The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Are you an adventurous eater? The topic of food in foreign countries is always a fascinating one and today’s episode addresses it on a couple of different fronts. To start with, Amanda speaks with Lola Akinmade Åkerström, who has built a fabulous career as a travel writer and photographer. One way she approaches foreign food is to get down to grass roots level which has seen her chatting with farmers and getting up very early to go out with fishermen. The next guest is Martin Bailey, another travel photographer who is based in Japan. It’s his decades of experience in Japan that led him to talk about some of the more unusual food experiences you can encounter in Japan, and they are not all experiences that Amanda would like to repeat! Jean Cheney of Traveling Honeybird has also eaten some particularly interesting foods in her time, and she discusses some of the meats she was served up in Mongolia, among other tasty treats she’s seen around the world. Links: Lola’s site Geotraveler’s Niche - http://www.lolaakinmade.com/ Lola’s photos of fisherman in the Seychelles - http://www.lolaakinmade.com/latest-news/photo-gallery-snapshots-seychelles/ Lola’s post about food producers in Emilia Romagna - http://www.lolaakinmade.com/europe/local-food-producers-in-emilia-romagna/ Slow Travel Stockholm - http://www.slowtravelstockholm.com Martin Bailey - https://www.martinbaileyphotography.com Martin’s photography tours and workshops - https://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/workshops Jean at Traveling Honeybird - http://www.travelinghoneybird.com Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/23 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently Amanda has started asking her guests about their craziest travel moments, but really, what she's looking for is those particularly memorable experiences that stick with you forever - the kind of stories you tell over and over. The three guests in this episode all have fascinating stories to tell of memorable things which happened to them in various spots across the world.   First up is Jeff Ryan, author of the new book Appalachian Odyssey: A 28 Year Hike on America’s Trail. Jeff had a particularly interesting mishap on the trail involving a porcupine.   Amanda then speaks with Diana Edelman of D Travels Round about one of those slightly-scary-at-the time, but ultimately life-affirming moments while travelling where you actually end up in completely the wrong place - in this case somewhere in Croatia ...   Finally, Tom Parson of The Lego Backpacker reminisces about his experiences on the grand railways of Russia. Tom took the Trans-Mongolian route while Amanda has taken the Trans-Siberian, but they both got to meet some fascinating Russians.   Links: Jeff Ryan’s author website -  http://www.jeffryanauthor.com/ Jeff’s book, Appalachian Odyssey -  http://amzn.to/2bB9o8u Diana Edelman at D Travels Round - http://dtravelsround.com Diana’s new site, Vegans Baby - http://vegansbaby.com Tom Parson of The Lego Backpacker on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thelegobackpacker/ Lego Backpacker website coming soon - https://thelegobackpacker.com Tweet @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/22   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 21 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about the internet. What did we do without it? On the surface, the advent of the internet can surely only be a huge bonus for travellers, right? We can research, book and communicate with so much ease.   But as all of today’s guests point out, there are definitely both pros and cons of the internet for travellers. This whole discussion starts when Amanda speaks with Leyla of Women on the Road, as she reminisces on the “old school” way of getting information about the safety of countries long before the internet.   Amanda also speaks with Jeremy and Katie Kloberdanz of The Life Bohemian. They are indeed living a pretty Bohemian life, working online as they travel the world, but it’s not always all that digital nomad life is cracked up to be.   Finally, Amanda chats with Tom Parson aka The Lego Backpacker, who had some really interesting comments about hostel life since the internet and mobile devices became everyday items.   Links:   Leyla at Women on the Road - http://www.women-on-the-road.com Jeremy and Katie Kloberdanz of The Life Bohemian website - http://www.thelifebohemian.com/ The Life Bohemian Podcast - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-life-bohemian/id1079385152?mt=2 Tom Parson of The Lego Backpacker on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thelegobackpacker/ Lego Backpacker website coming soon - https://thelegobackpacker.com Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/21   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast has reached its 20th episode, and Amanda is celebrating by sharing a collection of special stories her guests have offered that haven’t fit into a particular topic yet, but are far too good not to share. Annalicia Lynn kicks off this episode with some of her fascinating experiences in Taiwan, and in particular some of the more unusual English names chosen by her students. On a completely different tack, Kerstin Pilz talks about two experiences she and her friend had overseas after becoming widows - and while these stories arise from tragic circumstances, these particular anecdotes are ones you definitely have to laugh at. Amanda's favourite guest today is none other than her own father, Barry Kendle. He lived and worked in Papua New Guinea in the late 1950s and has some very interesting stories to tell about his times there, many of which Amanda had never actually heard before. Links: Annalicia Lynn of Yoga and Pilates Online -http://yogaandpilatesonline.com Kerstin Pilz of Travel Pilz - http://travelpilz.com Kerstin’s new venture, Write Your Journey - http://writeyourjourney.com Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/20   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 19 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda returns to the topic of travelling with kids - she's on a mission to prove to everyone that taking kids traveling is beneficial both for the kids and the parents.    First up, she speaks with Bethaney of Flashpacker Family who has several years of experience of travelling with very young children and is certain it has many benefits for them. She provides a great argument against the people who think that because kids won’t remember their travels, it’s not worth taking them.   Lisa Luken of Simple Joy Living has taken several long (and many short) road trips with her three children in their quest to visit every state in the US and she has some great tips for taking kids travelling. Her and Amanda also chat about some of the great lessons both the adults and kids have learned from these experiences.   And finally, Adam of Bilingual Monkeys tells Amanda how his Japanese-born-and-raised kids enjoy the experience of returning to visit the American side of their family. The cultural differences between Japan and America are huge, of course, and it’s interesting to see them through the eyes of kids.   Links:   Bethaney Davies at Flashpacker Family http://flashpackerfamily.com Lisa Luken at Simple Joy Living http://simplejoyliving.com Adam Beck at Bilingual Monkeys  http://bilingualmonkeys.com/ Adam’s new book, Maximise Your Child’s Bilingual Ability  http://bilingualmonkeys.com/maximize-your-childs-bilingual-ability-book/ Episode 8 - Travel with Kids and Kids on Travel http://notaballerina.com/08 Tweet @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/19 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  Discovering new cultural norms and comparing them to our own is one of the most fascinating parts of travel and the three guests on Episode 18 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast have all given this issue a great deal of thought as well.First up, Annalicia Lynn describes the cultural confusion she felt when she first moved to Taiwan to speak English. The assumptions she made about the culture based on her own experiences back in the States led her to some uncomfortable moments in her early days in Taiwan.Jeff Sandquist talks about cultural fusion and his experience of Scandinavian heritage as he grew up with in Minnesota, and what he found when he visited Norway and saw Scandinavian culture up close. In another case of cultural confusion, Glenn Shiell describes the issues facing the Japanese ski resort of Niseko with the growing numbers of Australians coming to ski during the Australian summer - and what happens when these Aussies don’t necessarily show quite enough cultural sensitivity.   Links:   Annalicia Lynn of Yoga and Pilates Online - http://yogaandpilatesonline.com Jeff at Intentionally Wandering - http://www.intentionallywandering.com Jeff’s Intentionally Wandering podcast - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/intentionally-wandering/id1002563000?mt=2 Glenn Shiell of Snowriders Western Australia https://snowriderswa.com Snowriders WA Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/snowriderswa/ 8 tips to avoid being a bogan in Japan this winter - https://snowriderswa.com/2016/05/04/tset-2/ Should experienced travellers go to Bali? - http://www.notaballerina.com/2015/02/should-experienced-travellers-go-to-bali.html Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/18 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  Where does wanderlust come from? It’s a question that’s intrigued Amanda ever since she discovered that some people don’t like travelling, others love it despite their parents never mentioning it, and others still (like Amanda) have been led to a life of travel by their parents’ example. In Episode 17 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda talks to three travel lovers who have had their wanderlust sparked by very different things. For Bethaney Davies of Flashpacker Family, it was a childhood babysitter who started it all - after which she became a teenage Lonely Planet addict! The next guest on this episode is Diane Bortoletto of Travelletto, who was somewhat influenced by her parents - although she didn’t take her first overseas trip until the age of 24. Lastly Amanda speaks to Ava of My Meena Life who is a really interesting guest because her wanderlust has only hit her recently - but it’s hit her hard! Links:   Bethaney at Flashpacker Family: http://flashpackerfamily.com Dianne Bortoletto of Travelletto: http://travelletto.com Ava Meena of My Meena Life: mymeenalife.com Travel genetics on Not A Ballerina: http://www.notaballerina.com/2014/11/travel-genetics-parents-influence-love-travel.html Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/17 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travel is a powerful tool for so many things but one more way that travel can bring great meaning to your life is by helping you to process grief - and that’s what Amanda's two guests in this episode have certainly discovered. Episode 16 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast features two women who have found travel to be very therapeutic in dealing with grief. Amanda's first guest is Ava of My Meena Life, an American who has temporarily relocated to Germany, and has travelled extensively throughout Europe in the last year. Sadly, Ava lost her father a couple of years ago, but her experiences abroad have been instrumental in helping her deal with her grief about his loss.Secondly, she speaks with Kerstin of TravelPilz, who not only lost her husband about five years ago, but then had her feelings of grief doubled when a devastating cyclone hit her town just weeks after his death. She took off on a journey through Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India as a way to process some of this grief and her story is a fascinating one.Links: Ava Meena of My Meena Life - mymeenalife.com Kerstin Pilz of Travel Pilz - travelpilz.com Hecktic Travels - Surviving this day - http://www.hecktictravels.com/surviving-this-day Tweet Amanda @amandakendle Use the hanstag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/16 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gaining confidence from your travels is just one more great reason to get out there and travel often. In Episode 15 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda talks to three guests who all agree that travelling has increased their confidence substantially and helped them out in all kinds of ways, including life beyond travel.First up, Amanda chats with Jeff Sandquist of Intentionally Wandering, who only started travelling relatively recently and learnt so much from it - travelling gave him a brand new kind of confidence. After that she speaks with Annalicia Lynn who spent a year living and working in Taiwan and was particularly able to notice how much her confidence had grown when her family came to visit. Amanda's final guest is Candace Rardon, and when they spoke, Candace was spending a couple of months in Norway writing a book about a trip she took to India, which was the kind of trip which pushed her far outside her comfort zone and therefore boosted her confidence significantly.   Links:   Jeff at Intentionally Wandering - http://www.intentionallywandering.com Jeff’s Intentionally Wandering podcast - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/intentionally-wandering/id1002563000?mt=2 Annalicia Lynn of Yoga and Pilates Online -http://yogaandpilatesonline.com Candace Rose Rardon at The Great Affair - http://www.candaceroserardon.com Candace’s book: Beneath the Lantern’s Glow - http://bit.ly/LanternsGlow 10 refections on having family visit us abroad on My Meena Life - http://www.mymeenalife.com/reflections-family-visit-us-abroad/ The Slow Home Podcast - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/slow-home-podcast-brooke-mcalary/id985005895?mt=2 Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/15   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 14 Amanda returns to the topic of scary tales from our travels. Frightening experiences can be entertaining, but they also teach us that most travellers simply feel the fear and travel anyway. The three guests in this episode certainly do.   Annalicia Lynn is a yoga and pilates instructor who taught English in Taiwan for a year and had some really interesting experiences there - including quite a few frightening ones! Likewise, Glenn Shiell spent some time in China for a conference and ending up having quite a scary experience at the Great Wall, but he lived to tell the tale.   Finally, Diane Bortoletto returns with a fearful moment from a trip to Brazil when she became separated from her travelling companion and ended up in a taxi ride through the jungle. But like all Amanda's guests, she lived to tell the tale. Phew!   Links: Annalicia Lynn of Yoga & Pilates Online - http://yogaandpilatesonline.com Glenn Shiell of Snowriders Western Australia https://snowriderswa.com Snowriders WA Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/snowriderswa/ Dianne Bortoletto of Travelletto - http://travelletto.com Episode 5 - Every Traveller’s Scared Sometimes - https://notaballerina.com/05 Episode 9 - The Story’s in the Scary Bits - https://www.notaballerina.com/09 Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/15   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.