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Unpacked by Afar

Unpacked by Afar

Afar 181 Episodes Jul 24, 2026

Unpacked by Afar tackles one tricky topic in travel each week. Whether you want to hack your points and miles, figure out where to travel next, or need advice on an ethical dilemma, we're your expert travel guides. Because the travel world is complicated. We're here to help you unpack it.

Episodes

Asheville Hiking, Waterfalls, and the Oldest Mountains on Earth | The Travel Guide
Asheville Hiking, Waterfalls, and the Oldest Mountains on Earth | The Travel Guide Jul 24, 2026 1323 This is the final stop on our five-part audio guide to Asheville, North Carolina, and we’re heading for the trees. In this episode of Unpacked by Afar, host Aislyn Greene laces up for Asheville hiking, and discovers why the oldest mountains on Earth are also some of the most beloved. On a tour with Hike Bike Kayak Asheville that takes Aislyn and guide David into the Pisgah National Forest, Aislyn
Asheville Food and the Growth of a Farm-to-Table Town | The Travel Guide
Asheville Food and the Growth of a Farm-to-Table Town | The Travel Guide Jul 24, 2026 1885 This is the fourth stop on our five-part audio guide to Asheville, North Carolina, and it may be the tastiest one yet. In this episode of Unpacked by Afar, host Aislyn Greene digs into Asheville food, and the surprising reason this mountain city punches so far above its weight at the table. Aislyn joins a walking food tour with Sita of Eating Asheville, eating her way through a town where farm to
Black Mountain and the Region's Creative Soul | The Travel Guide
Black Mountain and the Region's Creative Soul | The Travel Guide Jul 24, 2026 1585 This is the third stop on our five-part audio guide to Asheville, North Carolina, and it takes us just outside the city to the small mountain town of Black Mountain, North Carolina. In this episode of Unpacked by Afar, host Aislyn Greene goes looking for the creative soul of the region, and finds it everywhere: in the galleries, in the glass studios, and above all in the music scene. Aislyn s
Asheville Wellness and 150 Years of the Mountain Cure | The Travel Guide
Asheville Wellness and 150 Years of the Mountain Cure | The Travel Guide Jul 24, 2026 1266 This is the second stop on our five-part audio guide to Asheville, North Carolina, and it reaches back a lot further than you might expect. In this episode of Unpacked by Afar, host Aislyn Greene unpacks the long, strange story of Asheville wellness, and why doctors have been sending patients to these mountains for more than a century and a half. To understand where Asheville wellness began, Aisl
Asheville History and the Making of a Mountain City | The Travel Guide
Asheville History and the Making of a Mountain City | The Travel Guide Jul 24, 2026 1913 Welcome to the first stop on our five-part audio guide to Asheville, North Carolina. And where better to start than at the beginning? In this episode of Unpacked by Afar, host Aislyn Greene sets out on foot to trace Asheville history from the ground up, and to answer a simple question: How did a remote, hard-to-reach valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains become one of the most creative small cities i
The City of Good Neighbors: A Buffalo Travel Story of Arrival and Belonging
The City of Good Neighbors: A Buffalo Travel Story of Arrival and Belonging Jul 21, 2026 1428 Buffalo, New York has called itself the City of Good Neighbors since 1940, and in 2023 Reader's Digest even voted it the nicest city in America. But is it true? In this episode of Unpacked by Afar, host Aislyn Greene turns a Buffalo travel story into a bigger question: what does it actually take to turn a stranger into a neighbor? We begin 150 years ago, on the East Side patch that grew into the
Beyond the Wing: How Buffalo's Food Scene Quietly Became One of America's Best
Beyond the Wing: How Buffalo's Food Scene Quietly Became One of America's Best Jul 14, 2026 1360 Everybody knows Buffalo, New York, for the chicken wing. Fewer people know the real story behind the wing—or the full story of Buffalo's food scene, which is grounded in tradition and full of innovation. In the first episode of our four-part Unpacked by Afar series on Buffalo, we start where you should always start: at the table. Host Aislyn Greene digs into a food scene that has quietly become o
Following the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail—and the Story It Left Out
Following the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail—and the Story It Left Out Jul 9, 2026 2443 Welcome to Unpacked Five Questions, a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of one great travel story. In this episode, executive editor Katherine LaGrave sits down with writer Latria Graham, Afar's Unpacked columnist. Latria spent seven weeks driving the nearly 5,000-mile Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail—alone—to report a story about the Corps of Discovery's most essential and least c
Queer Travel Is About Joy, Not Just Safety
Queer Travel Is About Joy, Not Just Safety Jul 2, 2026 2231 LGBTQ+ Americans are more than twice as likely as the general population to hold a valid passport. That stat sits at the heart of (Out )on the Road: The Radical Joy of Queer Travel, a new book from writer Lindsey Danis that's part memoir, part guide. Most conversations about queer travel start and end with safety. Lindsey wanted to write past that, toward joy, belonging, and power. In this episo
Travel to Listen: Everyone Knows Motown. Not Everyone Knows Its Story
Travel to Listen: Everyone Knows Motown. Not Everyone Knows Its Story Jul 1, 2026 1389 Welcome to Travel to Listen, a new Unpacked series hosted by veteran music journalist Tim Chester. Over four episodes, Tim took us into the cities where music is more than entertainment—it's the shortcut to a place's soul. In this season finale, he heads to Detroit to explore the legendary Motown sound—and to find out what's next for the little house on West Grand Boulevard that started it all. M
Feel-Good Friday: The Viral World Cup Food Obsession and a Very American Bourbon
Feel-Good Friday: The Viral World Cup Food Obsession and a Very American Bourbon Jun 26, 2026 731 It’s the last Feel-Good Friday before host Aislyn and producer Nikki take a summer break. And they’re sending the season off with two of summer’s great pleasures: a viral World Cup food obsession and a very American bourbon. First, why international soccer fans are falling hard for ranch dressing—and getting stopped at airport security over it. Then, a first-of-its-kind whiskey blended from all
Why a Michigan Road Trip Might Be the Best Way to Build a Friendship
Why a Michigan Road Trip Might Be the Best Way to Build a Friendship Jun 26, 2026 2583 On this episode of Unpacked, host Aislyn Greene and producer Nikki Galteland hit the road in Michigan and find epic adventures, gorgeous waterways—and a new way to connect. Join them as they follow Michigan's mitten counterclockwise, exploring the state's many waterways. They paddle the Au Sable River, flying over the Lake Huron shipwrecks of Thunder Bay, ferry over to the car-free Mackinac Islan

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