The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Here it is! This is the live recording of our panel at South By South West (SXSW) Sydney, from October 2023, on the topic “Why We Need Travel More Than Travel Needs Us”. It was such a thrill to be on the podcast stage at SXSW with Catherine Marshall, Susanne Etti and Justin Watson, three fabulous guests who had so many interesting stories and opinions to offer for this tricky topic.  We start off with everyone sharing a story about what travel means to them, then dive deeper into topics like wildlife tourism, overtourism, and how we can travel better. This episode was recorded live at SXSW Sydney 2023. Links: Catherine Marshall - Instagram - https://instagram.com/zizzyballord Susanne Etti - Intrepid Travel - https://www.intrepidtravel.com/ Justin Watson - Justin’s World blog - https://justins.world/  SXSW Sydney - https://sxswsydney.com/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/309 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are many, many ways to see Japan, but I think I've just experienced my favourite: on foot. In late September/early October 2023, I undertook a six-day trip with Walk Japan, on the Self-Guided Basho Wayfarer walk around Sendai. And it was brilliant! In this episode, I give an overview of the content and logistics of this trip, which essentially includes hiking various segments of the route that haiku poet Matsuo Basho took in the 1700s, as he describes in his book "Narrow Road to the Deep North". It had all the elements of a trip that I need to really love it: incredible scenery, interesting sightseeing spots, truly delicious food, some great interactions with locals, and all with one of my best friends. What more could a girl ask for? Most of this episode is a chat I recorded with my travel companion, Catherine Marshall, about our highlights from the trip. We cover our favourite hiking, food, train, and accommodation moments, along with our most unexpected highlights.  Links: Walk Japan main website - https://walkjapan.com/ Self-Guided Basho Wayfarer walk - https://walkjapan.com/tour/self-guided-basho-wayfarer  Cape to Cape Track Episode 276 - https://notaballerina.com/276  Catherine Marshall on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/zizzyballord  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/308 Disclaimer stuff: I was hosted for this trip, which means Walk Japan covered my travel costs. However, my opinions, as always, are all my own, honest truth.Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a strange phenomenon, but podcast episodes full of stories of things going wrong on our travels are always popular! For Episode 307, I've got two stories of strange goings-on while my guests are at sea. Enjoy?! First up, Antonio Cala tells the story of that time he and his wife needed to be rescued by the Jamaican coastguard. Fortunately, we know they lived to tell the tale, but let's just say life on their catamaran in the Caribbean was not all plain sailing. I then chat with Imogen Lepere, who has a story to share from her very first press trip, aboard a boat in Indonesia on which she and her photographer boyfriend became the only passengers after everyone else cancelled after a tsunami the day before it set sail. Things only got stranger after that!  Links: Antonio Cala - Adventure Fix - https://www.adventurefix.co/  Imogen Lepere - https://www.imogenleperewriter.com/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/307 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If we want to be mindful of our carbon footprint when we travel, a good way to do this is to consider more carefully the kinds of places where we choose to stay - like focusing on eco-accommodation. This is a part of my travel I definitely haven't given enough thought to in the past, and this episode has inspired me with stories about all kinds of accommodation options which are more sustainable and environmentally friendly. First up, I chat with Dara Brewton who spent a month in Chiang Mai, Thailand, recently. By chance, almost, she ended up choosing some eco-friendly accommodation which has the added bonus of also looking adorable! I then speak with Fran and Andrew Robinson, who are owners of certified eco-friendly chalets near Busselton, Western Australia - since they also have their own trees (thousands of them!), they actually personally offset more carbon than their business produces. Finally, travel writer Nina Karnikowski gives a couple of great examples of sustainable accommodations options that she has enjoyed, in Nepal and in Australia. Links: Dara Brewton - https://travelness.com/  Leafy Greens - https://www.facebook.com/leafygreensCM  Fran and Andrew Robinson from Tree Chalets - https://www.treechalets.com.au  Nina Karnikowski - https://ninakarnikowski.com/   Happy House Nepal - http://www.happyhousenepal.com/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/306 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travel experiences should be accessible to everyone - I strongly believe that's an important part of the whole thoughtful travel ethos. As part of the Year of Accessible Tourism in Queensland, I've put together this episode about accessible travel on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia - it's full of great stories of people doing better, and I hope you enjoy it! First up, I chat with Daniel Watkins, world champion wake boarder turned owner of the Gold Coast Wake Park and Gold Coast Aqua Park. Daniel tells me all about their recent trial of all-abilities sessions and how important it is to him to make access to these experiences available to everyone going forward. I then speak with Mike Brigg of iFly Gold Coast, a skydiver and instructor who loves helping people discover what it feels like to fly. He has some really interesting stories to tell of the experiences of people with disabilities at iFly. Finally, Anna Carroll from HOTA Home of the Arts explains what they have done as a multi-arts facility to really be an inclusive and accessible venue for people to experience all manner of arts and creative experiences. Thanks so much to Julie Jones of Travel Without Limits magazine and Destination Gold Coast for their help in making this episode possible. Links: Destination Gold Coast - https://www.destinationgoldcoast.com/  Gold Coast Wake Park and Aqua Park - https://gcwakepark.com.au/  iFly Gold Coast - https://ifly.com.au/locations/gold-coast  HOTA Home of the Arts - https://hota.com.au/  Travel Without Limits Magazine - https://travelwithoutlimits.com.au/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/305 With thanks to Destination Gold Coast for sponsoring this episode.Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bangkok is a city which rewards many repeat visits and my recent trip there proved it! Putting together Episode 304 was a special chance for me to chat with several friends, old and new, who I had the joy of travelling with on our recent trip to Thailand.  In this episode, I start of chatting with Paddy Jenkins about our mutually favourite part of this Bangkok trip - visiting the Portuguese quarter or Kudijin (Kudichin). Diving deeper into the history of Bangkok here and learning about the Portuguese influence was so interesting (and side note, also delicious!). Next up, I speak with Bonnie Grima about another fun part of our Bangkok days, exploring some of its most famous temples, Wat Arun and Wat Pho. This time, we had with us master guide Suree, and she helped us know more of the extra-interesting details about these temples, both historical and modern. For Jules Park, a committed foodie, our evening in Chinatown was an especially memorable part of our Bangkok stay and we had a good chat about the atmosphere and some of the special treats we got to eat. Finally, I have included a part of an interview I recorded with our guide Suree while we were sitting in the cafe of the delightful Baan Kudichin museum in the Portuguese quarter. She gives me another good Bangkok tip, but we mostly chat about Thai culture and why Thai people often seem so content. Links: Thai Talk with Paddy - https://www.youtube.com/ThaiTalkwithPaddy/ Bonita Grima - https://www.bonitamaygrima.com/ Jules Park - @amazingsydney life - https://www.instagram.com/amazingsydneylife/  Talat Noi in Bangkok -  https://www.tourismthailand.org/Attraction/talat-noi Amazing Thailand - https://amazingthailand.com.au/ Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/304 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thank you internet: you've made many things possible, two of them being podcasts, and working as a digital nomad. In this episode on digital nomading, I've got three guests who all bring quite different perspectives on digital nomad life, and I hope it sparks some thinking! First up, I chat with Will Hatton, aka The Broke Backpacker, who's spent many years wandering the world, making money in various ways online, including through his well-known blog. He describes his digital entrepreneurship trajectory and also gives some tips for prospective nomads. I then speak with Dara Brewton, who has been working as a freelancer for about five years and recently started doing some digital nomad stints, like a month working out of Chiang Mai in Thailand during her son's summer school vacation. Finally, I talk to Chris Christou of the End of Tourism podcast. Chris has lived in Oaxaca, Mexico, for about eight years now, and it's a real digital nomad hotspot - this has caused Chris to have a deeper think about digital nomad life than most and the results are super-interesting. Links: Taiwanese listeners! Find me on Instagram https://instagram.com/amandakendle  Will Hatton - The Broke Backpacker - https://www.thebrokebackpacker.com/ Dara Brewton - https://travelness.com/  Chris Christou - The End of Tourism podcast - https://theendoftourism.com/  Episode 134 on Location Independent Work - notaballerina.com/134  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/303 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ah, finally, I've made it to Chiang Rai! I've wanted to visit this most northern part of Thailand my whole life, as my dear late aunty came from Chiang Rai. Spending a few days up there was delightful, and full of really fascinating experiences, but I've narrowed it down to my three favourites for this podcast episode. First: the White Temple. It's a very new temple, built on the site of an old one, and is almost more art and architecture than temple, designed and funded by well-known Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. I try to describe it - but you really do have to see it to believe it. My second highlight was our day at Ahsa Farmstay, a little further north of Chiang Rai city. In this episode I explain what I loved about it and also share an interview with one of the women who run it, Aun Wannamala. Finally, I explain my day at the Ban Pang Ha village right up in the northern tip of Thailand in Mae Sai. This is another excellent community-based tourism initiative and we enjoyed massages, facials, paper-making, great food and more up here; I chatted to Thiraphon Saraphrom about what makes Pang Ha so special. Disclaimer stuff: I was hosted for this trip, which means the Tourism Authority of Thailand covered my travel costs. However, my opinions - and my love of Thailand - are all my own, honest truth. Links: Ahsa Farmstay - https://ahsafarmstay.com/  Ban Pang Ha community - https://www.thailand.go.th/issue-focus-detail/001_02_169  Community-Based Tourism - Episode 301 - https://notaballerina.com/301  Amazing Thailand - https://amazingthailand.com.au/ Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/302 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In July 2025 reports were published by The Observer (UK) suggesting significant parts of Raynor Winn’s story are untrue. This is a really sad development for books that both I and my listeners have held dear. You can read the main Observer article at https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-real-salt-path-how-the-couple-behind-a-bestseller-left-a-trail-of-debt-and-deceit   This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the August 2023 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Landlines by Raynor Winn with my co-host Justin Watson, and later joined by Thoughtful Travellers member Philippa. 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.

Community-based tourism experiences are one of my favourite things to seek out when I travel, and this episode is a great explanation of what CBT is, illustrated with fabulous examples from Thailand, Jamaica and Australia. I first chat with Justin Meneguzzi who gives a great overview of community-based tourism as a whole, and then illustrates this with an example from an organic coffee farm he visited in northern Thailand. Jonathan Coleman of Untours then tells me some examples of small community-based tourism businesses that the Reset Tourism Fund is looking to support - Jonathan has the fabulous role of travelling around to find these businesses. Finally, I speak with Roger Smith from Echidna Walkabout, who has a great example of a way that a tour can support the local community with deliberate choices of accommodation. Links: Justin Meneguzzi - https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com  Suan Lahu - organic coffee farm in Thailand - https://suanlahu.org/  Jonathan Coleman - Untours Foundation https://untoursfoundation.org/  Roger Smith of Echidna Walkabout - https://echidnawalkabout.com.au/ Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/301 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.