Dom Joly
The Travel Diaries
Holly Rubenstein
4.5 • 813 Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to a brand new season of The Travel Diaries - I’m so excited to be back!
My guest today is comedian, writer and broadcaster Dom Joly. You’ll of course know him from Trigger Happy TV - one of the most iconic comedy shows of the early 2000s - now celebrating its 25th anniversary, with Dom back on tour across the UK through to 2027.
But beyond comedy, travel has been a defining thread throughout Dom’s life. He’s visited 108 countries, and his story begins in Lebanon, where he grew up during the civil war, with what he describes as a “front-row view” of the conflict. His early experiences shaped a lifelong curiosity about the world, particularly places often misunderstood.
Dom is widely credited with bringing “dark tourism” into the mainstream, exploring destinations associated with history, conflict and tragedy, and we also talk about his concept of the “bad news gap”: the difference between how places are portrayed in the media and the reality on the ground.
In this episode, his travel diaries take us from Lebanon and Syria to North Korea, Cambodia, Iran, Canada and beyond.
I hope you love this one.
Destination Recap:
- Palmyra, Syria
- Lebanon
- Rome, Italy
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Cambodia
- Iran
- North Korea
- Rishikesh, India
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Muskoka, Canada
- Zermatt, Switzerland
- Morocco
- Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Swindon, England
- Weston-super-Mare, England
- Algeria
Dom is currently on tour with the Trigger Happy TV 25th Anniversary Tour across the UK until 2027. You can also find his latest book, The Conspiracy Tourist, at domjoly.tv.
This episode was recorded at the London Marriott Hotel County Hall.
With thanks to…
Saily - Download SAILY in your app store and use our code traveldiaries at checkout to get an exclusive 15% off your first purchase
Sovereign - Visit sovereign.com to speak to a personal travel planner today to curate your perfect Sani holiday this summer
If you’re enjoying The Travel Diaries, don’t forget to follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode.
You can also follow me on Instagram @hollyrubenstein and on TikTok for more travel inspiration and behind the scenes.
See you next week!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everyone and welcome to the first episode of a brand new season of the Travel Diaries podcast. I'm your host, Holly Rubinstein. And here each week I invite a very special guest to take us through the seven defining chapters of their travel life. |
| 0:23.8 | From their all-time favourite destination and hidden gem to what's at the top of their bucket list. |
| 0:28.5 | Before we get started, if you enjoy this podcast, please remember to hit follow or subscribe wherever you're listening. |
| 0:35.8 | It's completely free to do so and it means that you'll get a |
| 0:38.7 | fresh dose of wanderlust in your library each week. By doing it, you're really helping the show |
| 0:43.5 | to grow and continue to bring you fabulous guests. Thank you in advance. Well, I am so happy to be |
| 0:50.8 | back with you all. It's been a while. Thank you for being so patient over the last |
| 0:55.6 | few months while I took a bit of maternity leave being with my little boy, Casper, who is seven months |
| 1:00.9 | old now. I can't believe it. Time has flown. It's been such a busy time and he's of course |
| 1:06.7 | already begun his own travel diaries, which I'll fill you in on a little bit |
| 1:10.9 | next week some incredible |
| 1:12.5 | hotels and family travel |
| 1:14.4 | finds but this season guys |
| 1:16.2 | it's going to be epic I promise you |
| 1:18.6 | it's going to be long and it's going to be |
| 1:20.8 | jam packed with |
| 1:22.3 | some extraordinary guests |
| 1:24.4 | I am so excited so |
| 1:26.3 | let's get started let's get into today started. Let's get into today's show. |
| 1:32.0 | Hello! Watch! Now I'm in the supermarket! That, of course, was one of the most iconic |
| 1:40.6 | comedy sketches of the early 2000s, the giant mobile phone from Trigger Happy TV. |
| 1:46.5 | The man behind it was, of course, today's guest, Dom Jolly. |
... |
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