The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast

The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast is where travel, food, and culture meet. Hosted by San Francisco–based travel writer, storyteller, and mom of two teens Shannon Gomes, the show features thoughtful conversations with experts in the food and wine world, avid travelers, creators, tastemakers, and locals who reveal what truly makes a destination memorable—and how to experience it like a local, with food always at the center of the journey. From unforgettable meals and hidden neighborhoods to meaningful cultural experiences and practical travel insight, each episode is designed to inspire curious travelers—especially Gen X listeners who value depth, connection, and great food—to explore the world more intentionally and to bring a sense of discovery back home. Shannon is also the writer behind The Gomes Guide (https://thegomesguide.substack.com), a weekly travel-focused Substack filled with stories, recommendations, and inspiration for meani

The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast is a society podcast hosted by Shannon Gomes, with 51 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Shannon Gomes hosts The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast, a society show with 51 episodes published.

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  Episode #1

  Hut-to-Hut in the Swiss Alps: Hiking 70 Miles with Teenagers

  Sep 8, 202642 minS5

  Enjoy listening to The Gomes Guide Podcast? Please leave a quick voice note with your comments! Lia Heath tried to book the Tour du Mont Blanc for her family in early February. She got laughed at. Some huts on that route open reservations at 7 a.m. and sell out in five minutes flat. What she booked instead turned into eight days and 70 miles across the Swiss Alps with her husband, Tad, and their two teenagers, William and Damen, hut to hut from Martigny to Zermatt on the Walker's Haute Route. In this episode, Lia and I talk through how a booking agency like Mont Blanc Experience gets you into remote huts that don't take reservations online, what those huts are actually like (spoiler: bunk mats on a wood floor, shoulder to shoulder with strangers), and the French-speaking family they became friends with entirely through sign language. We get into the gear that mattered (wool socks, hiking poles, a full month breaking in Salomons), the thunderstorm that hit half a mile from the final gondola, and how the whole family agrees fondue afterward tasted like a reward. We also zoom out to how Lia plans international trips with teenagers in general, from Bali and Komodo National Park to Tokyo and Egypt, how she and Tad split the planning work, and why the calendar is now harder to manage than the destination. IN THIS EPISODE How Lia ended up on the Walker's Haute Route after the Tour du Mont Blanc booked out What a hut-to-hut booking agency actually handles for you (luggage transfers, meals, remote reservations) What the huts are really like, from bunk mats to Swiss chalet inns Making friends with a French-speaking family through sign language alone The thunderstorm on the last day, half a mile from the gondola into Zermatt Gear that made a difference: Salomon shoes, wool socks, hiking poles, hydration packs How teenagers actually handle 12-mile days and 5,000 feet of elevation gain Planning international trips as kids get older: Bali, Tokyo, Egypt, and what changes with teens Her top tips for a family hut-to-hut trip, and the one rule that applies to every trip: leave room to wander LINKS MENTIONED Mont Blanc Experience: https://www.montblanc-experience.com/ Salomon: https://www.salomon.com/en-us Read the full post, with photos, by subscribing for free to The Gomes Guide on Substack: thegomesguide.substack.com Support the show

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  Episode #6

  Wine Is Never Grown in Ugly Places | Liz Barrett, What's In That Bottle

  Jul 28, 202646 minS4

  Enjoy listening to The Gomes Guide Podcast? Please leave a quick voice note with your comments! If you want a better trip, pick a wine region first and build everything else around it. That's the travel philosophy of Liz Barrett, Certified Specialist of Wine and the writer behind What's In That Bottle . In this episode, Liz and I trace her path from a job interview where she admitted she knew nothing about wine, to teaching herself the industry alongside Master Sommeliers, to passing the notoriously difficult CSW exam on her first try. We talk about what wine travel really looks like: researching regional wine consortiums before you fly, booking winery experiences anyone can reserve, walking a mile through the rain in Beaujolais, and coming home with eight bottles in your checked bag. She also shares the underrated regions she wants on your radar — Portugal beyond Vinho Verde, France's Languedoc, Washington State, the Finger Lakes, and the Northern Michigan wines she will personally defend — plus why she went 17 days in New Zealand without a single sip of Sauvignon Blanc. And if you've ever frozen at a wine list or gone quiet in a tasting room, this one's for you. Liz's rule: there are no dumb questions. Curiosity is the only credential you need. Find Liz at whatsinthatbottle.com and on Instagram at @lizbchicago. Read the full post, with photos and links to every wine, region, and shop mentioned, at thegomesguide.substack.com . The Gomes Guide Podcast is hosted by Shannon Gomes, a San Francisco-based travel writer and podcast host. Support the show

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  Episode #6

  Wine Is Never Grown in Ugly Places | Liz Barrett, What's In That Bottle

  Jul 28, 202646 minS4

  <p>Enjoy listening to The Gomes Guide Podcast? Please leave a quick voice note with your comments!</p><p>If you want a better trip, pick a wine region first and build everything else around it. That's the travel philosophy of Liz Barrett, Certified Specialist of Wine and the writer behind What's In That Bottle.</p><p>In this episode, Liz and I trace her path from a job interview where she admitted she knew nothing about wine, to teaching herself the industry alongside Master Sommeliers, to passing the notoriously difficult CSW exam on her first try. We talk about...

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  Episode #5

  She's Been Feeding San Francisco's Curiosity Since 2004 | Lisa Rogovin, Edible Excursions

  Jul 14, 202649 minS4

  If you want to really know a city, skip the landmarks and find the people feeding it. That's the philosophy behind Edible Excursions , the Bay Area's original walking food tour company — and the life's work of founder Lisa Rogovin. In this episode, I sit down with Lisa to talk about how a conversation with a Four Seasons hotel GM launched a 20-year business, what a seven-month solo food and wine journey across five continents taught her about people and place, and why she cried the first time she led a tour after 17 months of Covid shutdown. We also get into the guides who've stayed with her since the beginning, the proposals that have happened mid-tour, the small businesses she's championed through rising costs and a pandemic, and why she'd happily eat Japanese food for 30 straight days. Lisa knows this city's food scene better than almost anyone. This conversation is proof. In this episode: How a hotel GM redirected Lisa's Ferry Building dream into a business What her seven-month, five-continent food journey taught her about storytelling Why she's intentionally kept Edible Excursions local to the Bay Area The guides, the regulars, and the proposals that happen on food tours The Nebraska woman at the farmers market who cried over berries — and why that moment says everything Coming back after 17 months of shutdown and leading her first tour again Lisa's SF Rapid Fire Picks: Underrated neighborhood for food: The Tenderloin. Her current picks there: Bodega (Vietnamese, newly relocated), Outta Sight Pizza , Brenda’s for Cajun soul food and the best po’ boys and hush puppies in the city, and Onsen , Coffee: Best Boy Electric Coffee in Japantown, inside the New People Building — get the Okinawa brown sugar latte or the black sesame latte, and don’t skip the pastries. And Bernie’s Coffee in the Mission, a woman-owned shop that sources all its beans from women-owned farms across Latin America, roasts in Oakland, and has the kind of warm, community-oriented energy that makes you want to stay. Wine bar: 20 Spot in the Mission, on 20th off Valencia. Tiny, dimly lit, plays vinyl, tiny galley kitchen that punches well above its weight. Cuisine for a month: Japanese, without question Top 3 restaurants: Super Mira Market — restaurant-quality Japanese food made by a former restaurant owner, four days a week, inside a grocery store; Kokkari , where she got married, which tells you everything about how she feels about it — the spreads, the lamb chops, the seasonally inspired menu; and Jilli , a Korean tapas spot in the Mission on 15th, tucked into the ground floor of an apartment building. Book a tour: edibleexcursions.net Gift certificates available — and highly recommended. Links & resources mentioned: Edible Excursions The Gomes Guide: North Berkeley Food Tour post The Gomes Guide Substack Follow The Gomes Guide on Instagram: @thegomesguide Support the show

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  Episode #5

  She's Been Feeding San Francisco's Curiosity Since 2004 | Lisa Rogovin, Edible Excursions

  Jul 14, 202649 minS4

  <p>Enjoy listening to The Gomes Guide Podcast? Please leave a quick voice note with your comments!</p><p>If you want to really know a city, skip the landmarks and find the people feeding it. That's the philosophy behind <b>Edible Excursions</b>, the Bay Area's original walking food tour company — and the life's work of founder Lisa Rogovin.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Lisa to talk about how a conversation with a Four Seasons hotel GM launched a 20-year business, what a seven-month solo food and wine journey across five continents taught her about pe...

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