The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Thailand was calling, and I had to go! Three and a half years after my last pre-Covid adventure abroad, I finally managed to get out of Australia for a short media trip to Thailand. I'm home again now and celebrating that trip along with the milestone of the three hundredth episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast seems very appropriate. In this episode I'll tell you a little bit about my trip to Bangkok and Chiang Rai - more to come on these destinations in future episodes - and about how I felt to be leaving Australia. I've also included an extract from a chat I recently had with my friend Jean, who took her first post-Covid trip to Iraq a couple of months ago, and had lots of similar thoughts about this "new" travel experience. Of course, I always try to be a thoughtful traveller, and like to divide ways to be thoughtful into before, during and after a trip, so in this episode I ponder how well I did with this, considering it was a trip that arose at fairly short notice. And finally, I ask our Bangkok guide Suree for her tips on how we can be thoughtful travellers in Thailand, and she has plenty of advice for travelling and, to be honest, for life in general. 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 Amazing Thailand - https://amazingthailand.com.au/ How to be a thoughtful traveller - https://www.notaballerina.com/2018/01/thoughtful-travel.html  Previous chat with Jean about her trip to Iraq - https://notaballerina.com/297 Jean's site Traveling Honeybird - https://www.travelinghoneybird.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/300 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travelling in some kind of van - a campervan, a caravan, an RV, a motorhome - is a unique and fabulous way to see the world. I was lucky enough to spend many months in a campervan as a child, exploring both Europe and Australia, and it was completely life-changing! In this episode I have three guests with a wonderful variety of van experiences. First up, I chat with Julie Kaplan, who is a self-described "reluctant" van traveller, but she tells a great story about a van trip she recently took with friends in Montenegro. Next, Staci Mellman explains one of her favourite ever trips, which happens to be a campervanning adventure around my own home state of Western Australia. Finally, I speak with Fran and Andrew Robinson, who talk about some wonderful family travels with their sons in a caravan around Australia - meeting some interesting characters along the way.   Links: Julie Kaplan - https://www.juliekaplan.com/  Staci Mellman, Senior VP, Brand USA - https://www.thebrandusa.com  Fran and Andrew Robinson from Tree Chalets - https://www.treechalets.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/299 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are so many ways we can try to do better when we travel, and looking for tours or activities that have a conservation angle is one that, with a little research, can be surprisingly easy. In Episode 298 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with two tour operators who have been diving deep into the conservation travel area for years, and to a traveller who was impressed by a conservation project in India and made a point to visit. First up, Roger Smith from Echidna Walkabout does a good job of providing a definition of conservation travel, and then gives some great examples of what it can be and the effect it can have. It's good food for thought, too, that here in Australia, many people don't understand the value of our wildlife nor really see why it's so important to conserve it. I chat then with Jamie Van Jones from Salt and Bush Eco Tours, who has a great example of a conservation project she's been involved with centred on fairy terns, small birds which are classed as a "vulnerable" protected species. Finally, my long-time listener and friend Anuj explains more about his trip to the Gir National Park in India, where there has been a successful conservation campaign to improve outcomes and numbers for the local lions. Links: Roger Smith of Echidna Walkabout - https://echidnawalkabout.com.au/ Jamie Van Jones - www.saltandbush.com.au  Anuj’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anujph/  Episode 293 - Citizen Science for Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/293 Episode 292 - Ethical Animal Experiences - https://notaballerina.com/292  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/298 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

City names like Mosul, Karbala and Basra - and of course the capital Baghdad - are familiar to us all, but not from seeing people's holiday snaps, unfortunately. Tourism in Iraq is a very small-scale affair, but I've been curious about it recently after seeing a couple of people I knew travel there - and I've interviewed two women who've recently travelled to Iraq for this episode. First up, I speak with Julie Kaplan. Curiously, Julie intended only to spend a few days in Kurdistan and on the insistent advice of friends she made there, decided to explore federal Iraq as well - and ending up spending four months there!  I then chat with longtime friend of the podcast Jean Cheney, who joined a small group tour in Iraq recently. She explained how safety issues were dealt with along with telling me about the amazing history and food of Iraq - enough to make me yearn to get there some day, for sure!   Links: Julie Kaplan's website - https://www.juliekaplan.com/  Julie’s YouTube channel, Julie from LA - https://www.youtube.com/@juliefromla Jean's website, Traveling Honeybird - https://www.travelinghoneybird.com/  Janet's Journeys - https://janetsjourneys.com/  Episode 157 - Eva on her work trip to Iraq - notaballerina.com/157 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/297 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Making connections - either brief or lasting - with local people when you travel can often be the highlight of a trip. In this episode, three guests tell stories about people they have befriended on their travels and I hope it inspires you to be open to these kind of connections when you are next wandering the world, too. My first guest is Antonio Cala, who talks about a stay in Mexico in the first month of he and his wife's years-long journey cycling down through Central and South America. Having an open schedule meant they could say yes to some incredible opportunities. Next, I chat with Martha Waslen, who reminds us that you can also make connections on shorter trips too - again, it's about staying open to the possibilities. She and her husband made lifelong friends amongst the locals working in a Maldives resort, and she's drawn on that lesson to start her business. Finally, Sequoia Armstrong describes a stay in Cuba when she and her friend got to know their trishaw rider and got to experience some local Cuban fun! Links: Antonio Cala - Adventure Fix - https://www.adventurefix.co/  Martha Waslen - DayAway - https://mydayaway.com/  Sequoia Armstrong - Puebla York - trips to Japan and Mexico - https://pueblayorkinc.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/296 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travelling overnight in a train is, I think, a very special experience. I've slept peacefully on overnight trains in Russia, Finland and Vietnam, and will happily do so again, for many reasons. Spending extended periods of time on trains is a wonderful way to get chatting to other travellers, a comfortable way to really see a country's landscapes, and of course, it's also more environmentally friendly than flying. My first guest on this episode is Justin Meneguzzi, who recently included overnight train travel to replace domestic flights on his trip to Thailand. It was great to hear about his experiences in both first and second class and has definitely inspired me to test out the Thai rail system on my next trip there. I then chat with Julie Kaplan, who not long ago spent four months travelling in Iraq. She took her first overnight train trip while she was there, and tells me about her experience travelling from Baghdad to Basra. Finally, I speak with Imogen Lepere about her trip across Russia on the Trans-Mongolian. As is often the case with overnight train travel, she struck up some kind of connection with the local travellers sharing her cabin. Links: French ban on short plane trips - https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/12/02/is-france-banning-private-jets-everything-we-know-from-a-week-of-green-transport-proposals  12 Go Asia https://12go.asia/en - booking transport in Asia  Justin Meneguzzi - https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com  Julie Kaplan - https://www.juliekaplan.com/  Julie’s YouTube channel, Julie from LA - https://www.youtube.com/@juliefromla  Imogen Lepere - https://www.imogenleperewriter.com/  Imogen’s book The Ethical Traveller - 100 ways to roam the world without ruining it - https://amzn.to/3Pj7KO7  Trans-Siberian Train Journeys, Episode 194 - notaballerina.com/194      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/295 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 ********************** Raynor Winn, bestselling author, one of my personal heroes, all-round amazingly nice person - is the guest on this deep dive episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. I discovered Raynor Winn's books thanks to the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, when one of our members, Joan, suggested we read "The Salt Path". I'm so glad she did, because it became a firm favourite amongst book club members, and we've subsequently read "The Wild Silence" and will soon discuss Raynor's third book, "Landlines", too.  In this chat, we discuss the mindset shifts from the hiking life, and what to do when you have to spend time back in "normal life"; we talk about making connections with other people on your travels; we cover the issue of homelessness, something important to both of us; we delve into how Raynor actually became a writer, and what her writing process is like now; and finally, we end with some fabulous lessons from travel.  It was such a thrill to record this chat, and I hope you all enjoy it even half as much as I did! Links: Landlines by Raynor Winn - https://amzn.to/3WLpmDO  Thoughtful Travellers Book Club - https://notaballerina.com/bookclub  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/294  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of us like to “do good” when we travel, and getting involved in some kind of citizen science program when we travel is a fantastic way to do this. Citizen science might involve making observations of wildlife or flora, collecting other kinds of data or even working in a science lab, and the guests on this podcast have a variety of wonderful citizen science experiences to report. First up, I chat with Roger Smith of Echidna Walkabout. After running tours in Australia for several decades, largely centred on our intriguing wildlife, he has much to say about using citizen science on their tours, and has a great example from a koala project to share. I then speak with Jamie Van Jones of Salt and Bush Eco Tours. They include some kind of citizen science aspect to all their tours and Jamie explains how travellers are contributing to helping conserve a critically endangered possum in Western Australia. Finally, Justin Meneguzzi explains his experience of citizen science on an expedition cruise to Antarctica, where he could get involved in various projects run by the scientists on board the ship. Links: Roger Smith of Echidna Walkabout - https://echidnawalkabout.com.au/ Koala Clancy Foundation, their NFP - https://www.koalaclancyfoundation.org.au  Jamie Van Jones - www.saltandbush.com.au  Swanlandia, their NFP - https://www.swanlandia.com.au Justin Meneguzzi - https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com eBird - https://ebird.org/  iNaturalist - https://www.inaturalist.org   Questagame - https://questagame.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/293 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting animal experiences right when we travel is something we can all try hard to do - checking ahead of time whether the ways we might be about to interact with animals are ethical and appropriate.  In this episode I have a bit of theory and practice to share. First up, we hear from Nora Livingstone at Animal Experience International, an organisation which helps travellers volunteer at ethical animal experiences around the world.  We then move on to India with my long-time listener Anuj, who recently spent time in the Gir National Park in Gujarat, India, and explains both the ethics and his incredible experiences there. Links: Nora Livingstone from Animal Experience International - https://www.animalexperienceinternational.com Anuj’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anujph/  Gir National Park - https://girlion.gujarat.gov.in - official site, available only in India 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/292 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is, apparently, no end to the appetite of both me and my listeners to hear stories about things going wrong on our travels. It’s not that we want to laugh or point fingers at people who have bad things happen to them - I think it’s more an empathy and sympathy, and the kind of entertainment that arises from someone who’s told a travel story many times, and can tell it well. That’s my excuse anyway: this is just one more of quite a number of episodes on this topic! My first guest in this episode is Nora Livingston of Animal Experience International, and her tale of something going wrong does, indeed, feature an animal - a Cape buffalo, in fact, in Kenya. Fortunately, all involved come out of the experience unharmed. I then chat with Staci Mellman of Brand USA about the natural disaster kind of “things going wrong” - when cyclonic storms interrupted a boat ride while she was in Fiji a few years back. Finally, I discuss work travel with Joseph Kolapudi, who’s had quite a string of bad luck when he’s travelled to present at conferences. He has tales from India and Kenya about some of the things that have gone wrong - but that he always manages to get through nonetheless. Links: Nora Livingstone, Animal Experience International - https://www.animalexperienceinternational.com  Staci Mellman, Senior VP, Brand USA - https://www.thebrandusa.com  Joseph Kolapudi, SolveSquad - https://www.solvesquad.co/  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/291 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.