighborhood known for its high density of Vietnamese restaurants. At Madam Saigon, the banh mi is all about texture: a crusty baguette filled with crispy tofu and pickled vegetables. One afternoon, we just sat there and kept ordering food, it was so good. (There goes our food budget!)</p><p>Beyond the plate: Meeting the locals at Mt. Rothwell</p><p>The trip was about more than eating. We took a detour to the Mt. Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre (here’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2026/03/21/how-conservationists-and-visitors-are-saving-endangered-wallabies-in-melbourne/">my story about it for Forbes</a>).</p><p>This is a sanctuary dedicated to protecting some of Australia’s most endangered species. Meeting the Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies was a highlight for Aren and Iden. These curious, tiny creatures are only about two feet tall. But they’re vital to the ecosystem. Managing these populations is a delicate balance. Our visit was a sobering reminder that while we enjoy the flavors of a city, the natural world around it requires our constant attention.</p><p>What’s our verdict on Melbourne?</p><p>Melbourne is a city that prides itself on its layers. It is sophisticated, slightly edgy, and deeply committed to its cultural roots. You might go for the coffee, the pitas, or the wallabies (please, don’t try to eat them). Either way, you will find a city that is constantly reimagining itself while staying true to its heritage.</p><p>The only downside? The weather. One minute you’re enjoying a coffee in the sun, and the next, an Antarctic blast nearly knocks your pastry into the gutter.</p><p><strong>Question of the week:</strong> What is the most exotic animal you’ve ever eaten? (Bonus points if you tell us where!) The top commenter this week gets a free one-year subscription to Elliott Confidential.</p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.elliottshow.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.elliottshow.com</a>
127 total episodes available
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