Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me, Simon Calder. It's Monday the 27th of January.

And already this year, it's been quite lively, politically speaking, which means this is a very good time to return to somebody I spoke to a while back.

Nicholas Wood, he is the owner of political tours along with his wife Karen, and I am meeting them in a very

nice bakery in Battersea in South London. Not normal territory for you, Nicholas and Karen, because

you would rather be in the middle of, well, not exactly a war zone, but a place which is very warm politically.

Yeah, warm politically. I was definitely saying not a war zone. I mean, our most recent places,

we were in a very cold destination a year ago, Iowa, but hot politically. We were in

Pennsylvania, Michigan and D.C. for the elections. Again, very hot politically, but not a war zone.

When we talked, you actually mentioned in the podcast that you were concerned about whether U.S.

institutions would be strong enough to withstand another Trump presidency. Now, this, of course,

isn't a political podcast,

but just picking up from that thought,

what's your impression so far?

I mean, it's confusing and worrying.

The main thing you say about Trump's that you can keep you guessing.

Some people say his bark is worse than his bite and the US institutions

could do a good job of standing up to it all, but I think they're going to be surely tested.

I think that's a long conversation. Well, let's get on to the business of travel and tourism.

And if I go on one of your trips I am not going to see that many

beaches or museums or cathedrals am I what am I going to be doing dead right you're going to be

seeing people people are from all walks of life and I would say most of our tours start in somewhere provincial, far flung,

off the beaten track, could be a village in the middle of nowhere and you gradually work your way

...