The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

In Episode 11, Amanda is celebrating the magic of getting lost on our travels. Back in Episode 2 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast she talked about the terror of getting lost, but this time round everyone’s getting lost stories are way less scary and are usually just plain fun. First up in this episode Amanda speaks with Dianne Bortoletto, a Perth-based travel blogger, and they spill the beans on a slightly embarrassing but very funny incident when they both got kind of lost while in Bangkok for a conference.One of Amanda's most popular guests, Kiliii Fish, returns in this episode with yet another fascinating story, this time about his attempts to find an Ecuadorian indigenous basket maker and how he was pretty much lost most of the way. And finally, Joe Baur of the wonderful Without A Path podcast returns with his very sensible idea about intentionally getting lost. Amanda realised while talking to Joe that she's done the same thing herself on occasion and that intentionally going somewhere unknown and without a map or plan can be a great way to explore a new city or country.   Links: Dianne Bortoletto of Travelletto http://travelletto.com Kiliii Fish http://www.kiliii.com/ Kiliii on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kiliiifish/ Joe Baur http://joebaur.com Joe’s Without A Path podcast http://withoutapath.com Episode 2: The Terror of Getting Lost https://notaballerina.com/02 Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/11   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's always a bit sad to hear someone say they didn’t want to travel somewhere because they were worried about not being able to get by in a foreign language. Struggling to communicate can be half the fun of a trip (at least in retrospect!) and we can learn so much from cultures with different languages and customs. Today Amanda has gathered together some tips and tricks from a number of travellers who have experience both in learning languages and in getting by in languages they don’t know. We start off with the highly multilingual Leyla Giray Alyanak, who has an incredibly useful language tip, and then move onto another clever linguist, Kerstin Pilz, who reminds us that it’s not just the words in another country but the more subtle cultural differences too which are important for good communication. Finally, Amanda chats with David Soto Jr., a very interesting man who’s currently living in a van with his dog and travelling around North America. He recalls one of his first experiences in trying to speak Italian and hits upon a fun trick that can really help us loosen up and do better at coping in another language! Links: Leyla Giray Alayanak at Women on the Road http://www.women-on-the-road.com Kerstin Pilz at Travelpilz http://travelpilz.com David Soto Jr. at The Primitive You https://theprimitiveyou.com Previous episode on languages: Food in a Foreign Language http://notaballerina.com/01 Tweet me @amandakendle Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod Chat on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NotABallerina Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/10   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 9 of Amanda returns to the frightening parts of travel, because a lot of the time the story’s in the scary bits. What’s scary to one person might not worry someone else, but if something creates fear for you while you’re travelling, it’s probably something you’ll remember long after your trip is over.Jean of Traveling Honeybird has a great story to tell about scary moments on a horseback trek though the mountains of Mongolia, and some tips and tricks to get through those frightening experiences. She and Amanda also swap tales of their fears of driving (or being driven) in cars without seatbelts at high speed!Amanda also talks with Candace Rose Rardon again, this time about a particularly scary moment she had on a trek through Turkey. It was one of those incidents where nothing bad ended up happening, but it could have ended up quite differently. On this side though, it makes a great story.Links:  Jean at Traveling Honeybird http://www.travelinghoneybird.com Candace Rose Rardon at The Great Affair http://www.candaceroserardon.com Candace’s book: Beneath the Lantern’s Glow http://bit.ly/LanternsGlow An Innocent Abroad - Lonely Planet anthology featuring Candace’s story http://bit.ly/InnocAbroad Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/09   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 8 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda talks to parents about travelling with their kids, and then turns the tables and talks to some kids about travelling.First up is Mike Campbell, a fellow Aussie who’s currently spending a year house-sitting his way across the United States with his family. He’s learnt a lot about the differences between travelling as a couple and travelling with a four-year-old daughter. Amanda's second guest is Tim Leffel who talks about his teenage daughter’s experience of living abroad in Mexico. After talking to these dads, Amanda decided she needed to talk to some kids, too, and had a chat with her own six-year-old and his eight and ten year old cousins, all of whom have been lucky enough to travel pretty extensively for their young age.    Links:   Mike Cambell’s Live Immediately www.liveimmediately.com Live Immediately on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/liveimmediately/ Tim Leffel http://timleffel.com 5 things my daughter is getting out of living abroad - Tim Leffel https://www.notaballerina.com/2014/11/guest-post-5-things-daughter-getting-living-abroad-whether-likes-not.html Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/08   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 7 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about making unexpected friendships when you travel. Getting to know local people is one of my favourite parts of travelling, and my two guests have had some great experiences doing just that in various parts of the world.First up is Bethaney Davies from Flashpacker Family, who has two really interesting stories to tell about friendships she established with local people in Vietnam and Myanmar. Her tale of meeting the monk in Myanmar (who, yes, is on Facebook) is one of my favourite stories ever! My second guest is Jeff Sandquist of the Intentionally Wandering podcast. He tells of how his experiences couchsurfing on his solo road trip around the United States helped him make two new friends who he’s still in touch with.   Links: Bethaney at Flashpacker Family http://flashpackerfamily.com Jeff at Intentionally Wandering http://www.intentionallywandering.com Jeff’s Intentionally Wandering podcast on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/intentionally-wandering/id1002563000?mt=2 Couchsurfing (try it yourself!) https://www.couchsurfing.com My story of meeting Mohammed in Egypt http://www.notaballerina.com/2012/05/two-egyptians-and-my-privilege-to.html Can you help me find my friend Yuko? http://www.notaballerina.com/2013/03/where-is-yuko-long-lost-japanese-friend.html Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/07  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether good or bad, facing surprises is usually part of travel. In Episode 6 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I’m talking to two other travellers about the surprises they’ve encountered on their travels.   First up is Candace Rardon, someone I was super-excited to interview and have known online for some years. Candace is a sketch artist, writer, photographer and all-round travel genius and a deep thinker on travel as well. She shares several stories of surprises she’s had when her expectations have been shattered on her travels - and how this always turns out for the best.   Next I talk to Jeff Sandquist of the Intentionally Wandering podcast. He philosophically talks about how surprised he has been by the impact of travel on his life and how the lessons from travel have been drawn back into this everyday life at home, too.   Links: Candace Rose Rardon at The Great Affair http://www.candaceroserardon.com Candace’s book on Amazon Beneath the Lantern's Glow: Sketches and Stories from Southeast Asia and Japan http://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Lanterns-Glow-Sketches-Southeast/dp/1490503641 Jeff Sandquist at Intentionally Wandering http://www.intentionallywandering.com Jeff’s Intentionally Wandering podcast on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/intentionally-wandering/id1002563000?mt=2 Camel race in Tunisia http://www.notaballerina.com/2011/12/dont-back-camel-in-tunisias-sahara.html Not finished with Iceland http://www.notaballerina.com/2015/10/why-im-not-finished-with-iceland-yet.html Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/06   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 5 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is partly about fear, and partly about confidence. I think they go hand in hand when it comes to travelling! I’ve certainly experienced my share of fears about travelling and I know I’m not alone.My first guest today is Leyla Giray Alyanak of Women on the Road, and although she’s one of the people I think of as a guru in the solo travel for women area, she confesses that she has a bunch of fears related to travel, and I think that’s important for all of us to realise - we can be scared, but we can still travel. Following Leyla, I share a great chat with Bethaney Davies of Flashpacker Family, who tells me all about the first time she travelled on her own. Let’s just say it started with a week of tears in her hotel room but got far better than that.   Links:    Leyla at Women on the Road http://www.women-on-the-road.com Episode 2 feature Leyla’s stories about getting lost http://www.notaballerina.com/2016/03/thoughtful-travel-podcast-episode-2-terror-getting-lost.html Bethaney at Flashpacker Family http://flashpackerfamily.com Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/05 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 4 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast starts the conversation about the thorny issue of cultural stereotypes - and how travelling and meeting people of all different cultures can really help you smash through stereotypes and learn that people really are all the same.The first guest in this episode is Canadian travel blogger turned Peruvian resident Nora Dunn of The Professional Hobo, and she has an interesting tale to tell about meeting some indigenous Australians at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. Nora is followed by another extract from my fabulous chat with Kiliii Fish, who has worked extensively with indigenous people across the world and has so much of interest to say on the subject.Finally, I chatted with Joe Baur of the Without A Path podcast about other stereotypical views people have, particularly when it comes to labelling a country and its people as either safe or dangerous. All of these guests will leave you something to think about, I’m sure!   Links:  Nora Dunn - The Professional Hobo http://www.theprofessionalhobo.com Nora’s post about visiting me! http://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/travel-tips-resources/tales-of-trains-journey-destination/ Dear Nora column  https://www.creditwalk.ca/category/dear-nora/ Kiliii Fish http://www.kiliii.com/ Kiliii on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kiliiifish/ Joe Baur http://joebaur.com Without A Path podcast http://withoutapath.com Joe’s recent episode on American stereotypes http://joebaur.com/2016/03/08/travel-stereotypes-what-to-pack/ Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/04  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 3 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about staying with locals on your travels and some of the many bonuses that come with meeting local people. It is definitely a different experience to staying in a hotel in the main tourist zone!   I start of this episode chatting with Kerstin Pilz about her many experiences staying with locals, such as the time she went to Cuba accidentally alone and ended up being put up by a whole extended family wherever she travelled. I also chat to Linda and Craig Martin who have used Couchsurfing many times with great success, and made lifelong friends as well as having a roof over their heads. Finally, travel writer Tim Leffel has some good tips about staying out in the suburbs to really get a good feel for a place.   Links:  Workaway https://www.workaway.info Couchsurfing https://www.couchsurfing.com Airbnb https://www.airbnb.com WWOOF http://www.wwoof.net Craig and Linda at Indie Travel Podcast http://indietravelpodcast.com Craig and Linda at Performance Foundary http://performancefoundry.com Travelpilz http://travelpilz.com Tim Leffel http://timleffel.com 5 things my daughter is getting out of living abroad - Tim Leffel https://www.notaballerina.com/2014/11/guest-post-5-things-daughter-getting-living-abroad-whether-likes-not.html Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/03 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 2 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, it’s all about those times on your travels when you wind up having no idea where you are, or how to get out of there. Getting lost when we travel is all part of the fun - but then sometimes it’s only fun and interesting in retrospect.   In this episode, I start off talking to Leyla of Women on the Road, who has had some truly amazing travel misadventures over the years. Let’s just say that more than one of these incidents involve her being handed a rifle and left to fend for herself!   Later in the episode I talk to the delightful Kiliii Fish, a photographer who has also worked on wilderness and survival expeditions in the past, so is probably the perfect person to talk to about getting lost. He has some tips if you find yourself alone at night in a tall, dark forest … although he didn’t follow all these tips himself.   Links:  Leyla at Women on the Road http://www.women-on-the-road.com Kiliii’s website http://www.kiliii.com/ Kiliii on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kiliiifish/ Show notes at https://notaballerina.com/02  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.