The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

It seems that the number of people who love to travel AND who love to read makes up quite a high proportion of my listeners so I'm excited that Episode 153 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast can be all about reading books to inspire travel. I'm constantly reading books because they're set somewhere I'm about to visit, or alternatively I've booked a number of trips because of places I've read about in books! For me, they are completely intertwined - and the guests on this episode seem to feel the same way. First up I chat with Kendall Simmons who is a voracious reader of all kinds of books and believes that reading before you travel somewhere really enriches your understanding of a place.  Next I talk to Lesley West who is an even more voracious reader and is very devoted to reading books set in a destination before she travels there. (A woman after my own heart!) Finally, Alastair Humphreys and I talk about how reading books about people's travel experiences can actually give you an experience and perspective it's impossible for you to get otherwise, and we also talk about some of the travel books he's written and how knowing his travel experiences will become a book can influence his experience. Links: Kendall Simmon’s site https://www.kendallsimmons.com/  Lesley West of Better Link business consultancy - https://betterlinkgroup.edu.au/   Alastair Humphreys - https://www.alastairhumphreys.com/  Alastair’s new book My Midsummer Morning - https://amzn.to/2JWNjDe Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/153 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Because travel has changed my life in so many varied ways, I know that it's transformative; when I talk to three other people who believe this, like for this Episode 152 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I'm even more sure about how transformative travel can be. If you're able to rearrange your budget to get travelling then go and do it! In this episode I start off speaking with Dean O'Shea who runs a business devising trips for mostly corporate professionals with the hope that they'll be transformational - and it sounds like it's working. Dean gives me a couple of examples of people he's already helped to have some major life transformations as a result of particular travel experiences. I then chat with Nate Hake who used to be a trial lawyer in the United States. These days he's travelling the world - he was about to head to Tblisi, Georgia when we spoke - and his own life has been substantially transformed through his travel experiences. As an Aussie I'm proud to say there were Australians involved in this transformation, too! Finally, I talk with Fiona Galloway who uses the tag line "transformative travel" to describe the tours she runs. She's passionate about the power of travel to transform lives in so many ways. Links: Dean’s site Unbelievable Adventures - https://www.unbelievableadventures.co.uk/  Nate at Travel Lemming - https://travellemming.com/ Fiona’s site Wild Awake - https://www.wildawaketravel.com  Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/152  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scuba travel has never been high on my wishlist but after talking to my three guests on Episode 151 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast about their diving trips all around the world, I'm beginning to think otherwise! Scuba diving holidays are special - and my first guest Ella Loeffler should know as in the short few years since she first learnt scuba diving, she's tried it out in quite a number of places around the world. Liveaboard diving sounds especially good to me - kind of like a separate trip within a trip where you get to hang out with like minded travellers and locals. After Ella I chat with Deborah Dickson-Smith who loves diving so much she bought a scuba diving travel agency! She's got a long list of great dive experiences but also some wishlist ideas to experience the best scuba diving in the world sometime. Finally, I talk with Talon Windwalker, who has done work as a dive instructor and has done many special diving trips with his daughter. He also emphasises the many-faceted benefits of combining scuba diving with travelling: seeing new (underwater) landscapes, getting to know another side of local cultures and creating incredible memories. Links: Easy Travel Speak free lesson -  https://www.nomadingabout.com/free-easy-travel-speak-lesson/ Use discount code AMANDA for 40% off Easy Travel Speak - https://www.nomadingabout.com/easy-travel-speak Adopt a sea turtle nest program where Ella’s volunteering - Lang Tengah - http://www.langtengahturtlewatch.org/adoptions/ Deborah’s site Dive PlanIt, a dive travel agency - https://diveplanit.com/  Talon’s blog - http://1dad1kid.com/  Talon on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/onedad1kid/ Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/151 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before I travelled to Denmark a couple of months back, I recorded Episode 140 with all my thoughts ahead of that trip. In particular, I wanted to be a more intentionally thoughtful traveller on that trip and in this special Episode 150 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I'm following up on how that all went. It turns out - quick spoiler - that being more intentional really helped me to have an even better experience in Copenhagen and rural Denmark. But you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out why! A special bonus in this special episode is that my son, now Mr9, has made a return visit - the last time he was here, he was only Mr6! He answers some questions asked by the lovely members of the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group - thanks everyone! Links: My pre-Denmark thoughts in Episode 140 - https://notaballerina.com/140  Easy Travel Speak free lesson -  https://www.nomadingabout.com/free-easy-travel-speak-lesson/ Use discount code AMANDA for 40% off Easy Travel Speak - https://www.nomadingabout.com/easy-travel-speak Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/150 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We who get to travel the world are a very privileged lot - right? If we're going to be good, thoughtful travellers, I think that considering issues of class and privilege when we travel is an important part of it. In Episode 149 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I talk with three guests who articulate some really interesting thoughts on this topic and I'm so pleased to bring them to you, and hope they give everyone some food for thought. First up, I speak with Ella Loeffler, a recently graduated ecologist who has been spending time volunteering on a sea turtle project in Malaysia. She might be young, but she has given this topic a lot of thought already and it was great to hear how she has handled it so far. I then chat to Nate Hake, a former lawyer who now travels the world as a digital nomad and has written about issues like passport privilege in the past. Finally, I talk to Chris Haag who actually proposed this whole topic in the first place. Chris is cycling the Americas from north to south and when we spoke, he was in Mexico, a destination which had given him cause to think a lot about class and privilege issues. Links: Adopt a sea turtle nest program where Ella’s volunteering - Lang Tengah - http://www.langtengahturtlewatch.org/adoptions/ Nate at Travel Lemming - https://travellemming.com/  Nate's post about linguistic privilege - https://travellemming.com/travel-privilege-english/ Chris's site The Places I Pee - https://www.theplacesipee.com Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers -  https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/149  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Solo travelling is one of those things that you might fear before you try it: but if you take the plunge you will find that the life of a solo traveller is insanely rewarding. In Episode 148 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I talk to three people who have done a lot of solo travel in all kinds of parts of the world and they all agree that including some solo travelling in the mix is absolutely worthwhile. My first guest is Alastair Humphreys who has done some very adventurous solo travel and finds it both soul-searching and rewarding. We talk in particular about one of his solo trips walking across India. Next up I chat with Justin Watson who, like me, thought at first that solo travel might be difficult; when he finally tried he was very glad he did. Finally, I speak with Michela Fantinel about one of her first solo travel experiences in New York City - since then she has gone on to do numerous solo trips and would thoroughly recommend it. Links: Alastair Humphreys - https://www.alastairhumphreys.com/  Alastair’s new book My Midsummer Morning - https://amzn.to/2JWNjDe  Justin - blog at Justin’s World http://www.justins.world  Michela at Rocky Travel - https://www.rockytravel.net/  Join our Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes - https://notaballerina.com/148 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the most well-known (and successful, for that matter) travel bloggers around is Matt Kepnes, also known as Nomadic Matt. Here's the thing. I actually started blogging a couple of years before Matt, and we got to know each other while freelancing for some of the same travel sites back in the day - but he's the one who went on to turn his travel blog into a very successful full-time career. I want to be jealous, but whenever I encounter Matt I'm reminded that he's just a really nice guy and along with that, we share very similar attitudes to travel. And so after thinking about it for much too long, Matt and I have finally caught up for a special episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast where we talk about all kinds of travel topics: budget travel and staying in hostels, how to be a thoughtful traveller and the wonders of solo travel. Matt also has a new book out, "Ten Years a Nomad" and of course that rates a mention too! Links: Matt’s site Nomadic Matt - https://www.nomadicmatt.com Matt’s new book “Ten Years a Nomad” - https://amzn.to/30rqYEo  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/147 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's not all too many years ago that I would have thought Iran was definitely off the visit list, but in recent years it has become quite a popular destination amongst travellers I know. Episode 146 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is, in fact, devoted fully to Iran because I've had so many guests tell me about their good experiences there that I just had to create an entire episode to be able to share some of their stories. First up I chat with Brett Seychell of Social Cycles who first visited Iran on his two-year cycling journey from London to Melbourne. He loved it so much that he has now been half a dozen times and runs tours there! Next I speak with photographer Dale Neill who has also taken a tour group to Iran in recent years. Dale reiterates the common theme of this episode, that Iran is probably the single friendliest country he's ever visited. Finally, I hear from Joanne Karcz who was recently in Iran for a month and had so many good stories to tell about the country and especially the kindness of the people. Links: Brett from Social Cycles - https://www.social-cycles.com  Dale Neill - http://www.daleneill.com.au and the Fremantle International Portrait Prize -  https://fipp.org.au  Joanne’s site Travel with Joanne - https://www.travelwithjoanne.com/    More from Joanne on Iran in Episode 141 - https://www.notaballerina.com/141 Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/146  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's becoming increasingly popular to make volunteering a part of a trip abroad, but it's also becoming increasingly known that not all volunteer programs are created equal. It's sometimes hard to be sure if you're helping or hindering, and difficult to be sure you're helping to create lasting change.  In Episode 145 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three travellers who've taken part in various volunteer programs in recent years. We talk about how to find a good volunteer program and their own examples are really worth hearing about. First up, I talk to Ella who is currently volunteering in Malaysia at an organisation protecting endangered sea turtles. She has an ecology degree and describes the great work that is happening there, along with some thoughts on how to find a good way to volunteer abroad. Next I chat with Meagan who lives in southern California. In the last few years she's become involved with regular volunteer work just a couple of hours' drive away in Mexico. Finally, Eva explains the trip she took to the Philippines last year and how the money collected from travellers in the group was used to help a local community.  Links: Overview of the problems of orphanage tourism - https://www.savethechildren.org.au/Our-Stories/Orphanage-tourism  Adopt a sea turtle nest program where Ella’s volunteering - Lang Tengah - http://www.langtengahturtlewatch.org/adoptions/  Meagan Hurst of Malas With a Mission - http://malaswithamission.com/  Eva’s blog Not Scared of the Jet Lag - http://www.notscaredofthejetlag.com Giveback Giveaway which Eva mentioned - https://givebackgiveaway.com/  Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/145 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travel and life intersect in all kinds of ways and Episode 144 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is a collection of stories about when grief intersects with travel. I'm so grateful to all the guests for sharing these pretty personal stories, because I know they will be interesting and even useful for many who listen. First up I speak with Justin Watson who shares a story of a very special trip to the United States with a good friend; then Dean O'Shea talks about an important trip he took his brother on not long after their father passed away.  Finally, I chat with Kate Manser who started a project called "You Might Die Tomorrow" after the sudden, unrelated deaths of three young people she knew. She hopes to help people use activities like travelling to help them live life to the full - hopefully without having tragedy around them first. Links: Justin’s blog at Justin’s World - http://www.justins.world Dean’s site Unbelievable Adventures - https://www.unbelievableadventures.co.uk/  Kate Manser’s site You Might Die Tomorrow - https://www.youmightdietomorrow.com/  https://notaballerina.com/133 - the first part of Dean’s story https://notaballerina.com/99 - Pam’s story of the Nepal earthquake  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/144 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.