Return Ticket

In 1962 all eyes were on Seattle for the World Fair. It was the height of the space race between the U.S and the USSR — the city’s landmark Space Needle and monorail are relics of that time. Fast forward 60 odd years and Seattle will soon be the world’s focus once again, this time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But a very different Seattle will be on display. While Seattle has produced numerous global exports such as Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Starbucks and Boeing, we don’t often hear much about what makes this Pacific Northwest city so special and unique, beyond the weather! So, we’ve enlisted some amazing local guides to show us around. Come fly with us as we head to Seattle to hear how the cultural milieu of the city is changing and what that means for its identity.

Fiji has certainly come a long way since television was first introduced in 1991.Back then, a rugby-mad nation had its first taste of screen for the World Cup. Today, Fiji is fast-becoming one of the world's top filming destinations for a range of screen productions, from reality tv to big Hollywood blockbusters.But has this interest from the screen industries translated into more Fijian stories getting told? And what's the reality of life for Fiji… beyond the tourist-facing tales of tropical escape?

Indonesia's award-winning poet Goenawan Mohamad once said that Jakarta has a congenital disease. It's a capital that was never seriously planned for… simply an accumulation of growth that became a city. And we know the symptoms: Jakarta's polluted, congested, and thirsty.But despite all of this, some 30 million people have put their faith in this Asian megacity by choosing to make it their home. So what role does faith have in defining Jakarta, and perhaps, what it could be?

We're back! Where do you want to go?Here at Return Ticket — RN's seasonal travel show — no money or passports are required. We just need a curious mind and your time.In season three, we'll venture to Monaco, Jakarta, Rio de Janeiro, Fiji, Seattle and Dublin — searching for what the tourist doesn't see. Come fly with us, we've saved a seat just for you.

Its name is a byword for remote obscurity and intrepid adventure, a medieval trade centre and cradle of African scholarship perched on the edge of the Sahara. But those historical perceptions are so far removed from the reality of the Malian city's current predicament. A place worn down by a decade of conflict, desertification, and sheer isolation. So, what's the truth about Timbuktu?

Tasmanian residents and cartoonists First Dog on the Moon and Jon Kudelka tell everyone they know that Tasmania is awful. The snakes. The weather. The people. But in truth, why does half of Australia want to live there?

The story of the Malaysian capital is a story of resources, from tin, petrol, and palm oil. But if there's one resource to understand the metropolis that is Kuala Lumpur today it's rubber.It's responsible for the city's art deco architecture, modern multiculturalism, and a roaring global trade. It's no wonder Malaysia still supplies half of the world's natural rubber.Editor's note 18/11/22: This episode has been revised to include an important reference to Malaysia’s ethnic tensions.

Can it be true that 94 per cent of Parisians live less than five minutes from a bakery? In a country where eating lunch at your desk is illegal, and people-watching at the local boulangerie is a philosophy, what can the rise and fall of bread tell us about Paris and its inhabitants?

Tokyo is one of the world’s most densely populated urban areas. So how do they manage the human crush? To answer that you need to look at Japan’s rich design history, and specifically, that design culture’s fondness for simplicity and efficiency. It’s a hugeness constructed of smallness. A density set against the constant possibility of fragments of calm. In Tokyo, we find beauty in busyness, a place where minimalism soothes the maxi city. A place where mess is more.

They’re universes unto themselves. Thailand’s newfound wealth has spurred on the development of Bangkok’s mega-mall. It’s a totalising form of urbanism that helps us understand the tensions of this modern, cosmopolitan capital. In this episode, we head to a new mall that’s delivering Vegas Casino camp alongside Michelin Star eateries. IconSiam is multi-billion-dollar development where you can grab cheap street food in a mock Thai village, and then blow a million on a new Rolls Royce.

The story of post-quake Christchurch is the story of a place where citizens have had to make hard decisions about what a 21st-century city looks like… what to take or leave… and what to do with the residue of tragedy. What's resulted is a city in constant search of renewal: of its waterways, its built environment, and its history. In this episode, we'll be tracing the bends of the Avon/Ōtākaro, understanding how local music supported disaster recovery and seeing how this city is shedding its neo-Gothic architectural skin. Stay put for a bonus trip to Lyttelton, a stunning bohemian port town about a 20-minute drive from the centre of Christchurch. It's been responsible for nurturing the sound of musicians including Marlon Williams, Aldous Harding and Nadia Reid.

It's a place known to Australians for its beer, beach and massage; others are drawn to it as a place of spiritual solace. But what is the real Bali like? Is there such a thing?

Pack your bags! Come with us on a journey of the mind…to destinations both near and far-flung, the familiar and the unexpected… in search of what the tourist never sees. An armchair travel show that scratches the surface of the world around us.