The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

What do you do when your passport goes missing while you’re travelling? Well, as proven by Episode 196 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, what happens is you end up with a good story to tell (and like most travel problems, it turns out to be solvable). My first guest is Paula Morgan who explains the tale of missing passports during a train trip in Europe - and the unexpected glee of whose fault it was! Next, I chat with Jen Williams who encountered some problems trying to leave Mongolia, in the aftermath of having her passport stolen during her travels. Finally, I speak with Marina Villatora in Guatemala. She went to spend a month at Lake Atitlan, but the stay didn’t turn at all as she’d expected. Links: Paula Morgan - https://Sydneyexpert.com  Jen Williams - Launch Your Travels - https://www.launchyourtravels.com/  Marina Villatoro - https://thetraderchick.com/  Patreon - support the podcast - https://www.notaballerina.com/support Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/196 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Regular listeners to The Thoughtful Travel Podcast know just how much I love hearing about encounters with local people when we travel, so Episode 195 is a collection of stories about all kinds of different ways my guests have met locals during their travels in Central Asia. First up, I chat with Tracey Croke, who explains a particular intriguing encounter with some local shepherds in Kyrgyzstan, and one who had a particularly compelling proposal for her ... Next, Liz Warner tells me about a woman she met when she went to Afghanistan to run in a marathon, and something surprising she found out by chatting with her. Finally, Ferenc Elekes talks about one of his many stops on his overland trips, this one in Kazakhstan where he and his girlfriend got to know a Russian family who were camping in the same remote area. Links: Patreon - Bonus content and other benefits https://www.notaballerina.com/support Tracey Croke - https://traceycroke.com Liz Warner of Run to Reach http://runtoreach.com/  Ferenc Elekes - Overland Site - https://overlandsite.com/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/195 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 May 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajeshi. 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.

Train-lovers unite - Episode 194 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about journeys on the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia. This will always be one of my favourite trips, and it's such a pleasure to chat with other travellers who've also experienced the many ups and downs of crossing Russia by train. First up, I chat with Catherine Marshall, who decided to take the Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Vladivostok with ten of her favourite relatives to celebrate a milestone birthday. The problem: her date of birth meant they ended up traversing Russia in the depths of winter! I then speak with Cindy Siano who took the Trans-Siberian train back in 1995 - although (spoiler alert) it's particularly intriguing to me to hear that not altogether that much has changed in the ensuing years. Links: The ever-changing landscape of the Trans-Siberian - https://www.notaballerina.com/2013/02/trans-siberian-train-ever-changing-landscape.html Catherine Marshall - http://catherinemarshall.com.au coming soon! More from Catherine and friends at Time to Wander - http://www.timetowander.com.au/  Cindy Siano - Life and Times Video - https://lifeandtimesvideo.com.au/ Patreon - get bonus content and support the podcast - https://www.notaballerina.com/support  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/193 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you think back to the first time you travelled, you might just recall that this was a pretty important and influential part of your travelling experience as a whole. When I speak with avid travellers, it's often the case that their first trip has had a big impact either on their lives, or their future travels, or both. These transformative travel firsts are the basis for Episode 193 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - and they make for some fantastic stories! To start with, I chat with listener Scott Antcliffe, who grew up in the front passenger seat of his father's taxi, meeting passengers flying in and out of major UK airports. I'd love to know if his dad realised at the time just how impactful these meetings were going to be. Next, Bob DiMenna and I talk about his first trip outside of the United States, which was to Thailand - a very significant trip in many ways. Finally, Nate Taiaroa speaks about his own transformational travel experiences and how he's used those to try to help others have the same kinds of revelations and what's more, to make sure they really make the most of them, too - I love his passion for helping travellers really cement the big lessons from their travels. Links: Patreon - get bonus content and support the podcast - https://www.notaballerina.com/support  Scott Antcliffe on Twitter - https://twitter.com/cliffy94 Bob DiMenna from The Travelers Blueprint podcast - https://thetravelersblueprint.com Nate Taiaroa from Adventure Out Loud - https://www.adventureoutloud.me/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/193 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever travelled to somewhere that other people told you was dangerous? Or decided not to go, for precisely that reason? Episode 192 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast contemplates the idea of dangerous places, whether we should travel to them and how we can make a considered decision. My first guest is Tracey Croke who has a great theory on this topic - she calls it her "pie chart of reality" and it's a very sensible way to look at the information we can gather when we're trying to decide whether or not a destination is too dangerous to travel to. Having been to places like Afghanistan, I think Tracey is a good person to listen to on this topic. Next up I chat with Michael Barticel about his approach to fear - as a signal that we need to be careful, but that usually shouldn't stop you, and he describes his example of visiting Cali in Colombia. Lastly I speak with Hungarian traveller Ferenc Elekes who has a timely story to tell about an experience he and his friends had breaking down late at night on a dirt road in Tajikistan, near the Afghan border. Links: Patreon - support The Thoughtful Travel Podcast at https://www.notaballerina.com/support Tracey Croke - https://traceycroke.com Michael Barticel - Today Dreamer - https://www.todaydreamer.com/ Ferenc Elekes - Overland Site - https://overlandsite.com/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/192 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As I've learnt by listening over the years to one of our guests, one in five travellers have a disability. That's a high percentage and I guess that means there's a good number of my listeners who travel with a disability, or have a family member or friend in their travelling group with a disability. This is important stuff! In Episode 191 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three people on this subject. First up, I have a great chat with Seana Smith who describes the development of her son and his travels over the years. He was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of three, but is now an adult, and Seana tells me how his experience with travel has changed. Let's just say there's a heavy metal festival involved! Next I speak with Suzanne Kamata, who has travelled many times with her now adult daughter, a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy and a love of France (and travelling in general). Finally, I wanted to get Julie Jones back on to speak about a magazine she's started since we last chatted on the podcast several years ago, called Travel Without Limits. It's Australia's first disability-specific travel magazine and it's awesome! Links: Episode 53 - Travel with disability and chronic illness - https://notaballerina.com/53 Support the podcast via Patreon - https://www.notaballerina.com/support Suchita’s adventures in Bali - https://littlebodyhugelife.wordpress.com/2019/08/05/adventures-at-the-klung-kung-markets/ Jen's post about travelling to Cambodia - https://www.notaballerina.com/2018/10/travelling-to-cambodia-autism-spectrum.html  Seana Smith - Hello Sydney Kids - https://www.hellosydneykids.com.au/ Suzanne Kamata - http://www.suzannekamata.com/ Suzanne’s book, Squeaky Wheels - https://amzn.to/2qPbCNQ Julie’s blog Have Wheelchair Will Travel - http://havewheelchairwilltravel.net Travel Without Limits magazine - https://www.travelwithoutlimits.com.au  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/191  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 190 - time for a special episode! As Western Australian life starts to become somewhat normal again after a period of Covid-19 isolation, I decided it was time to record some thoughts about what life has been like here in Perth during the global pandemic. I talk about how extraordinarily lucky we have been here, and how for once, I've actually appreciated how isolated Perth, Western Australia is. I also talk about how important it has been for me to be in touch with friends interstate and across the world - mostly friends I've made through travelling - because hearing people's personal stories about their experiences is so much more impactful than only watching the news headlines. It's also been a period where I've been in much closer touch with friends outside of Western Australia and I've really loved that aspect of it. Finally, I talk about the future of travel in a post-pandemic world - not that I have any crystal ball to know what's going to happen, but I do have some hopes for what we might be thinking about travelling. A Perth friend, Carolyn Beasley, was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic when her Antarctic expedition ship was prevented from landing in Chile as planned back in March 2020. I talked to Carolyn about her experiences and this seemed the perfect time to share that story. Links: The importance of making travel friends - notaballerina.com/covidfriends Episode 184 on Antarctic Travels - notaballerina.com/184 Carolyn Beasley - https://www.carolynbeasley.com  Support The Thoughtful Travel Podcast on Patreon - notaballerina.com/support Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/190 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 March/April 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, On the Plain of Snakes by Paul Theroux. 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.

Meeting local people when you travel is one of the surest ways I know to be a more thoughtful traveller - and to have a lot of fun, too! In Episode 189 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I talk to three travellers who discovered fascinating ways to interact with locals on their travels - and of course, they all found it really rewarding. First up, I chat with Tracey Croke who told me that the surest way to get to meet some interesting locals is to join a revolution! There are caveats of course - but it's true that this is what Tracey did on a trip to Macedonia. Next I talk to JoAnna Haugen who found a particularly unique way to get to see what the locals were doing, by volunteering as an international election observer in Ukraine. My last guest is Jen Williams who got to know some locals when she was visiting Bagan in Myanmar, and they led her to quite an intriguing encounter with a local shaman. Links: Tracey Croke, travel journalist - https://traceycroke.com JoAnna Haugen, founder of Rooted - https://www.joannahaugen.com/rooted/  Jen Williams - Launch Your Travels - https://www.launchyourtravels.com/  Support via Patreon - https://www.notaballerina.com/support Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/189 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.