The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Amanda could give you a page full of reasons she feels a sense of gratitude connected to travelling, but instead, she's going to let her three guests share some of the reason they feel grateful thanks to their travels.   First up Amanda speaks with Alicia Nelson, who is grateful for an important lesson she learnt about life at home while she was travelling. Then Amanda chats to Cassandra Le; as a child of refugee parents, she has a particularly strong gratitude about her ability to travel.  Finally, Abby Lewtas sums it all up nicely by reflecting on what she learnt about gratitude during a homestay in Guatemala and other travels too.     Links:  Alicia’s site Prairie Style File Alicia’s new book, “North Dakota Beer: A Heady History” Cassandra’s blog, The Quirky Pineapple    Cassandra on Instagram  Abby Lewtas’ website Abby’s reverse culture shock “Life After Travel” survey  Join the Facebook group  Tweet @amandakendle  Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod  Follow Amanda on Facebook Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the round-numbered episode 60 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast and that means Amanda has a mixed bag for you: the common theme is these chats are either fun or philosophical or both. First up, Amanda chats with Becky Livingston who is definitely a kindred spirit on the topic of travel and they had a philosophical chat about all the wonderful reasons we should travel. Changing tone, Amanda talks next with Yasmin Newman who has some wonderful tales to tell about eating her way around the world and some of the consequences of having a very sweet tooth. (Amanda feels like these are cautionary tales aimed at her and her sweet tooth!) Finally, Serena Star-Leonard tells Amanda about her Five Point Five project and the stories of amazing people she and her partner Johnny have been collecting during their travels. Links:  Becky’s Facebook community Joyful Mourning Becky’s website Yasmin’s website Yasmin’s new book, The Desserts of New York (And How To Eat Them All) Yasmin’s first book, 7,000 Islands: A Food Portrait of the Philippines Serena Star-Leonard’s Retire in 12 Months project Serena’s Five Point Five videos Join the Facebook group  Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Follow Amanda on Facebook Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 59 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about having conversations with locals when you travel. Meeting local people is such a fun and rewarding part of travelling and it’s something Amanda always tries to do, even if she has to push herself a bit beyond her comfort zone to do it. In this episode, Amanda start off by chatting with Alicia Nelson about some great lessons she learned from speaking with her Spanish friend and her family on a trip to Spain when she was younger. Her friend’s father Miguel uttered some of the wisest travel-related words I’ve ever heard! She then chats with Joe Baur about some of the local people he’s met while he’s researching or filming for travel stories, including interesting guides in Berlin and El Salvador, along with chatting about some of my experiences talking about tricky issues with locals in places like Japan. Finally, Alex Cwalinski tells Amanda a great story about a time in Argentina when having conversations with locals turned out to be much harder than he expected - but it makes for a great story! Links: Alicia’s site Prairie Style File Alicia’s new book, “North Dakota Beer: A Heady History” Joe Baur Without A Path podcast Trivago podcast, co-hosted by Joe Alex’s podcast Go Amanda's post about meeting the locals in Ventspils, Latvia Join our Facebook group  Tweet @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Follow Amanda on Facebook Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travelling solo is a really special way to travel and it’s the focus of Episode 58 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. Everyone’s experience of solo travel is different and these three guests all have a different story to tell from travelilng on their own.  First up, Amanda chats with Abby Lewtas who was inspired by a cousin to hit the world on her own, and took off for a big backpacking trip around South America - although not without some hesitation.    On the other hand, fellow podcaster Hayden Lee doesn’t seem to do anything with hesitation, and Amanda wasn’t surprised to hear his interesting story of a man he met just ten minutes after arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This is one of those travel adventures that only happens to brave (and crazy) people like Hayden.  Finally, Amanda chats with Carly Findlay who has a more regular experience of solo travel, and in fact very similar to Amanda's own experience. It was good to chat to her about the ups and downs of travelling on your own.  Links:  Abby Lewtas’ website Abby’s reverse culture shock “Life After Travel” survey Hayden’s Travel Stories Podcast Travel Stories Podcast on iTunes Carly’s website Carly’s podcast Refreshments Provided  Join the Facebook group  Tweet @amandakendle  Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 57 of The Thoughtful Travel podcast Amanda talks about taking photos of people on your travels, by chatting with a couple of photographers she knows who volunteer with her  for the Fremantle International Portrait Prize. She always feels like photographers are particularly good at being thoughtful travellers because they are always trying to get into the minds of the locals to get the best, most telling photographs in different places around the world. Amanda chats first with Lawrie Beilin, who has a wide range of excellent tips on breaking the ice and getting good photographs of people you meet on your travels. Secondly, Amanda hears a story from photographer Dale Neill who really has a knack for getting people to create amazing portrait images. She’ll also tell you a little about the Fremantle International Portrait Prize in case you want to enter some photographs too. Links: Fremantle International Portrait Prize site Dale’s Deadly Boring Photographs blog Lola’s talk on photographing people in their natural environment Join the Facebook group Tweet  @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travelling to unique places or travelling for unique reasons fascinates Amanda and the three guests she speaks with for Episode 56 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast have some very unique stories to tell. Starting off with fellow travel blogger Sharon Gourlay, they chat about her recent trip to a place that Amanda would love to see - North Korea. Politics aside, it’s simply a truly unique experience. Next Amanda speak with Abby Lewtas, who has travelled a lot but had a stint travelling to North America and Europe for a particularly interesting sporting reason … but you’ll have to listen to find out what spot. Finally, Amanda heard from novelist Rachael Johns. As a writer, she gets to see some really interesting places for interesting reasons, and one of these trips took her to a small and unique outback Queensland town. Links: Sharon’s travel site Where’s Sharon  Sharon’s post on North Korea Young Pioneers tours to North Korea  Sharon on making money as a blogger Abby Lewtas’ website  Abby’s reverse culture shock “Life After Travel” survey Rachael Johns’ website Rachael’s recent novel The Patterson Girls  Amanda's post on visiting Inis Meain in Ireland  Join the Facebook group Tweet @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Follow Amanda on Facebook Show notes Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travel is so very often life-changing - it’s one of the big reasons Amanda is always trying to encourage people to travel more. On Episode 55 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda talks with three people who agree with her. Amanda's first two guests, Kate Forsyth and Zoë Dawes, speak of their early experiences of travel and how that changed their lives. Kate had some adventurous times in her childhood, whereas Zoë learnt about the adventurous nature of her great-grandfather instead then let loose once she first got to travel abroad in her twenties. Her final guest, Hayden Lee, speaks of a more recent travel experience where he regrets not having made a different decision - thus changing his future thoughts on travel significantly. Links: Kate Forsyth’s website  Kate’s novel Bitter Greens  Kate’s novel The Wild Girl Zoë’s website The Quirky Traveller Zoë on Twitter Zoë on Instagram  Hayden’s Travel Stories Podcast Travel Stories Podcast on iTunes Episode about Papua New Guinea     Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina    Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/55 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Honestly, the benefits of travelling with kids are uncountable - and that’s benefits both for kids and their parents! in Episode 54 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda talks with three travel-loving parents about how they travel with their kids. First up, novelist Natasha Lester talks about what her three children learn from their travels abroad and how she considers it a far better education than school. Next up, journalist Alicia Nelson and Amanda chat about just how much extra fun travel can be with younger children and the different viewpoints you can get by slowing down and seeing the world through their eyes. Finally, Mark Wyld of Wyld Family Travel chats about the different attitudes his two daughters take to their trips to Europe. Links: Natasha Lester’s website Natasha’s new novel Her Mother's Secret Alicia’s site Prairie Style File  Look for Alicia’s book, “North Dakota Beer: A Heady History” in July 2017 Wyld Family Travel Episode 8 - Travel With Kids and Kids on Travel Episode 19 - Travelling with Kids is Good for Everyone Join the Facebook group Tweet @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Follow on FacebookSupport the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s common to face a few difficulties when we travel but in Episode 53 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda chats with three guests who face more than their fair share of challenges when they travel, because they or a family member has a disability or a chronic illness. Their stories are inspiring and of course, their desire to travel trumps the potential difficulties and Amanda loves that! First up, Amanda chats with Julie Jones of Have Wheelchair Will Travel who loves to travel with her family, including her son who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a baby and uses a wheelchair. Her down-to-earth and positive approach helps many other families get around the various obstacles wheelchair travel introduces and see the world. You might also be surprised to learn what it was that actually got travel-loving Julie travelling again! Amanda then speaks with Ava Meena of My Meena Life, who is in her twenties and has three chronic illnesses: lupus, fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. Despite the debilitating pain that these can inflict, she’s determined to continue to see the world. Finally, Amanda talks to fellow Aussie blogger Carly Findlay, who is a writer, speaker and appearance activist. She has a skin condition called ichthyosis and it has caused her to have some pretty unsettling encounters with airlines and border staff during her travels. Links: Julie’s blog Have Wheelchair Will Travel Have Wheelchair Will Travel Facebook community Ava Meena of My Meena Life Carly’s website Join the Facebook group  Tweet @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amanda is constantly amazed how creative and inspired she feels while she's travelling - without even trying, the creativity just seems to well up in her and pour out. The best bit is, it turns out she's not alone. In Episode 52 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda starts by chatting with Brooke McAlary about her experience of creativity when she’s on the road. Amanda was expecting her to cite her beloved mountains as a source of inspiration but in fact, the main reason travel sparks her creativity is something quite the opposite. Amanda then chats with Australian novelist Sarah Ridout who has many wise words to say about the creativity that travel seems to encourage - whether that’s creativity to write or to draw or something else entirely. Finally, Natasha Lester speaks about how her creativity process fits with travel when she’s researching her historical fiction novels, and we chat about refilling your creative tank. Links: Giveaway of Sarah’s novel Le Chateau Brooke’s Slow Your Home website Brooke’s Slow Home Podcast Brooke’s new book, Destination Simple - https://amzn.to/45R1TWT Sarah Ridout’s website  Sarah’s novel Le Chateau - https://amzn.to/4oWCC6k Natasha Lester’s website Natasha’s novel A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald - https://amzn.to/41ltjTc Natasha’s new novel Her Mother's Secret - https://amzn.to/4mAuYNo Join our Facebook group Tweet @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.