The Last Trip

The people you meet on the road can become confidants, lifelines, or, in some cases,  the most dangerous variables of all.  Melissa Rodway has spent years listening to - and living - those stories.   She’s recorded more than 180 adventure travel podcast episodes, and sat across from travelers and survivors as they unpack experiences that were thrilling, disorienting, and sometimes deeply unsettling.  Her debut book, The People You Meet, follows her own backpacking journey through Southeast Asia - a search for connection that reveals how easily strangers can reshape our paths, blur boundaries, and pull us into narratives we never meant to enter.  Today, we’re talking about the thin line between connection and danger, the unpredictability of human encounters, and how travel can quietly set the stage for stories that feel less like adventure and more like a case file. Melissa Rodway IG: https://www.instagram.com/fly_travel_media Melissa Rodway Website: https://flyrodway.com/ Buy The People We Meet on Amazon:   https://a.co/d/1HVmiBq Do you have a story to share? Send your email to [email protected] We're on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcast Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/ And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcast Theme Music by Roger Allen Dexter

America's national parks promise peace and beauty - but they also hold some of the country's darkest mysteries. In Murder on the Trail, bestselling author Michelle Kaminsky investigates disappearances, serial killers, and unsolved cases hidden beneath the redwoods, canyon walls, and mountain switchbacks we think of as safe. From the Yosemite Park Killer to Gary Michael Hilton and the vanlife tragedy of Gabby Petito, Michelle digs into why these wild spaces become hunting grounds, how isolation turns deadly, and why federal land can complicate justice. With a journalist's precision and a survivor's empathy, she reveals the thin line between wilderness and danger. In this episode, Michelle joins me to explore the beauty, the horror, and the truths buried deep in America's most iconic landscapes. Michelle Kaminsky IG: https://www.instagram.com/michkaminsky Michelle Kaminsky Website: https://www.michellekaminsky.com/ Buy Murder on the Trail on Amazon:   https://a.co/d/2zvbpeL Do you have a story to share? Send your email to [email protected] We're on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcast Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/ And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcast Theme Music by Roger Allen Dexter

On a grey February morning in 1995, one of rock’s most enigmatic voices stepped out of a London hotel room - and into one of music’s most enduring mysteries.  The Manic Street Preachers’ lyricist - Richey Edwards -  brilliant, fragile, and beloved -  left behind a life heavy with pressure and pain.   After his disappearance, his car was found near the Severn Bridge, a place weighted with symbolism and sorrow.  Richey himself was gone.  No sightings. No answers.  Just a trail that stops cold on the border between England and Wales. Listen as we dive into the Britpop Era of London, the case of Richey Edwards, and how to stay alive on vacation. Do you have a story to share? Send your email to [email protected] We're on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcast Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/ And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcast Theme Music by Roger Allen Dexter Sources: https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/richey-edwards-manic-street-preachers-disappearance-missing-b2690286.html https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80er6r0pz3o https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/nov/29/richey-edwards-manic-street-preachers https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-holy-bible-richey-edwards/ https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/withdrawn-traces-richey-edwards-day-of-disappearance https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/richey-edwards-disappearance https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/stairway-to-heaven/richey-edwards/ https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/01/30-years-ago-manic-street-preachers-richey-edwards-disappeared-without-a-trace-22351235/ https://scruffystorms.com/2018/02/01/richey-edwards-23-years-missing/ https://www.nme.com/news/music/new-evidence-emerges-suggest-richey-edwards-staged-disappearance-2438975 https://news.sky.com/story/richey-edwards-new-appeal-over-missing-manic-street-preachers-guitarist-11923464 https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/richey-edwards-disappearance-manic-street-preachers-b2686905.html

In September 2023, 32 year old Chelsea Grimm left California on a cross-country drive to attend a wedding.  She packed her camera gear, camping supplies - and her pet bearded dragon - and headed east to Connecticut.  But somewhere in northern Arizona, something began to unravel.  Days after starting her trip, a police officer found her parked near a cemetery.  Body camera footage captured her speaking calmly - but saying she was emotional from a photoshoot. Two days after that, her car was discovered deep in the Kaibab National Forest. Two flat tires, no phone, no wallet, no sleeping bag - and no sign of Chelsea or her bearded dragon. No footprints. No struggle. No answers. Listen as we dive into the Northern Arizona Desert, the case of Chelsea Grimm, and how to stay alive on vacation. Do you have a story to share? Send your email to [email protected] We're on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcast Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/ And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcast Theme Music by Roger Allen Dexter Sources: https://www.newsnationnow.com/missing/chelsea-grimm/amp/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MissingPersons/comments/199h977/any_updates_on_chelsea_grimm/ https://redflag.org/project/delevan-dell-erba-amadon-dell-erba-and-genavein/ https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/missing/wheres-chelsea-grimm-california-woman-vanishes-while-on-road-trip-to-attend-wedding https://myfox8.com/news/california-woman-who-went-missing-during-road-trip-appeared-disoriented-at-hotel-witness-claims/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/3728726574033190 https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/greenwich-ct-chelsea-grimm-missing-arizona-19757775.php https://www.azfamily.com/2024/09/25/renewed-search-new-clues-2023-disappearance-chelsea-grimm/ https://azprivateinvestigator.com/chelsea-grimm https://www.williamsnews.com/news/regional/two-years-since-disappearance-chelsea-grimm-case-remains-a-mystery/article_b0adb1b0-5857-4653-985b-f845a7385800.html

On the night of November 5, 2024, Mackenzie Michalski was spotted dancing in a Budapest nightclub, carefree and alive. Hours later, that night ended in shattering silence.  A man she left the club with - met only hours before - would end her life. This is the story of Mackenzie Michalski - and the darkness she never saw coming. Listen as we dive into Budapest, the case of Mackenzie Michalski, and how to stay alive on vacation. Do you have a story to share? Send your email to [email protected] We're on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcast Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/ And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcast Theme Music by Roger Allen Dexter Sources: https://abcnews.go.com/International/american-tourist-mackenzie-michalski-missing-hungary-killed/story?id=115654592 https://rilesandwoolleyfuneralhome.com/?p=3259 https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/service-held-wny-killed-in-hungary/71-14e55bc8-6f22-48b0-9427-9841d624f3fd https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueCrimeDiscussion/comments/1ht0ftd/on_november_5th_2024_31yearold_kenize_michalski/ https://news.sky.com/story/mackenzie-michalski-irish-man-allegedly-admits-killing-us-nurse-at-budapest-flat-and-dumping-body-near-lake-say-police-13251900 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/09/mackenzie-michalski-portland-tourist-killed-hungary#:~:text=The%20suspect%2C%20whom%20police%20identified,and%20placing%20her%20body%20inside. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1188058235596116/ https://telex.hu/belfold/2024/11/07/eltunt-amerikai-no-31-eves-mackenzie-michalski https://24.hu/belfold/2024/11/07/mackenzie-elizabeth-michalski-eltunt-budapest-no-keresik-31-eves/ https://news.sky.com/story/mackenzie-michalski-irish-man-allegedly-admits-killing-us-nurse-at-budapest-flat-and-dumping-body-near-lake-say-police-13251900 https://24.hu/belfold/2024/11/07/mackenzie-elizabeth-michalski-eltunt-budapest-no-keresik-31-eves/ https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/buffalo/deeply-missed-fredonia-native-mackenzie-michalski-remembered-one-year-after-death-in-hungary https://abcnews.go.com/amp/International/american-tourist-mackenzie-michalski-missing-hungary-killed/story https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/western-new-york/chautauqua-county/fredonia/western-new-york-community-gathers-to-honor-life-of-local-woman-killed-in-budapest/ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/american-tourist-31-dismembered--34119153 https://dailynewshungary.com/irish-man-release-after-murder-american-woman/