The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Usually the souvenirs we purchase on our travels are relatively small - we want to be able to fit them in our baggage to bring home, after all. I say usually: because Episode 224 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast proves that there are times when people make rather large purchases when they travel! Curiously, none of these three guests had any plan to make these big purchases on their trips - which makes these stories even more fun, I think. First up, I chat with podcast listener Tim Tricker. He has a fun tale of something quite unusual he and his friends bought entirely by accident on a trip to Spain. Then I speak with Nan Caple who was holiday with family and friends on Kangaroo Island when they suddenly decided to buy something quite large. Finally, I talk to Karen Emanuel who was travelling in Nicaragua when a sign caught her attention and she made an even bigger purchase - but one she's very glad of. Links: Nan Caple of Snellings View on Kangaroo Island https://snellingsview.com.au/  Karen Emanuel of Jicaro Island Lodge in Nicaragua  https://www.jicarolodge.com Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/224 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the January 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Bewildered by Laura Waters. If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, all the info is at https://notaballerina.com/bookclub, and you can keep up with all the thoughts about our current books in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook Group at https://facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travelling with kids in tow is a great way to see the world, but if you're the only parent, it can add a degree of difficulty - but it can also make for the most rewarding trips of all! On Episode 223 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three single parents who've had wonderful experiences taking their kids away - although sometimes, things do go wrong! My first guest is Cindy Siano whose son is now in his twenties - but she has a very vivid memory of a single parent moment when he was eight, and they tried out skiing and snowboarding in the Netherlands. I then chat with Jennifer Johnson who took two of her teenage sons on a trip to Japan - coincidentally, to go skiing, although long before they get on the slopes, something that is only funny in retrospect went wrong. Finally, I had a great discussion with listener Rita about her three-month long trip with her daughter to Europe and northern Africa - it's inspired me to want to do something that long with my son too! Links: Cindy Siano - Life and Times Video www.lifeandtimesvideo.com.au family video producer Jennifer Johnston - Travel Bug Within - https://travelbugwithin.com.au/  Previous podcast episode 11 about getting separated on a train - https://notaballerina.com/11  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/223 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bringing home a meaningful souvenir from a trip is such a pleasure: if the process of buying it was fun and special, perhaps involving a chat with an interesting local, and then you have an object you can enjoy at home which constantly reminds you of your trip, then it's a perfect scenario. In Episode 222 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I talk with travellers about their own meaningful shopping experiences abroad, starting off with Patti Lefkos who has a brilliant story to tell about a souvenir she bought in Nepal - including a live demonstration! Next, I chat with Lindsay Williams. She's obsessed with learning foreign languages and this passion flows through to what she likes to buy when she's travelling, too. Finally, I'm excited to speak with my friend Lola Akinmade-Åkerström who has a new pandemic-induced project on the go, involving a way to help local artisans and guides in countries particularly affected by the drop-off in tourism numbers and help us have an authentic shopping experience at the same time. Links: Patti Lefkos - https://www.pattishaleslefkos.com books and her not-for-profit Lindsay Williams’ site Lindsay Does Languages - https://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/  Lola’s Local Purse - https://www.localpurse.com  Great Travel Souvenirs - Episode 42 - notaballerina.com/42     Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/222  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your style of planning and booking trips is likely, it seems, to fall into one of two categories: a detailed planner (sometimes, incredibly, almost over-the-top detailed - in my humble opinion!) or a more spontaneous, make a few arrangements and then just see what happens.  In Episode 221 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I speak with two travellers who are very dedicated to the detailed planning version, and since my nature is of the opposite type, I find it fascinating to hear what they have to say. First up, Bob Dimenna describes his kind of planning and research and there are ideas that have literally never occurred to me amongst Bob's gems. Next, I speak with Karen Emanuel, a self-confessed meticulous planner, who does admit to a couple of down sides to this tendency. And finally, since we're talking booking, I include a section from my recent chat with Nissy Astassi of Expedia, and she gives me a couple of useful booking tips. Links: Poll on planning or being spontaneous to travel - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers/permalink/1146005029197932/  Episode 128 - Travelling Planning & Research - https://notaballerina.com/128 Bob DiMenna from The Travelers Blueprint podcast - https://thetravelersblueprint.com Karen Emanuel of Jicaro Island Lodge in Nicaragua  https://www.jicarolodge.com Nissy Atassi at Expedia -  https://www.expedia.com  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/221 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This crazy year, 2020, when everything about the world, and especially the world of travel, was turned on its head, is nearly over.  Phew - I think. Who knows, really, what 2021 will bring, but I think at least we're prepared to know that things are different, whereas this time last year we had not the faintest clue what lay ahead of us. In Episode 220 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, the final episode for 2020, I give a summary of the good and the bad of the year - and on balance, it wasn't such a bad year - as surprising as that sounds, coming from a travel podcaster.  And then to finish the year, my ten-year-old son has come up with a list of questions and interviewed me about my travels and thoughts. Hope you enjoy it! Above all: thanks to everyone involved in making The Thoughtful Travel Podcast the most fun thing I do - thanks to the listeners, the guests, the members of the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group, the Book Club members, the journalists who've mentioned the podcast in various cool places during 2020, basically, everyone!Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Christmas time which - weirdly, I guess, since I live quite far down in the southern hemisphere! - makes me think about the North Pole, about snow, about cold climates. That made it feel an appropriate week for my episode about seeing the Northern Lights or aurora borealis - an incredible phenomenon I haven't had the chance to witness yet, but after hearing these four guests describe their sightings, I'm more keen than ever. First up, I chat with Justin Meneguzzi who has a particularly romantic tale about his Northern Lights sighting (although it didn't all go quite to plan). Next, Karen Emanuel makes me rather envious as she describes not one, but two trips she's been on which led to seeing the aurora. Following Karen, I chat to Travis King who got to experience a surprise sighting in Alaska. Nearby in the Yukon region of Canada, my final guest, Tobi Barth, runs a tour company which specialises in aurora hunting, and he tells me how that works. Links: Justin Meneguzzi - https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com Karen Emanuel of Jicaro Island Lodge in Nicaragua  https://www.jicarolodge.com Travis W King http://www.traviswking.com/ - his book “Not that anyone asked” - a travel memoir about sex, drugs, love and finding purpose. Tobi Barth of Epic North in the Yukon https://epic-north.com/  Tobi's Aurora Hunting trip - https://epic-north.com/yukon-alaska-day-trips/aurora-hunting-northern-lights-viewing/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/219   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2020 is nearly over, and I know many people in the travel industry (and beyond) are breathing a sigh of relief over that. But what will the travel world look like in 2021? It's all a bit unknown but I wanted to chat with people who were on top of the research and could tell us more about what travel trends for 2021 are looking like. First up, though, I asked the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group for their opinions, and I talk about these: in particular, whether there'll be more planned or more spontaneous trips, what will be important to travellers in destination choice and what trends my listeners think might be coming up. Then I speak with Nissy Atassi, the Director of Global Communications at Expedia. Nissy had lots of interesting trends to tell me about, including current booking trends and the big changes she expects us to see in 2021. Finally I talk with Damian Perry, Managing Director for the Asia/Pacific region for Hurtigruten, the Norwegian expedition cruising company. He confirms a few 2021 trends I've been suspecting and has some other interesting stats to explain. Links: Nissy Atassi at Expedia -  https://www.expedia.com  Damian Perry at Hurtigruten - https://www.hurtigruten.com.au  Episode 190 with Carolyn’s Antarctic cruise/Covid experience - https://notaballerina.com/190  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/218 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The friends you make while you're travelling are, I think, often destined to be lifelong friends, because you've probably got a lot in common. If you're travelling in a similar way, or you're in the same destination, or however it is that you meet - you're already well on the way to a solid friendship. That's certainly my experience and I can think back over a long list of great friends I've made this way - and I'm not alone, judging by the guests in this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. First up, I chat with Tasha Goldberg, who's spent a lot of time travelling for work. She's formed many great friendships but the example she gives in this chat is a woman she met in the airport in Senegal. Next, I talk to Travis King, who has a great story about creating a "travel family" while travelling long term. And there's a bonus dangerous dolphin tale thrown in! Finally, I loved speaking with Monique Ceccato (while she was in hotel quarantine in Norway) about a very special trip she went on to New Caledonia. It was quite unique, and I'm sure that helped Monique and her fellow travellers become firm friends. Links: Tasha Goldberg’s project Evidence of Hope - https://www.evidenceofhope.com/  Travis King - https://www.traviswking.com/  Monique Ceccato - https://www.moniquececcato.com/ Episodes with my friend Cham:  114 - Our amazing Cambodia experience notaballerina.com/114  116 - Choosing your next destination notaballerina.com/116  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/217 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are countless lessons we can learn from travel: from small to large, nice-to-know to completely life-changing. I'm sure that I'm a completely different person thanks to the things I have learnt while travelling - and hopefully a better one! In this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three guests who agree that we can learn a lot when we travel. First, I speak with Justin Meneguzzi who has a personal lesson connected to confidence, and a broader lesson about social norms, and right and wrong. Next, Tasha Goldberg explains one of her most important personal lessons from travel, learnt while travelling after a heartbreak; she also talks about how she learnt the difference between the theory and framework of policy and what it's like to meet people actually experiencing that situation. Finally, I chat with Lindsay Williams, a language-learning expert, about some of the lessons travel can teach us about speaking another language. Links: Justin Meneguzzi - https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com  Tasha Goldberg’s project Evidence of Hope - https://www.evidenceofhope.com/  Lindsay Williams’ site Lindsay Does Languages - https://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/216 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.