The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Travel can change us in so many positive ways - that's one of the main reasons I keep doing it! In Episode 182 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three guests about some of the many and varied ways that travel has continued to their ongoing learning and personal development. First up, I chat with Kiki Wong. She started out on an academic path to becoming a doctor but stepped off this track when - you won't be surprised to know - an amazing offer to travel appeared.  Next, I speak with Nicci O'Mara who learnt a lot about parenting (and about her children) during a family trip to Italy. On Nicci's birthday, events unfolded which turned out to be a big turning point in personal development for all of them! Finally, I talk with Nate Taiaroa who has spent year living and travelling in Africa, learning so much from these experiences that he went into business to help others get to have these life-changing personal development experiences too. Links: Kiki Wong - Nylon Pink - https://www.nylonpink.tv  Nicci O’Mara from Trip Chiefs - https://tripchiefs.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/182 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I used to be a staunch anti-group-travel kind of gal. I went literally decades without even a thought of joining a group tour! But in Episode 181 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I admit the error of my ways and chat with three guests who've all had truly unique and wonderful small group travel experiences. First up, I speak to Suzanne Moore, a local Perth writer who spent a week last year walking the Cape to Cape track in the south-west of my home state of Western Australia. Suzy had some of the same reservations about travelling with a group that I've had in the past, but they definitely proved to be unfounded. My next guest is Louise Southerden and we chat about the benefits of specifically-themed small group tours. This is definitely a case where travelling with a group can actually exceed the experience of independent travel (something I never would have dreamt of conceding a few years back!). Finally, Andrew Tyree and I chat about what can go wrong with group travel - and he should know, as he leads small group trips across Central and South America. Luckily we also talk about lots of things that go right! Links: Suzanne Moore https://www.suzannemoorewriter.com/    Suzanne’s book The Place Between - https://amzn.to/31KM6aD  Louise Southerden - No Impact Girl - http://www.noimpactgirl.com Andrew Tyree - Coast to Costa - https://www.coasttocosta.com  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/181 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Normally a podcast anniversary is a purely joyous occasion - I've been putting out The Thoughtful Travel Podcast consistently for four whole years now! - but in the times of Covid-19 it's certainly a bittersweet time to be talking about anything connected to travel. I debated long and hard about how to celebrate and then realised that, stuck as I am at home, it was finally time to take a deep dive into my huge stack of travel journals documenting past trips. I hoped to find some gems and lessons to share with you all - and I think I did, or perhaps I just spent a completely self-indulgent day in my own memories - I'll let you be the judge! There'll be photos and more at the show notes. Enjoy! Links: Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/180 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

January 2020 was a horrible time for Australia - 186,000 square kilometres of Australia burnt in bushfires (that's an area half the size of Germany); 34 people lost their lives and they estimate up to a billion animals perished. Yep - it was awful, and the aftermath has been awful for the tourism industry too, because many people had to cancel trips during our peak travel season. So, what to do? I'll put on an episode later in the year about the specific parts of Australia you can travel to in order to help out with bushfire recovery but for now, I've interviewed two Australian women who have told me all about the efforts to restore tourism so far, and talked about the far-reaching effects - and possibly some benefits - arising out of the post-bushfire chaos. First up, I chat with Louise Southerden, firstly about some of the great tourism initiatives helping out and then about the bigger picture and the opportunity to do good. Lou also touches on the Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency movement, which we will talk about more in a later episode, too. Next I talk with Caro Ryan who lives in the heart of one of the areas seriously affected by the bushfires, the beautiful Blue Mountains in New South Wales. We also chat about the great innovations in tourism since the fires and also the bigger picture and hopes for the future. Links: Louise Southerden - No Impact Girl - http://www.noimpactgirl.com "Open for business, not business as usual" - Louise's blog post about post-bushfire tourism - http://www.noimpactgirl.com/2020/02/after-bushfires-open-for-business-not.html  Caro Ryan - Lotsa Fresh Air - https://lotsafreshair.com  Call to Revive Australian Tourism by Catherine Marshall - https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/call-to-revive-australian-tourism Holiday Here This Year - https://www.australia.com/en/travel-inspiration/holiday-here-this-year.html holidayherethisyear.com  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/179 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oftentimes you can't choose the passenger sitting next to you on a plane. This can be both good and bad! Episode 178 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast includes conversations with three different guests who all have interesting tales to tell of someone they sat next to on a flight. First up, Paul Pichugin tells the hilarious tale of ... well, a woman passenger next to him, and I don't want to give the story away - you'll have to listen to it! Excuse my raucous laughter. Next, I chat with Laura Waters who broke the golden rule of avoiding conversation on a long haul flight - in case you get stuck talking with someone you don't want to talk to for the next ten hours - and it turned into something quite delightful. Finally, I talk to Dale Neill about a particularly intriguing passenger he sat next to on a flight across Australia some years back. Let's just say there was a lot of chocolate milk involved!  Links: Paul Pichugin - landscape and travel photographer - https://paulpichugin.com Laura Waters' website - https://soultrekkers.com.au/  Laura’s book Bewildered - https://amzn.to/2S20zu2 Dale Neill - http://www.daleneill.com.au  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/178 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

African travel seems to have been constantly on my radar lately - I guess it's nearly time for me to go and explore more of that continent? For now, at least, it'll be through Episode 177 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast because I've chatted with three guests lately who had intriguing tales to tell of Africa. First up, I chat with Rick Antonson. He has a delightfully unique reason for choosing to visit Timbuktu in Mali, and I loved hearing about what he found there. I then talk to Brighde Reed about the amazing destination of Rwanda - which is probably at the top of my want-to-visit African nations, and even more so after speaking with Brighde. Finally, Chris Daniels has had some great African experiences - largely part of his PhD in African Studies, so he knows his stuff - and we chat about visiting Somalia and Ethiopia in particular. Links: Episode 80 Travel in Africa - https://www.notaballerina.com/2018/01/travel-africa-episode-80-thoughtful-travel-podcast.html Episode 96 Remote Travel in Africa - https://www.notaballerina.com/2018/05/remote-travel-africa-episode-96-thoughtful-travel-podcast.html  Rick Antonson - www.rickantonson.com Rick’s book "To Timbuktu for a Haircut" - https://amzn.to/3834ltj Chris Daniels - Motherland Connect - https://www.motherlandconnect.org Brighde Reed - World Vegan Travel - https://www.worldvegantravel.com/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/177 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 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, discussing The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton. 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.

We sometimes see people doing glamorous jobs and travelling the world and think: wow, they have a great life! It's those kind of people who are in Episode 176 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast: I have a travel journalist, a guidebook writer and a guitarist who have all had the opportunity to travel widely and for long periods of time as part of their work. All of them are grateful for the travel and work they've been able to do, but there are definitely pros and cons to these kinds of careers. First up, I talk to Anna Chittenden who is a guidebook writer, travelling extensively throughout Asia. I'm a little envious of her in-depth experience of Japan, but it is definitely not a glamorous lifestyle. Next, I chat with Christine Retschlag, a travel journalist who darts around the globe with barely a break. We discuss that while much of this is a lot of fun there are some significantly difficult parts too. Finally, I speak with Kiki Wong who spent some years touring the world with her band Nylon Pink. We chat about two very different experiences of tours, and although Kiki says it's always worth it, there are definitely some tough moments. Links: Anna Chittenden of The Lost Guides - http://thelostguides.com/ Anna’s new Lost Guides book - Tokyo & Beyond  https://amzn.to/2T7Q8WG  Christine Retschlag - https://www.theglobalgoddess.com  Kiki Wong - Nylon Pink - https://www.nylonpink.tv  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/176 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you've ever wondered what it's really like to head out for days or even months and just keep walking, Episode 175 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast will give you many insights into hiking and walking experiences on your travels. I start off speaking with Laura Waters, who spent five months tramping from the top of New Zealand to the bottom. As you can imagine this is no easy feat at all (but there is a bonus to it all involving chocolate!). Next, Suzanne Moore describes a much shorter hike in Japan, and an experience that made us both laugh. Suzy will be back in a future episode describing a longer hike she did in south-west Australia - but this climb at Mt Yote is such a fun story! Finally, I chat to Rick Antonson who agreed - without even knowing where it was or anything about it - to walk the Kokoda Track with his neighbour. This was also not a simple trip but like nearly any trip that requires a lot of effort, it was incredibly rewarding. Links: Hiking When You Travel, Episode 124 - notaballerina.com/124  Laura Waters’ website - https://soultrekkers.com.au/  Laura’s book Bewildered - https://amzn.to/2S20zu2  Suzanne Moore https://www.suzannemoorewriter.com/    Suzanne’s book The Place Between - https://amzn.to/31KM6aD  Rick Antonson - www.rickantonson.com Rick’ book Walking With Ghosts in Papua New Guinea - https://amzn.to/37n1fzS  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/175 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travelling teaches us a lot - there's nothing like having a big range of different inputs in a short time to wake up your brain! Episode 174 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast includes chats with three travellers who've learnt some solid life lessons during their travels. I start off by chatting with Nicci O'Mara about a sad but important life-changing moment that happened to her in Africa a couple of decades ago. We talk about how important it is to grab life by the horns and not put off things we really want to do. Next, I talk with Eugene Devereux about his recent experiences exploring south-east Asia, an area very different to his homeland of Ireland. He explains that he learnt a lot of life lessons by experiencing such different cultures and coming to understand their history, too. Finally I chat with Kate Manser about a lesson she learnt about hospitality while she was travelling in remote Indonesia. We also circle back to something similar to Nicci's lesson and discuss why you should jump at any travel opportunity that is presented to you! Links: Nicci O’Mara from Trip Chiefs - https://tripchiefs.com/  Eugene Devereux - https://www.irishbootstrapper.com  Kate Manser’s site You Might Die Tomorrow - https://www.youmightdietomorrow.com/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/174 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.