The Thoughtful Travel Podcast (Amanda Kendle)
Explorez tous les épisodes de The Thoughtful Travel Podcast
| Date | Titre | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Nov 2017 | 77 - The Unstoppable Urge to Travel | 00:25:03 | |
Do you have an unstoppable urge to travel? You are not alone! In Episode 77 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with two fellow travel-lovers who just feel they must travel, as much as possible. To start off with, I chat with Matt Eakin of Himalayan Schoolies, who started his real travelling adventures age 17, with no particular plan other than that he should catch a plane and go somewhere new with the expectation that something amazing would happen. Of course, he was right! With Yasmin Newman, we talk about the influence of our families on our unstoppable urge to travel, and our fervent desire to pass this urge on to our children as well. Yasmin says that travel and her life trajectory are inseparably intertwined and I have to say the same is true of mine. Links:
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: http://notaballerina.com/77 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
| 19 Mar 2018 | 89 - Housesitting While You Travel | 00:29:50 | |
Housesitting works for both sides of the travel equation but in Episode 89 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I talk to four travellers who have used housesitting as a great way to get free accommodation and to see parts of the world they wouldn't otherwise see. Pam Lynch has been house-sitting for about eight months now around Perth, Western Australia - spoiler alert, she's my housesitter! - and chats to me about all of the reasons she loves this lifestyle and intends to continue it for some time to come. I then chat with Becky Livingston who spent over two years wandering the globe doing many various housesits, some in particularly gorgeous locations too. She does touch on some of the perils of housesitting though, particularly the risks involved of being responsible for people's beloved pets ... Finally, I talk to Matt and Marilyn from Words with Winos about their recent housesitting experience in Italy. Links:
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| 11 Mar 2019 | 130 - Brooke McAlary on Slow Family Travel and Nomadic Life | 00:53:43 | |
Episode 130 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - being a nice round number - is another very special episode, where I chat with Brooke McAlary, a very like-minded traveller, book author and podcaster, and a very important friend of the podcast! Brooke and her family have spent the last year slow travelling around North America (with a little faster travel during Brooke's book tour for her book "Slow" ... ironically!). Packing up life in Australia and heading far north for an extended time was a huge deal and in this interview Brooke and I chat about how they made this decision, what it involved for work and for the kids' schooling, and how it's all gone. Like me, Brooke and her husband Ben left Australia in their 20s to spend an extended time abroad, but back then, it was much easier: no kids, no house, their jobs could be whatever they found. Making this kind of "escape" with a family is much trickier and it was great to hear about all the benefits they've found along with the challenges along the way. If you're an aspiring digital nomad, a lover of slow travel or you're keen to spend an extended time living outside of your home country, you'll get some pearls of wisdom from Brooke in this episode for sure. Links:
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| 17 Oct 2016 | 29 - Sketching on Your Travels | 00:25:06 | |
Whether or not you have any artistic talent, Amanda believes that sitting down and doing some sketching on your travels is a great idea, and in Episode 29 she chats with two travellers who do just that (although it must be said that they both have great artistic talent!). Candace Rardon is an amazing artist who has sketched, drawn and painted her way around the world. She chats about the connections you can make if you sit down in a new place to sketch something of the scene around you. Aggie Lim is a former psychologist and long-time travel-lover who has come to sketching in more recent years, but is completely converted. She chats about the various benefits of taking a sketchbook with you wherever you go. Links:
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| 26 Nov 2024 | 327 Rare Encounters With Nature on Your Travels | 00:24:06 | |
A huge reason many people travel is to get away from city life and into nature. In Episode 327 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast we don't just get into nature - we hear about some really rare and unique encounters with the natural world. First up, I chat with Satyajit Das, a veteran of many intriguing wildlife encounters on his travels, who explains how lucky he was in coming across the small cats of South and Central America: ocelots, margays and onchillas. Next, Paul Christie explains something of the history of the sakura or cherry blossom in Japan, and leaves me with the surprising fact that you don't necessarily have to be in Japan in springtime to see the beautiful cherry trees bloom. Finally, Iris Villarreal tells the story of her experience with a nomadic Kazakh ethnic minority in western Mongolia, and in particular, how they train and use eagles for hunting. Links:
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| 08 Dec 2023 | 313 Train Travel in Australia | 00:24:37 | |
It's common knowledge that train travel beats air travel in the sustainability stakes, but in recent months I've put this to the test a bit more than usual, in a country where it can be hard to do: my homeland, Australia. It all began when Dr Susanne Etti, the Global Environmental Impact Manager for Intrepid Travel, challenged me to fly the shorter route to Melbourne and then take the train with her from Melbourne to Sydney, on our way to speak at SXSW Sydney. The Melbourne to Sydney route is one of the busiest domestic air routes in the world, and seeing how the train alternative worked was such a good idea! Susanne and I recorded our thoughts along the way, so you'll hear those in this episode, along with our answers to a bunch of questions asked by listeners about our experience. Once you start looking, there are other times you might take the train instead of alternatives like flying or driving. Justin Watson, another SXSW panelist, took the train from Canberra to Sydney instead of driving or flying, and I chat with him about this experience too. Finally, I added another train ride just in time to make this episode - travelling on the Australind train from Perth to Bunbury on my way to run workshops in south-west Western Australia. Another fantastic experience, and I tell you all about it in this episode. Links:
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| 08 Jul 2023 | 297 Travels in Iraq | 00:25:37 | |
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:
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| 02 Jun 2023 | 294 Raynor Winn: Deep Dive Into Thoughtful Travel | 00:31:58 | |
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:
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| 20 Mar 2023 | 289 Behind the Scenes of Travel Media and Public Relations | 00:20:15 | |
What really goes on behind the scenes of travel writers, content creators and podcasters, and their counterparts in the tourism and travel industry, public relations firms and tourism boards? I recently spent the best part of a week in Sydney immersed in this world and I realised that lifting the curtain on how this part of travel and tourism works might prove interesting for my listeners. This episode is part trip report (in short: Sydney is gorgeous) and part BTS of IMM Australia, and more. The what? You'll have to listen to find out! I also chat with Christina Koullas of CK PR who gives us a great rundown on how public relations in general works within the travel industry. Links:
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| 20 Nov 2017 | 76 - The Kindness of Strangers When You Travel | 00:24:53 | |
While sometimes we are inclined to feel suspicious of strangers, the fact is that 99.9% of people are good and when you travel, you will often come across some especially kind strangers. In Episode 76 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three travellers who have had some fantastic and even life-changing experiences meeting strangers on their travels. First up, Kelly Dunning of Global Goose has a funny and heartwarming tale to tell of a day out cycling in Angkor Wat which could have ended badly, but really didn’t! Similarly, my next guest, Samantha Fisher of High Hopes Travel, ended up in Paris one summer night with no accommodation around, and this could have had an unhappy ended too but thanks to the kindness of strangers it was quite the opposite. My final guest is Colin of Parenting, Passports and Profits who tells a tale of a bunch of strangers he met when he headed to the Rocky Mountains in search of a ski season job, and how these random meetings turned into a life-changing friendship. Links:
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| 09 Dec 2022 | Book Club 14: A Beginner's Guide to Japan by Pico Iyer | 00:41:24 | |
This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the October 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about A Beginner's Guide to Japan by Pico Iyer with our special guest, Miyuki Seguchi, host of Japan Experts podcast. Get your own copy of the book at https://amzn.to/3oXYz5y You can listen to Japan Experts on any podcast app or at https://anchor.fm/japan-experts 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. | |||
| 29 Jun 2020 | 194 Trans-Siberian Train Journeys | 00:25:34 | |
Train-lovers unite - Episode 194 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about journeys on the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia. This will always be one of my favourite trips, and it's such a pleasure to chat with other travellers who've also experienced the many ups and downs of crossing Russia by train. First up, I chat with Catherine Marshall, who decided to take the Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Vladivostok with ten of her favourite relatives to celebrate a milestone birthday. The problem: her date of birth meant they ended up traversing Russia in the depths of winter! I then speak with Cindy Siano who took the Trans-Siberian train back in 1995 - although (spoiler alert) it's particularly intriguing to me to hear that not altogether that much has changed in the ensuing years. Links:
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| 27 Jan 2020 | 172 Helping Others When We Travel | 00:26:11 | |
Wanting to help others when we travel is a common theme amongst experienced travellers, because we've all realised how lucky we are and how unlucky many people around the world are. In Episode 172 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I'm not giving you all the answers on how to solve the world's problems but I do want to bring you stories from three travellers who've helped others in three different ways. First up I talk with Veronica from Happily Made about her experiences in Cambodia and beyond, trying to figure out ways to help women in poverty or who need some way to support their children going to school. Veronica's Happily Made business is a great example of a sustainable way to help - she sells toys and other knitted products made by women who work out of their homes in Cambodia. Next, I chat with Marilyn from the Wow Travel Club who's also had lots of different experiences in helping others when she travels, and she tells the story of how a Dining for Women project she was involved with took her to Vietnam and some really impactful experiences. Finally, I get to talk with Rafferty, basically my favourite travel-expert 11-year-old, who described an experience he had recently in South Africa. Links:
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| 14 Jan 2019 | 122 - Talking to Locals When We Travel | 00:27:14 | |
Easily one of my favourite and most rewarding things to do when I travel is find the chance to talk to locals. I don't want to just see the sights: I want to know what it's like to live there! Especially after living in three different countries to my own (and each quite different from the other), I'm utterly fascinated by local customs, thoughts and ways of life and so Episode 122 is all about talking to locals when you travel. The first guest is Eva Westerling, who recently went on a long trip to Morocco (prompted by this podcast - she heard previous guest Anna Kwiecinska speaking of trekking in Morocco, got in touch, and off they went together!). During this trip, Eva had the chance to get to know her two Moroccan guides really well and she tells us what she learnt from them. Following Eva, we stay in Morocco but chat to Talon Windwalker. He spent some time housesitting in Morocco and got to know a local very well - to the point where they could have conversations about some really tricky topics, which proved very eye-opening. Finally I chat to Joanne Karcz who discovered the Global Greeter Network when she went to Bilbao a few years back - it sounds like a fantastic way to meet locals, and Joanne is now a greeter herself back in Sydney. Links:
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| 08 Feb 2021 | 226 The Best Travel Memories Are When Things Go Wrong | 00:24:34 | |
If nothing goes wrong, were you even travelling? Episode 226 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast centres on my firm belief that many of the best travel memories derive from when things go wrong on our trips. First I chat with Travis King, and he introduces a concept that I will carry with me on every trip from now on: "Level 3 fun". You'll have to listen to learn what "Level 3 fun" he had with his brother on their cycling trip across Canada. I also talk with Tracey Croke, an adventurous soul who never shies away from a challenge and she certainly found plenty of them in a mountain biking expedition over the Talas Mountains in Kyrgyzstan. Links:
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| 28 Jan 2019 | 124 - Hiking When You Travel | 00:26:54 | |
You know I love slow travel and if you're travelling on foot that's one of the slowest forms of travel there is - hence my love for the topic of hiking, which is what this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about! I start off the episode talking with highly experienced hiker Greg Seymour, who has through-hiked the Appalachian Trail (amongst other hiking experiences) and we chat about some of the wonderful benefits of being out there in nature. Next I talk with Eva Westerling who, despite considering herself something of a non-hiker when she was younger, has gone on to do some amazing hikes on her travels, particularly in Morocco and Oman. Lasty I chat with Talon Windwalker about his hiking experiences with his daughter both in the United States and in Europe, and how you don't have to be out in the vast wilderness to experience benefits from going for a hike. Links:
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| 16 Oct 2023 | 307 When Things Go Wrong At Sea | 00:24:16 | |
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:
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| 07 Sep 2020 | 204 Island Travel | 00:22:19 | |
Island life, island time, there are all kinds of phrases we use that evoke that special feeling of islands - be they tropical or otherwise, small islands are exotic places to visit and I've got such a long list of islands I've loved, and long to return to. Turns out I'm not alone and in Episode 204 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three guests about some of their own favourite island experiences and what it is they love about island travel. First up is Seana Smith who, despite being born in a "small, freezing Scottish town", discovered that she could indeed travel to far-flung islands and describes experiences in Africa and Asia. Next, Ben Pearson takes us to Indonesia and has a fun story he likes to tell about a particularly famous island, home to a certain dragon ... Finally, I chat with Nan Caple who has spent many years returning to Kangaroo Island in South Australia, a special place that has captivated her family and turned into something more than just a spot they love to spend their holidays. Links: Seana Smith - Hello Sydney Kids https://www.hellosydneykids.com.au/ Ben Pearson from World Animal Protection - https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.au Nan Caple - Snellings View accommodation on Kangaroo Island - https://snellingsview.com.au/ My old story of Abruka Island in Estonia - http://www.magiccarpetjournals.com/abby_of_abruka_island.htm Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/204 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
| 03 Dec 2018 | 120 - 2018 in Review: Travel Fun and Podcast Fun | 00:25:25 | |
This year has been nuts! In a good way, thankfully. Episode 120 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is a fun summary of 2018 both in terms of my travel, everything I've learnt from that travel, everything I've learnt from all of you amazing listeners, and what the podcast has done this year. Listen in and you'll hear about what looking back on travel in Japan, Fiji, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam has taught me - and find out the odd combination of destinations I have ready to head to in 2019. I'm so grateful to my listeners and the members of the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group for all the amazing conversations and friendships over the year. Just last weekend I spent a massive two and a half hours chatting with a friend I've made because she was a guest on the podcast - these opportunities are so special to me, and the people connected to the podcast are the main reason I keep doing it - so thank you all! Links:
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| 25 Jul 2016 | 20 - English Names, Widows and PNG in the 50s | 00:25:07 | |
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:
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| 01 Jun 2020 | 190 Covid-19 Thoughts from Western Australia | 00:28:53 | |
Episode 190 - time for a special episode! As Western Australian life starts to become somewhat normal again after a period of Covid-19 isolation, I decided it was time to record some thoughts about what life has been like here in Perth during the global pandemic. I talk about how extraordinarily lucky we have been here, and how for once, I've actually appreciated how isolated Perth, Western Australia is. I also talk about how important it has been for me to be in touch with friends interstate and across the world - mostly friends I've made through travelling - because hearing people's personal stories about their experiences is so much more impactful than only watching the news headlines. It's also been a period where I've been in much closer touch with friends outside of Western Australia and I've really loved that aspect of it. Finally, I talk about the future of travel in a post-pandemic world - not that I have any crystal ball to know what's going to happen, but I do have some hopes for what we might be thinking about travelling. A Perth friend, Carolyn Beasley, was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic when her Antarctic expedition ship was prevented from landing in Chile as planned back in March 2020. I talked to Carolyn about her experiences and this seemed the perfect time to share that story. Links:
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| 12 Jan 2025 | 332 Playing and Watching Sports on Your Travels | 00:22:39 | |
If you're a sports fan (and as one guest will prove, even if you're not), travelling to play or watch sports can be a great combination of two enjoyable pastimes. It's one way you can immerse yourself in something that local people enjoy as well, and can even be a great way to connect or make new friends. In this episode I hear firstly from Julie Kaplan who has had some fun table tennis experiences in several countries - it's a great story! I then chat with Tara Wells, who is not usually a sports fan, but can make an exception when she travels. Finally, I speak with Scott Antcliffe who is a very devoted ice hockey player and fan, and is headed on an international trip shortly to play in a very special final tournament.
Links:
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| 27 Nov 2018 | 119 - Life-Altering Travel Moments | 00:22:48 | |
Travel can be utterly life-altering in so many ways and this episode's three guests have brilliant stories to illustrate exactly that! First I speak with Natascha Mirosch, with her story about a trip to a Greek Island which resulted in a completely life-changing event ... though you'll have to listen to find out what, no spoilers here! I then chat to Talon Windwalker, who brought tears to my eyes telling the story of spending six years travelling with his adopted daughter and the bonds this developed - listen out for his "Forever Day" story. Finally, Kate Toon rounds out the life-altering travel moments with a quick but amazing story about what happened when she and her friend were travelling in Thailand ... until suddenly they werent! Links:
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| 19 Mar 2016 | 00 - Preview of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast | 00:05:44 | |
This is the preview episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle. Each episode will feature chats with travel writers, photographers, travel bloggers and other travel lovers about topics centred around why we love travelling and what we learn from it. This episode introduces both me and my new podcast, and includes a story of my own about that time I ended up in the Zagreb bus station in the middle of the night … and why it was a turning point. The Thoughtful Travel Podcast launches on 25 March 2016 so make sure you subscribe to catch all the new episodes. You can tweet about it with #thoughtfultravelpod - and tweet me @amandakendle - or comment at the Not A Ballerina Facebook page. I so look forward to talking travel with you all! Links:
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| 21 Apr 2019 | 136 - Photography for Travellers | 00:28:46 | |
Everyone takes tonnes of photos when they travel these days - hundreds from a short trip is not unusual, thanks to bringing our smartphones complete with cameras these days, or because we're taking lots of shots to try and get an Instagram-worthy one! In Episode 136 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I talk with three photographers about a bunch of different thoughts about taking photos when we travel, along with some very handy tips. First up, I chat with Seng Mah, who works as a photographer and takes people on photography tours to some fabulous places around the world. Seng's ideas on how we ordinary people should approach taking pictures is a breath of fresh air and well worth listening to. I then talk with Whitney Taylor, who similarly has a surprising attitude to photography while travelling. She's definitely of the Instagram generation but is not in favour of watching your trip unfold through your phone's camera. Finally, Dale Neill returns to the podcast with some really solid tips and information about the different options for cameras for travellers these days; we talk DSLR, mirrorless and smartphones and Dale's information will definitely help you decide the next kind of camera you want to take travelling. Links:
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| 02 Mar 2020 | 177 African Travels | 00:28:46 | |
African travel seems to have been constantly on my radar lately - I guess it's nearly time for me to go and explore more of that continent? For now, at least, it'll be through Episode 177 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast because I've chatted with three guests lately who had intriguing tales to tell of Africa. First up, I chat with Rick Antonson. He has a delightfully unique reason for choosing to visit Timbuktu in Mali, and I loved hearing about what he found there. I then talk to Brighde Reed about the amazing destination of Rwanda - which is probably at the top of my want-to-visit African nations, and even more so after speaking with Brighde. Finally, Chris Daniels has had some great African experiences - largely part of his PhD in African Studies, so he knows his stuff - and we chat about visiting Somalia and Ethiopia in particular. Links:
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| 03 Jul 2017 | 59 - Conversations with Locals | 00:26:27 | |
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:
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| 05 Mar 2018 | 87 - Travelling With Your Parents | 00:26:04 | |
I just love the variety of stories I've got to share in this episode about travelling with your parents as an adult, because everyone has ended up having a great time for all different reasons. The very first guest is my delightful friend Jo of Lifestyle Fifty. When she told me she had a story about her mother coming with them on her honeymoon, I knew I had to hear more, and as always, Jo's story doesn't disappoint. Following the honeymoon story I chat with Kati who recently travelled with her parents in the Northern Territory here in Australia. It's an interesting story about the compromises you might need to make to deal with the different preferred travelling styles of your family members and I thought Kati did a great job of this. Finally, I speak with Eva who has really made a habit of travelling with her parents in recent years - starting a truly delightful family tradition. I hope my son is listening to that one! Links:
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| 20 Nov 2023 | 311 Micah Kamohoali’i - Deep Dive into Hawaiian Culture and Tourism | 00:35:55 | |
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Micah Kamohoali'i when I was in Sydney for SXSW recently, and I knew immediately we would need a LONG chat! This discussion was a pleasure from start to finish: we start off discussing how Micah found himself working in the tourism industry, and what tourism in Hawai'i has been like over the years: with ups and downs of how responsible it was (and wasn't) and the different kinds of tourists they were attracting. In a wide-ranging discussion which moves us via snakes in the grass to pounding bark for cloth, and incredibly then to the story of Micah being invited to take part in New York Fashion Week, whatever we talk about, Micah's clear love of Hawai'i and Hawaiian culture shines through and we finish up by hearing about his proudest moments from a splendid (and ongoing!) career. Links:
House of Kamohoali’i documentaries:
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| 30 Aug 2021 | 252 Ethical Wildlife Tourism: Elephants Are Many Shades of Grey | 00:25:45 | |
Should we ride elephants? (For me, the answer is definitely no.) But did you know that at one stage, the offering of elephant rides was seen as being part of "saving" them from a tortuous life working in the forestry industry, dragging heavy logs around? And did you know there are now thousands of domesticated elephants in Thailand who still need to be supported, somehow? While I always strive to be an ethical wildlife tourist, diving deeper into this topic has proven to me it's never as black and white as we think, and that many solutions to these kind of problems are best solved through empowerment and many discussions with the local people involved - and that this is not a quick or easy solution, but a better one for sure! This is a special episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - I've put it together as part of the requirements for the Certificate in Sustainability and Anti-Oppression in Travel, a fabulous course I've been studying through the RISE Travel Institute. See the show notes for references, more information and videos. Links:
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| 18 Apr 2022 | 272 Travel Gives You Confidence | 00:25:17 | |
Whether you're hitchhiking, making new friends or buying a train ticket in India, all of these things take confidence. We talk often on The Thoughtful Travel Podcast about the myriad ways travel helps you grow, and one of the biggest benefits I've had from travelling is that it's given me immense confidence - a trait that's carried through into my personal and professional life far beyond my travels. In Episode 272, my three guests tell me about incidents from their travels which have given them lasting confidence. I start with Sophia Bentaher who has a great philosophical approach to what she's learnt from travel and thinks that travelling gives a compounding benefit as you see the results of your actions and become increasingly confident in all that you do. I then chat with Nathan Thomas who describes the daily achievements in travel like buying a ticket at an Indian train station where even the scam artists are dressed in an official-looking uniform. Each of these kinds of achievements add to your confidence. Finally, I hear from Sarah Meyer who intentionally went looking for her confidence to be built on a long-term solo trip in Asia - and found it in spades. Links:
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| 01 Nov 2021 | 259 Being Less Tourist, More Traveller | 00:25:45 | |
Focusing away from the big tourist attractions and being more open to just seeing what comes your way when you travel is one way we can be “less tourist, more traveller”, and this episode includes several stories which are wonderful examples of what happens when you do just that. First up, I chat with Kate Peterson about an experience she had in Greece. While it starts off being a tale of everything going wrong, Kate explains that she learnt a lot from his and ends up having a very special experience in a cafe. I then talk to Paula Morgan about a time when an elderly man in Penang taught her about the value of just saying yes to opportunities that present themselves unexpectedly, even if you feel a bit suspicious of them. Finally, travel writer Tim Richards discusses the idea that it’s the things that you don’t ordinarily expect will make it into published travel stories that are often the experiences which make the best stories. Links:
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| 10 Aug 2020 | 200 Podcast Listener Interviews | 00:24:11 | |
It's a big milestone today: this is the 200th episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast! And since this podcast would literally be nothing at all without all my wonderful listeners, I've decided to devote both this week and next week to you all by interviewing some brave listeners who volunteered to record chats with me - from all corners of the globe - Melbourne to Norway, British Colombia to England, and more. A huge thank you to Lily, Anuj, Ena, Jane, Richie and Genevieve who all gave their time and stories so freely - it was such a pleasure to chat with each of you. In this week's episode, my listener guests introduce themselves and also talk about some of their favourite stories and episodes from The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. Links
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| 01 Apr 2019 | 133 - The Big Trips That Changed Everything | 00:28:04 | |
Sometimes, the things we learn from travel creep up on us in a cumulative way. Other times, one trip teaches us so much and just whacks us in the head and makes us change something significant about our lives! And this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is definitely about the latter situation. First up I talk to Dean O'Shea who took off on a huge challenge to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in California when he was 22 - and he chose it purely because it was the longest, hardest journey listed in his mother's book of long, hard journeys! What happened in and after California is not what you'd expect - and certainly not what Dean expected either - but it changed his life in some significant ways. I then chat with Seng Mah, a friend of mine here in Perth who has long told me that going to India is life-changing for many people (and yes, I'm now convinced I need to go there sometime!). Seng's first experience of travelling through India gave him so many insights and new perspectives that his life then changed very significantly, changes that have lasted now for a decade. Links:
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| 18 Apr 2025 | 345 Different Ways to Be A Thoughtful Traveller | 00:39:30 | |
My dear friend, the Barefoot Backpacker, is a thoughtful traveller, but they often approach travel in different ways to me. We've chatted many a time about our varied styles and decided that making a collaborative podcast episode about just this would be a lot of fun. So, this episode is a combination of the two of us as hosts from Travel Tales from Beyond the Brochure and The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, and to frame our conversation we picked, of all things, a Buzzfeed quiz on the age-old (silly!) distinction of traveller versus tourist. But this did help us to discuss many of our travel ideas: what is slow travel, and can it look different? How do you get the most out of travel when you have limited time off from a "real" job? Why do people enjoy luxury service (and why don't we)? Is it still possible to travel without making plans or booking accommodation in advance? All this and much more, along with quite a few laughs! Links:
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| 08 Apr 2024 | 322 Life-Changing Study Abroad Experiences | 00:23:33 | |
Although I never studied abroad myself I have no doubt at all that I would have loved every minute of it - and my three guests today certainly remind me of all of the many ways a study abroad experience can be life-changing. I start off chatting with Pam Petro who studied a graduate program in Wales, and not only learnt something from her course but began a lifetime obsession with all things Welsh. Next, I speak with Brandon Miller who studied abroad in France. He has now co-founded the Too Fly Foundation which helps students from under-privileged backgrounds access experiences like study abroad programs, as he recognised how valuable and life-changing they are. Finally, I talk to Alex Zeringer, who was a student I met while he was studying abroad here in Perth at Murdoch University, where I teach (among other subjects) podcasting - it was so great to catch up with him now that he's back at university in Ireland. Links:
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| 13 Nov 2017 | 75 - Travels in Nature | 00:25:34 | |
Who doesn’t love nature - at least some of the time? Episode 75 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about travels in nature, and the many and varied forms this travel can take. It starts off in pretty extreme nature when I chat with Luke Mackin, who has a tale of confronting nature in rural Sumatra. But Samantha Fisher, my next guest, has another take completely and describes urban pockets of nature before waxing poetic about her experiences seeing the nature of New Zealand. My final guests are Elizabeth and Jeff of Dutch Dutch Goose and they have yet another great take on travelling to see nature, with some fabulous examples of the kind of nature both adults and kids can enjoy in various parts of Europe. Links:
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| 01 May 2018 | 93 - How to Deal With Travel Anxiety | 00:29:15 | |
Many a well-travelled travel-lover experiences travel anxiety and the guests in Episode 93 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast are no exception. (And neither am I!). In this episode I chat with Kelly Dunning about her first big trip, aged 21, and a particularly pivotal moment which helped her to get over travel anxiety. I also talk to Kati Craythorn who gets anxious about flying, as many of us do, and we discuss a few different travel anxiety tips from other listeners too which I hope will help everyone with overcoming travel anxiety - because it’s worth it! Links:
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| 15 Mar 2021 | 230 Travel vs Vacation Lessons from 2020 | 00:23:21 | |
For this special round-numbered episode I wanted to muse on just one of the important lessons the 2020 pandemic has taught me about travel. In this episode I talk about issues like taking relaxing holidays (I'm bad at it; and most of the Thoughtful Travellers community agreed it's not their style); travelling close to home and staycationing, and some of the reasons I really miss the ability to travel further afield, to different cultures, languages and countries. Links:
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| 05 Jul 2021 | 244 Transport Glitches | 00:20:36 | |
Most of travel involves a flight, train or ferry ride, and things can go wrong - that's why Episode 244 is all about transport glitches when we travel. Some of these stories are just plain crazy - the amount of stuff that can go wrong one trip is unbelievable! - and others remind us that even when things go wrong, there's often a silver lining (or at the very least, a good story to tell!). First up, I chat with Kaitlyn Jain about a trip she and her husband took to Finland with their four (very) young children. She had a great plan to take the ferry from Helsinki to Estonia for the day, but things went wrong when jet lag made them sleep through their alarm ... Next, I talk to Vince Dickson who tells the story of perhaps his unluckiest friend, who had quite a saga flying to visit Vince in South Africa a few years back. It certainly took a lot longer than planned. Finally, Deborah Haile and her son Jonah talk about what happened when they unexpectedly got stuck for a night in Dubai - and it was all good! Links:
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| 30 Apr 2023 | 292 Ethical Animal Experiences on Your Travels | 00:27:02 | |
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:
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| 14 Nov 2016 | 33 - Volunteer Travel to Help You and the World | 00:26:03 | |
You might just be able to get the best of both worlds by travelling around the world and helping people by volunteering. It’s not always that simple, but in Episode 33 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda talks with three guests who have volunteered across several continents with a huge variety of organisations. First up, she chats with Serena Star-Leonard who started off a project to create videos of great projects in a school in the slums in northern Colombia - in a place where most taxi drivers refused to take them. Working with animals instead of kids, Amanda then talks to Diana Edelman who spent several years helping out at Elephant Nature Park in Thailand, a place that now gratefully accepts volunteers for short or long stints and does amazing work helping elephants. Finally, Amanda moves to agriculture with Audrey Wanders and her discussion of WWOOFing around the world and her experience of volunteering on organic farms, and wanting to do more. Links:
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| 16 Nov 2020 | 214 Paul Theroux Interview Part 1 | 00:34:20 | |
I'd need a time machine to be able to tell for sure, but I think that Paul Theroux's "The Great Railway Bazaar" was probably the very first travel narrative book I ever read. It shaped a lot about what I thought about travel - that you should talk to local people, that you should travel slowly, alone where possible, and not in a group of tourists, for sure - and it gave me quite an obsession with trains and the Trans-Siberian railway in particular. So when I was offered the chance to interview Paul Theroux - of course, I said yes! Episode 214 is the first half of this interview - Paul was a very generous interviewee, and our chat is too long to publish in a regular episode, so you'll find the rest in Episode 215. In this half, our chat is wide-ranging and includes leaning languages, ways to get to know the locals, and the pleasure of teaching and studying in a foreign country - a very sneaky way to properly get to know a place! Links:
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| 20 Aug 2018 | 109 - Travellers Taking Photographs | 00:25:58 | |
When you travel, you take pictures. When you travel a lot, you take lots of pictures, and you start to want them to be good pictures! That's one reason why Episode 109 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast features three travel-lovers who've become interested in photography. First up, I chat with Jim Jones who got his first DSLR camera when he took a big trip through Europe by train - and has gone from strength to strength since. Next I chat with Erin Gustafson who, with an art background, has developed a beautiful eye for photography on her travels and we chat about some of what she's learnt and some of the amazing pictures she takes, especially in her current home of Copenhagen. FInally I talk with Lucas Peters who considered himself largely only a writer until a guidebook publisher wanted him to take photos too - and that's now become something he's rather talented at! He also has some great tips for travellers taking their good cameras with them ... particularly in the desert! Links:
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| 11 Nov 2019 | 161 Cycling Across the World | 00:30:55 | |
Ever thought about cycling around the whole world? I sure haven’t - but today’s two guests in Episode 161 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast have both spent years and thousands of kilometres exploring the globe by bicycle and despite what you might assume, they seem quite normal! First up I chat with Alastair Humphreys who spent four years on his bike, covering five continents and learning a lot both about cycling and its benefits, and about himself. I then speak with Brett Seychell who set out on a whim one day to cycle from London to Paris, which turned out to be the start of something much bigger! In fact - it's not an exaggeration to say that it changed his whole life. Links:
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| 30 Nov 2020 | 216 What We Learn From Travelling | 00:24:49 | |
There are countless lessons we can learn from travel: from small to large, nice-to-know to completely life-changing. I'm sure that I'm a completely different person thanks to the things I have learnt while travelling - and hopefully a better one! In this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three guests who agree that we can learn a lot when we travel. First, I speak with Justin Meneguzzi who has a personal lesson connected to confidence, and a broader lesson about social norms, and right and wrong. Next, Tasha Goldberg explains one of her most important personal lessons from travel, learnt while travelling after a heartbreak; she also talks about how she learnt the difference between the theory and framework of policy and what it's like to meet people actually experiencing that situation. Finally, I chat with Lindsay Williams, a language-learning expert, about some of the lessons travel can teach us about speaking another language. Links:
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| 05 Dec 2016 | 36 - Reasons to Love Japan | 00:22:45 | |
It’s all about Japan in Episode 36 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. It’s rare that Amanda chats about a single destination but she's made an exception for Japan, because a bunch of my guests have talked about it and she's just come back from a fabulous week exploring one of her favourite countries in the world. Photographer Martin Bailey moved to Japan 25 years ago to work in a lace factory and has now lived there most of his adult life. He has lots of wisdom to important about all things Japanese and yet they end up talking about toilets! Aggie Lim joins Amanda next to speak about issues of nudity. For a very modest society, Japan is very forward when it comes to bathing with strangers and we Aussies have a hard time adjusting to the onsen way of life. Finally, Joe Baur reminds Amanda of some of the challenges of getting by in Japan without fluent Japanese and we also chat about the amazing transport system. Links:
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| 30 Jul 2018 | 106 - Unusual Food Experiences on Your Travels | 00:23:03 | |
Sometimes food is the whole reason for a trip, but other times, like what we'll hear about in Episode 106 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, it's the unusual food experiences (planned or unplanned) that are what you remember. In this episode I chat first with Eva Westerling, who had some particularly unusual eating experiences while on a ten-day hike in the desert in Oman. Some parts of this chat are not for the squeamish! Next up I talk with Jacky Lamenzo about comfort food when we travel and about her experiences of eating like the locals when she was a teacher in China. Finally, I talk with Matt and Marilyn from Words With Winos about some of the more unusual foods they have tasted on their travels around the world, particularly in Asia - and if you don't like creepy-crawlies, you may not want to imitate them! Links:
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| 27 Apr 2020 | 185 Slow Travel Benefits | 00:25:21 | |
Slow travel is a concept hitting all the "travel trends" lists recently, and I think (and hope) that travel post-Covid will include a lot more slow travel, too. The idea of spending more time in fewer places isn't appealing if you want to tick off a list of sightseeing hotspots, but if you try a slower pace and realise all of the benefits it can bring - getting to know a place better, meeting more locals, discovering off-the-beaten path gems that you'd otherwise miss, not to mention the sustainability advantages - then you might be won over! In Episode 185 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three travellers who are big fans of the slow travel concept. My first guest is Christine Williams who confesses she just might be one of the slowest travellers ever, and has been on the road for nearly a decade. She explains what slow travel looks like for her and her partner and why they sometimes stop somewhere for months at a time. Next, I talk to Caro Ryan who is a huge fan of the slowest travel pace of all, walking. She describes how hiking and walking around the world has so many benefits to the traveller. Finally, I speak with Talon Windwalker about how travelling with a child was the impetus he needed to really figure out the art of slow travel - something which has a lot of parallels to my own experience. Links:
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| 21 May 2019 | 140 - Being a Thoughtful Traveller in Denmark: Pre-Trip Thoughts | 00:25:53 | |
It's a special episode again - every ten episodes I do something different for The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - and listener Justin suggested I record my thoughts about my trip to Denmark with my son and how this trip would challenge us to be thoughtful travellers. I liked this suggestion a lot so this is a solo episode with my pre-trip thoughts about visiting Denmark with my son; what made me decide to go, what I hope to find, and all of the thoughts I've had ahead of the trip. As always I've done some reading and research (also as always, not as much as I'd like, because life always gets in the way), and I'm curious to find out if the Denmark I expect is the Denmark I find. When this episode goes live I'll be mid-way through two weeks exploring both Copenhagen and rural Denmark so I'll have to have a follow-up later on what I actually discovered! Links:
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| 06 Jun 2016 | 13 - Takin’ it Slow: Travelling to Feel Like a Local | 00:24:14 | |
Slow travel is a real buzz word these days but many travellers have been using slow travel principles for decades - because travelling slowly is a fantastic way to see the world and really get to know it well. In Episode 13 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda talks to three different travellers who have all embraced slow travel in their own way. First up is Tim Leffel, who prefers smaller towns and villages over big cities because it’s easier to travel slowly in a place where you can get to know the locals. Amanda also speaks to Candace Rardon, who as a freelance artist and writer is able to really practice slow travel, and she does it both on a daily basis by sitting still somewhere for a few hours to sketch, and planning her trips so she stays places for weeks or months. The final guest today is David Soto Jr who is currently in the middle of his own slow trip in a van around the United States. When Amanda spoke to him he was sitting in his van on an airforce base with his dog Rusty looking on; since then he’s been exploring some of America’s most beautiful spots at a very leisurely pace. Links:
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| 26 Sep 2016 | 26 How to be Bilingual | 00:26:10 | |
Encountering foreign languages when we travel is both a challenge and a joy - and some of us dream not only of learning a few phrases when we travel, but becoming bilingual. It’s definitely not easy to be bilingual but the guests in this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast show that it’s not impossible, either. Amanda starts by chatting with Leyla of Women on the Road, one of those amazing people who can speak a multitude of languages, and treats coming across a new language as meeting a new friend. If you’re considering raising your kids bilingually, then Amanda's second guest, Adam Beck of Bilingual Monkeys, is the man to listen to. He’s got a wealth of information about it and shares a few ways he’s helped his children grow up speaking, reading and writing English nearly as well as their more-native Japanese. Finally, Martin Bailey shares his journey to bilingualism which didn’t begin until adulthood when he moved to Japan to work in a lace-making factory. Links:
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| 14 May 2019 | 139 - Culture Shock When You Come Home | 00:29:09 | |
We're used to expecting culture shock when we travel to a different country but what about when we return home? Sometimes it's a worse shock than when we travel, and we're not always prepared for it. This kind of reverse culture shock, or culture shock when you come home, is something my guests in Episode 139 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast have all experienced. First up I chat with Talon Windwalker who like me lived abroad for about six years. After two years at home he's still having trouble settling back, something I can very much relate to as it took me many years to feel like I was happily at home again. I then talk with Luke Mackin who, as a third culture kid who grew up in the Philippines with American parents, moved to the United States as a teenager and now lives with his family in Indonesia, finds it hard to decide what is home and what is "his" culture, meaning this whole culture shock issue can be really amplified. Finally I speak with Jo Duggan who spent six months volunteering in a medical setting in rural Thailand. It was an incredibly different experience to her regular life in Australia, but one of the hardest parts, to Jo's surprise, was actually settling back home. Links:
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| 28 Sep 2020 | 207 Writing Retreats Around the World | 00:25:15 | |
My first creative love is writing, and it's exciting to me to be able to explore how my guests combine writing and travel in this episode about writing retreats around the world. First up, I chat with Suzanne Moore, a novelist who lives in Perth but took the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks completely alone in Japan to work on her book, in the scenic landscape of Hokkaido. Next, Catherine Marshall explains her month-long writing retreat at Ledig House in New York State - and I get quite envious over the idea of spending an entire month focused on writing, in a beautiful place with fascinating people! Finally, Patti Buff tells me about a writers' retreat she organised within the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, held at a particularly picturesque spot in southern Germany. Links:
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| 23 Aug 2021 | 251 Penny Rafferty: Deep Dive Into Thoughtful Travel | 00:28:04 | |
In the third of my Deep Dive Into Thoughtful Travel interview episodes, I chat with Penny Rafferty in South Australia, with a wide-ranging discussion about all manner of thoughtful travel topics. I started off asking Penny about her fascinating career trajectory, which sees her now taking the roles of both Head of Sustainability at Tourism Australia and Executive Officer of Luxury Lodges of Australia. Her roles have given her plenty of food for thought and we discuss both her professional and personal experiences of tourism and travel, how travel can change us, and how travellers can change the world. Links:
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| 06 Dec 2021 | 263 Travelling for Work: Can You Be A Thoughtful Traveller? | 00:23:08 | |
Travelling for work can be very different to other kinds of travel, but when I had the chance to travel to south-west Western Australia to run workshops recently, I decided to document my trip and decide whether or not I was being a thoughtful traveller. This episode includes audio-diaries of my three days in Yallingup - two of which were recorded under a blanket in a hotel room, trying to soundproof my recording! I also chatted with members of the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group about their experiences of trying to be thoughtful travellers while travelling for their job. Links:
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| 01 Aug 2016 | 21 - Pros and Cons of the Internet for Travellers | 00:25:37 | |
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:
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| 18 Apr 2016 | 06 - Surprise! Travel Expectations and Lessons | 00:25:06 | |
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:
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| 14 May 2018 | 95 - Travel Mishaps and Misjudgments | 00:27:42 | |
Mishaps and misjudgments are part of the fun when we travel - right? Well, at least that's what my guests and I decide in Episode 95 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. I start off chatting with Matt and Marilyn from the Words with Winos podcast, who managed to make a bit of a misjudgment when they very first set out on their long travelling journey ... but of course, they recovered from it and I'm glad they did (I love following their travels!). Following on from that I talk to Samantha Fisher who ponders the idea that perhaps there are no mistakes when we travel. She has some examples of what's happened to her when she's made what we might call a travel mistake - and perhaps it's not all bad. Finally, I have a fun talk with Elizabeth and Jeff Newcamp, who have had all kinds of travelling adventures over the years and have rather a long list of mishaps to tell about - and definitely prove that mistakes often make the best travel stories. Links:
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| 04 Jan 2025 | 331 Working with Animals in Tourism | 00:22:57 | |
Learning more about being a responsible traveller when it comes to seeing or interacting with animals on my trips is one of the biggest learning curves running this podcast has given me over the past decade. In this episode, I hear from three professionals working at the intersection of animals and tourism, in three different but equally fascinating roles. First up, I chat with Nora Livingstone of Animal Experience International, about a trip she took to Sierra Leone to visit a dog rescue centre that was looking for volunteers. Then, I speak with John Roberts, director of Sustainability and Conservation for the Minor Hotels group, and he describes the particular case of looking after hornbills at their Avani resort on Koh Lanta, Thailand. Finally, Suzanne Milthorpe of World Animal Protection Australia explains the sad sight that awaited her on a visit to a so-called turtle rescue venue in Bali, Indonesia. From all of these stories, there is plenty for us to take away and help in our considerations for future trips so that we can be thoughtful when it comes to how we include animals in our travels. Links:
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| 24 Jan 2025 | 334 Taking Your Nieces and Nephews Travelling | 00:20:51 | |
Want to know how to be the favourite aunty or uncle? This episode about taking your nieces and nephews travelling will give you plenty of ideas! Mike Day, a wonderful uncle, starts off by explaining how he really hoped he could give his nephews something special by giving them the gift of travel. It seems to have worked as he has a wonderful story to tell about the impact a trip over a decade ago had on one of his nephews. I then chat with Dianne Bortoletto, a fabulous aunty, about her recent experience in Italy with her niece. To alleviate teenage boredom, Di came up with a very special (and delicious) challenge and surely is now her niece's very favourite aunty! Links:
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| 05 Sep 2017 | 65 - First Trips | 00:24:46 | |
Hearing about people’s first trips is fascinating and Episode 65 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about the first times some very experienced travellers ventured out of their comfort zones. First up, Alicia Nelson talks about the first trip she took without her family. A school trip to Washington DC turned out to be pretty life-changing. Sharon Gourlay of Where’s Sharon is one of the most well-travelled people I know, and yet when I spoke to her about her first trips abroad, she told me some very surprising stories! Finally, Carolyn Schonafinger joins The Thoughtful Travel Podcast for the first time and has some interesting tales to tell about her first trip abroad and also her first trip to her now beloved Europe. Links:
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| 27 Mar 2017 | 48 - The Grateful Anniversary Episode | 00:29:00 | |
It’s been a whole year since The Thoughtful Travel Podcast launched and it has been an immensely fun and rewarding time! Episode 48 is the Grateful Anniversary Episode and Amanda starts off giving plenty of thank yous out to many people connected to this podcast, including Brooke and the fantastic Jackrabbit FM team, the dear old friends who agreed to be interviewed for the show before it even started, and above all, you amazing listeners who leave great reviews and chat with Amanda in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group and make all the work worthwhile. Amanda's guests today are all people she has only met because she started The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - and she's so grateful to have got to know all these new friends. First up, Hayden Lee of the Travel Stories Podcast has a great tale to tell about choosing a fork in the road in Vietnam. Amanda then chats with Matt Treglia from Words With Winos about how he made the mammoth decision to give up a conventional career path and travel long-term. Finally, Amanda looks back to a chat she had a year ago with photographer Kiliii Yüyan about taking risks when we travel. Links:
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| 11 Jun 2018 | 99 - Close Calls When Travelling | 00:28:20 | |
Travel safety is often a concern and I'm sure I'm not the only one who checks government safety advisory messages (often with a grain of salt, it must be said) before I travel to a new destination. But honestly, crazy things can happen whether you're at home or abroad and I tend to agree with Pam Lynch, one of the guests in Episode 99 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, when she talks about the sentiment that either it was meant to be your time or it wasn't. In this episode, I start by talking to Pam about her experience of the Nepal earthquake of 2015. I know Pam well and have heard her speak about this close call many times, and yet every time she tells the tale I end up with goose bumps down my arms and shivers down my spine. You just never know what's around the corner, and Pam tells the tale in a way that will make you think. My second guest is Margarita Pas, a Polish globetrotter now based in the United States, who tells me about a trip she took to Namibia. It's a great warning tale about being prepared and how it's often easy to be poorly prepared when we don't know the place - I know I have sometimes done things abroad I would never be silly enough to do at home, but it's hard to know all the details when you're in an unfamiliar place. Margarita took a rather exciting road trip and came out fine and able to tell the tale - and it's well worth a listen. Links:
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| 24 Apr 2021 | Book Club 11: Wild by Cheryl Strayed | 00:28:48 | |
This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the April 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Wild by Cheryl Strayed. 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. | |||
| 23 Sep 2023 | 305 Accessible Gold Coast Travels | 00:30:39 | |
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:
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| 13 Aug 2024 | 326 UK Trip Report England and Wales 2024 | 00:30:41 | |
This episode is a joyful collaboration with Tracy of the UK Travel Podcast. When one of your best friends invites you to his wedding in the Lake District in England, you say yes! We first met Cham in Cambodia - back in Episode 114 - and we've holidayed with him across Asia ever since, but meeting up in the UK to celebrate his wedding was our most exciting adventure together yet. My 14-year-old son and I took the opportunity to explore some more of north-west England and northern Wales while we were there, taking in Manchester, Liverpool, the Lake District, and northern Wales, including Wrexham and Llangollen. In this collab with the UK Travel Podcast, Tracy interviews me about my UK experience and I describe it through a thoughtful travel lens, from our planning, our experiences and then our post-trip reflection. There's also some unexpected sandwich chat! Links:
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| 11 Jan 2021 | 222 Meaningful Shopping and Souvenirs | 00:22:46 | |
Bringing home a meaningful souvenir from a trip is such a pleasure: if the process of buying it was fun and special, perhaps involving a chat with an interesting local, and then you have an object you can enjoy at home which constantly reminds you of your trip, then it's a perfect scenario. In Episode 222 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I talk with travellers about their own meaningful shopping experiences abroad, starting off with Patti Lefkos who has a brilliant story to tell about a souvenir she bought in Nepal - including a live demonstration! Next, I chat with Lindsay Williams. She's obsessed with learning foreign languages and this passion flows through to what she likes to buy when she's travelling, too. Finally, I'm excited to speak with my friend Lola Akinmade-Åkerström who has a new pandemic-induced project on the go, involving a way to help local artisans and guides in countries particularly affected by the drop-off in tourism numbers and help us have an authentic shopping experience at the same time. Links:
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| 24 Feb 2020 | 176 When Travelling is Your Job | 00:25:52 | |
We sometimes see people doing glamorous jobs and travelling the world and think: wow, they have a great life! It's those kind of people who are in Episode 176 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast: I have a travel journalist, a guidebook writer and a guitarist who have all had the opportunity to travel widely and for long periods of time as part of their work. All of them are grateful for the travel and work they've been able to do, but there are definitely pros and cons to these kinds of careers. First up, I talk to Anna Chittenden who is a guidebook writer, travelling extensively throughout Asia. I'm a little envious of her in-depth experience of Japan, but it is definitely not a glamorous lifestyle. Next, I chat with Christine Retschlag, a travel journalist who darts around the globe with barely a break. We discuss that while much of this is a lot of fun there are some significantly difficult parts too. Finally, I speak with Kiki Wong who spent some years touring the world with her band Nylon Pink. We chat about two very different experiences of tours, and although Kiki says it's always worth it, there are definitely some tough moments. Links:
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| 15 Jul 2023 | 298 Conservation Travel | 00:20:48 | |
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:
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| 29 Jan 2018 | 82 - Hobbies and Travelling | 00:26:45 | |
What do you love to do - other than travel - in your spare time? While my listeners and readers have a love of travel in common, they have a huge range of other hobbies and this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about combining hobbies with travel in various ways. To kick it off I chat with Kelly Dunning who wrote a great post on her Global Goose blog about the importance of finding ways to keep up a hobby or two if you’re travelling long term - something I very much concur with. It’s easy to think that travelling “is it” but if you’re away for more than a month or so I think it’s important to keep in touch with other activities you really enjoy. I then chat with Anna Kwiecinska who has made a business out of encouraging people to take their hobbies on holidays! She runs a retreat in Bali which offers art, yoga and soon blogging retreats, so this is focused very much on encouraging people to really indulge in their hobbies and interests and take them more seriously - or at least to really intensively enjoy them for a time, and travel as well! Finally, I talk to Colin Clapp who has recently started leading a nomadic life with his partner and their young daughter. Even though time and finances might not enable them to really properly pursue a hobby right now, I was impressed with the thought he’s put into finding the right hobby, realising that it’s something important for him and his family. Links:
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| 21 Nov 2016 | 34 - Travel and Stereotypes | 00:25:31 | |
Stereotypes of people by nationality are rife in the world, and come up all the time when we travel. In Episode 34 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda chats with three people of different nationalities about their experiences with stereotypes on their travels. Jeremy Kloberdanz of The Life Bohemian has an interesting story to tell about an immigrant man he and his wife met while travelling around Italy; a man who wasn’t what he seemed. Lola Akinmade Åkerström, a Nigerian travel photographer living and working in Sweden, has a lot to say about pushing back against stereotypes and has a lot of wisdom to impart about sharing your own culture with others as well as learning about theirs. New Zealander Tom Parson of The Lego Backpacker also has some wise words about stereotypes and speaks about his experiences when working in China in the management of a furniture design factory. Links:
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| 15 Jan 2018 | 80 - Travel in Africa | 00:23:00 | |
Ever dreamed of a trip to Africa? Or have you already had the good fortune to visit Africa? In either case, Episode 80 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast will entice you, I think! I speak with three travellers who have extremely varied experiences of Africa, once again reminding me that it’s a truly vast content and that I need to plan a trip to Africa as soon as possible. To start off, I chat with Ian of the Barefoot Backpacker about his trip to Benin. Now, the Republic of Benin is not somewhere on the top of most travellers’ must-visit list but it’s one of Ian’s favourite places and after chatting, I can understand why! Following Ian, I talk to Linda Schlencker of Self Drive Adventures, who also surprises me by explaining what kind of treats would await me on a Madagascar holiday. I really had little conception of what travelling around Madagascar would entail (apart from expecting to see some of the creatures I knew from my son’s favourite Madagascar animated movies!) and it sounds like an amazing destination. Finally, we head to the very top of Africa, and I chat with Anna Kwiencinska of Creative Living Retreats, who spends part of the year in Morocco, and has a lot of love for this northern African country. A big thanks to GlampingHub.com for sponsoring this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast! Links:
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| 13 Aug 2018 | 108 - Exploring Nature in Australia | 00:27:27 | |
My beautiful home country of Australia is a diverse place when it comes to nature, from the outback desert to tropical rainforest and everything in between. In Episode 108 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat to three travellers who have enjoyed different parts of the country while they've been exploring nature in Australia. I talk first with Kati Craythorn. She grew up in Berln but has since become quite the Australia-addict, and lives in Queensland. We chat about her recent trip to the Northern Territory and it reminds me that I need to get back to see more of that very unique part of Australia. Secondly I chat with Italian travel-lover Michela Fantinel. She has a real passion for Australia and comes back for extended trips from Europe every year. I loved hearing about all that Australia has taught her over the last decade and a half! Finally, Leah Smileski tells me about her wonderful experiences in Tasmania, which also happens to be one of my very favourite parts of Australia, especially when it comes to nature. Links:
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| 09 Sep 2019 | 153 Reading Books to Inspire Travel | 00:27:49 | |
It seems that the number of people who love to travel AND who love to read makes up quite a high proportion of my listeners so I'm excited that Episode 153 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast can be all about reading books to inspire travel. I'm constantly reading books because they're set somewhere I'm about to visit, or alternatively I've booked a number of trips because of places I've read about in books! For me, they are completely intertwined - and the guests on this episode seem to feel the same way. First up I chat with Kendall Simmons who is a voracious reader of all kinds of books and believes that reading before you travel somewhere really enriches your understanding of a place. Next I talk to Lesley West who is an even more voracious reader and is very devoted to reading books set in a destination before she travels there. (A woman after my own heart!) Finally, Alastair Humphreys and I talk about how reading books about people's travel experiences can actually give you an experience and perspective it's impossible for you to get otherwise, and we also talk about some of the travel books he's written and how knowing his travel experiences will become a book can influence his experience. Links:
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| 12 Sep 2016 | 24 Wanderlust for Adults Who Didn’t Travel As Kids | 00:23:59 | |
Lots of people with a deep sense of wanderlust develop it by travelling at a young age, but as Amanda chats about in this episode, it's definitely not the only path to developing a love of travel. Today she speaks with three guests who love to travel now, but never really got to travel much as kids. First up, Amanda speaks with Lisa Luken who grew up on a farm and didn't do much travelling at all, but who now does amazing road trips with her husband, three kids and their dog. It's really interesting to hear how her wanderlust came to be. Audrey Wanders also grew up without travelling, but her story is a little different, because her parents were definitely wanderers before they settled down to have a family. It seems like she definitely inherited that love of theirs and she has started to travel more and more as she’s got older. Finally, Amanda speaks with Mark Wyld of Wyld Family Travel, a fellow Aussie who does as much travelling as possible - especially to Europe - with his wife and two daughters. He definitely has a solid case of wanderlust and is doing his very best to pass that on to his children. Links:
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| 24 Jul 2023 | 299 Van Travel | 00:21:34 | |
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:
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| 03 Mar 2025 | 340 Australian Podcasters for International Women’s Day 2025 | 00:47:56 | |
Since 1911, International Women's Day has been a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. To celebrate International Women's Day on 8th March 2025, I've gathered some of my favourite women travel podcasters in Australia for a conversation about impactful women in travel, and some of the most important lessons we've learnt while travelling, plus we have a few laughs, too! Thanks to the wonderful Australian women podcasters who joined me for this important conversation. Please go and listen to their fantastic podcasts! Dianne Bortoletto and Monique Ceccato - And Away We Go F1 Podcast
Caro Ryan - Rescued: An Outdoor Podcast for Hikers and Adventurers
Natascha Mirosch - ExtraVirgin Food & Travel
Kirstie Bedford and Belinda Jackson - The World Awaits
Carolyn Schönafinger - Holidays to Switzerland Travel Podcast
Links:
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| 23 Jan 2017 | 39 - Fears and Freaking Out Before You Travel | 00:25:01 | |
It’s 2017, everyone’s making plans for a new year, and it’s time to talk about one of the things that sometimes stops up making travel plans: fear. In Episode 39 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda talks with two great travellers who have had various worries before they’ve embarked on big trips, but they did it anyway, and of course are glad they did. First up, she speaks with Cait Flanders who spent a couple of months on a solo road trip throughout North America last year. She confesses she was freaking out before she left … but of course, everything turned out fine and she learned a lot along the way. Serena Star-Leonard is a traveller Amanda really admires for her seemingly fearless trips to all corners of the globe, and into sometimes challenging situations, but she confesses, too, that she’s not as confident as Amanda might have expected. Links:
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| 24 Mar 2016 | 02 The Terror of Getting Lost | 00:30:20 | |
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:
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| 11 Jul 2016 | 18 - Cultural Fusion (and Confusion) | 00:25:53 | |
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:
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| 19 Oct 2020 | 210 How Travel Helps Us Really Understand the World | 00:21:26 | |
It's Episode 210, a nice round number so it's time for a special edition of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. As some of you may know, I've spent a fair bit of time working on my first book about thoughtful travel, and in this episode, I decided to tell you some stories from a particular section of my book that talks about how travel really helps us to understand the world better - in a way that no textbook, movie or book can ever do. The first tale I share is one of many situations I've been in where travelling helped me understand world history more deeply. It's simultaneously one of my least favourite but most impactful travel days, visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in southern Poland. Next, I move on to another less-than-cheery (but important!) topic, with a story about how a small incident on my travels got me thinking more deeply about racism. To lighten the tone, I then have a story to share about what travelling has taught me about religion - it's a story involving a car and a shrine in Japan ... Finally, my last tale about travel helping me to understand the world is one about how getting to know local people can help you learn what's beyond the simple textbooks - in this case, it's about communism/socialism and what I learnt from visiting Slovakia. Links:
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| 13 Jun 2016 | 14 - Feel the Fear and Travel Anyway | 00:25:09 | |
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:
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| 24 Mar 2020 | 180 Fourth Anniversary Travel Journal Memory Lane | 00:27:44 | |
Normally a podcast anniversary is a purely joyous occasion - I've been putting out The Thoughtful Travel Podcast consistently for four whole years now! - but in the times of Covid-19 it's certainly a bittersweet time to be talking about anything connected to travel. I debated long and hard about how to celebrate and then realised that, stuck as I am at home, it was finally time to take a deep dive into my huge stack of travel journals documenting past trips. I hoped to find some gems and lessons to share with you all - and I think I did, or perhaps I just spent a completely self-indulgent day in my own memories - I'll let you be the judge! There'll be photos and more at the show notes. Enjoy! Links:
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| 13 Feb 2023 | 285 Thoughtful Travel to Hawaii - Island Wisdom by Kainoa Daines and Annie Daly | 00:34:34 | |
I've always wanted to get to Hawai'i some day - but now I know why I haven't made it yet. I needed to read this brilliant book first! This episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is an interview with Annie Daly and Kainoa Daines, the authors of "Island Wisdom: Hawaiian Traditions and Practices for a Meaningful Life". It's one of those brilliant books - all too rare - which serve the function of teaching us really important things about a destination before we arrive, and enrich the experience we have once we're there. Having read this book, I know for certain I'll get so much more out of a future Hawai'i trip then if I hadn't read it. I had such a wonderful chat with Annie and Kainoa, and I've tried to edit it down a little - we couldn't stop talking! - but it's still a little longer than a regular episode. Hope you enjoy it and that if you've visited Hawai'i before, it gives you some extra context, or that it enriches a future trip if you're like me and haven't had the magic of a Hawaiian experience just yet! Links:
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| 02 May 2016 | 08 - Travel with Kids and Kids on Travel | 00:26:04 | |
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:
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| 25 Jun 2018 | 101 - Destinations Worth Visiting Twice | 00:25:09 | |
Which destination would you love to return to? In Episode 101 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I’ve asked some of my guests about the destinations they keep returning to. Mine, for the record, is Japan - I lived there for two years, and have been back twice since, but want to go as many more times as is humanly possible! My first guest on this episode is Lucas Peters, who currently lives in Paris - which used to be a destination he wanted to keep returning to - but he chats with me about a Moroccan town named Asilah. Next, I talk with Jim Jones about two popular tourist destinations that he likes returning to for many different reasons - Las Vegas, and Paris. I’m with him on Paris but I’ve never been to Vegas - I think he convinces me I need to try, though. Finally, fellow West Aussie Erin Holmes and I talk about the place virtually every Perth person has been to: Bali. Erin has been there many times and has plenty of good reasons as to why she keeps returning. Links:
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| 13 Mar 2023 | 288 Is Volunteer Tourism Good or Bad? | 00:24:46 | |
It'd be great if any time we took ourselves travelling and volunteered somewhere that it was a purely good act. The problem is, of course, that we are now getting to understand just how damaging some kinds of volunteer tourism can be. Is it all bad, though? I don't think so! But we definitely have to be very, very thoughtful any time we sign up for voluntourism. In Episode 288 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three travellers about their thoughts and experiences with volunteer travel. First up, I speak with Eliza Raymond of Good Travel, who has a very telling story about an experience she had volunteering in Guatemala at just eighteen years of age. Next, I talk to Jonathan Coleman from the Reset Tourism Fund at the UnTours Foundation. After working with NGOs hosting volunteer groups, along with various other tourism experiences throughout his career, he's very sceptical about the ability of almost any travel volunteer experience to be a truly worthwhile one for every party involved. Finally, I chat to Kayra Martinez of Love Without Borders For Refugees. Kayra was living in Germany when she saw an influx of refugees on the news back in 2015, and tried to find out what she could do to help - this led to a seriously big commitment to voluntourism in Greek refugee camps. Links:
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| 02 Dec 2019 | 164 Please Travel With Your Children | 00:27:16 | |
I might be a little bit obsessive about this topic - although it's been a long time since an episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast has covered it - but I really passionately feel that taking your kids travelling is so very beneficial for them (and you, too!). In Episode 164 I chat with some great guests who feel as strongly about why you should travel with your children as I do. First up, I chat with Nicci O'Mara who impressed me no end with some of the great ideas she has about how to help kids get the most out of their travels. I thought I was good, but Nicci is next level! I then speak with AJ and Natasha who travelled the world with their young son, and intended to do it again in a few years. We discussed how there are a lot of great lessons for parents when travelling with kids, too. Finally, I talk to Suzanne, an American who lives in a fairly remote part of Japan with her Japanese husband and biracial kids. She has lots of important reasons to take her children travelling and it was great to chat with her. Links:
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| 13 Apr 2022 | 271 Six Years of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast | 00:20:39 | |
Can you believe this - because I almost can't - that The Thoughtful Travel Podcast turned six years old recently?! Unfortunately, my household were all suffering with Covid on its actual birthday, but I've now recovered enough to put together this episode to celebrate. In particular, I'm excited to share some wonderful voice messages from friends and listeners of the podcast - collating these gave me such a thrill! In this episode I also outline a few of the last year's successes, and talk about some plans I have for the next year of the podcast. Thanks so much to everyone who listens, shares, participates in our groups and in all other ways supports The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - I am so very grateful for you all. Links:
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| 29 May 2022 | 273 Broome, Western Australia | 00:22:05 | |
Broome in Western Australia is in my home state, but it’s over 2000km away, so earlier this year was the very first time I’d finally got that far. Of course, it was worth the wait in many ways. Episode 273 is about my Broome experience, which was mostly a work trip, but it’s also about being a thoughtful traveller, and how I went with applying some of the key principles of thoughtful travel to my days in Broome. This was a very special trip for me - my first flight since January 2020, when I returned from Kuala Lumpur amongst rumours of this strange virus circulating. Getting quite far away from Perth was a wonderful reset and refresh and I hope you enjoy hearing about it. Links:
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| 13 Apr 2020 | 183 Justifying Travel in the Climate Change Era | 00:29:09 | |
So, here's a big question for you: can we justifying travelling in the era of climate change? It's a question that's been on my mind for quite a while now, and I've found two amazing travel journalists to help me ponder it more deeply. Episode 183 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast features Louise Southerden and Catherine Marshall and their very articulate thoughts on whether or not we can, in the future, still justify travel. Spoiler alert, though: nobody knows the answer. First up, I chat with Louise Southerden, in a conversation recorded before Covid-19 decimated travel completely - but her message is still the same. We talk about the benefits of travel personally and about Lou's responsibility as a travel writer, encouraging others to travel, to do so in a sustainable way. I then talk to Catherine Marshall and we cover topics like flight shame, whether travel is a selfish pursuit, what drives people to need to travel and what benefits travel can bring the world. We also touch on how the Covid-19 pandemic might influence all this - hopefully for the better. Links:
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| 21 May 2018 | 96 - Remote Travel in Africa | 00:25:57 | |
Africa is one of those most amazing destinations, and of course it's not a single destination but countless different countries and regions which are all so different to each other - yet we tend to lump them in together, probably because many of us haven't got to exploring too much of Africa yet. I start Episode 96 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast chatting with Linda Schlencker, who has spent many, many months guiding small self-drive groups around various parts of Africa so really knows what she's talking about. We discuss some of the fears that people have that might prevent them coming on such a trip, too, and I have to admit that wildlife passing right by my tent at night is something I'm not entirely comfortable with either! I then chat with Anna Kwiecinska who has fallen in love with Morocco and spent some long stretches of time there in recent years. She tells in particular of her romantic vision of heading out into the Sahara - and what the reality was like. (Fortunately - still good!) Links:
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| 30 Oct 2018 | 115 - Travelling in Muslim Countries | 00:25:25 | |
I’m always fascinated by cultural differences and if you’re travelling in Muslim countries there can be quite a lot of customs that are different to my home country of Australia. In Episode 115 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I’m bringing together stories of travelling in various Muslim countries from three guests who’ve all had interesting experiences. First up, I talk again with Eva Westerling, who talks about experiences she’s had in three different places - Zanzibar, Morocco and Oman. It’s interesting to hear about what she’s done to fit in while she’s travelling in Muslim countries and how she’s found this strategy to work for her. Following Eva, I chat with Kate Toon, who has an interesting angle as she’s travelled in Tunisia accompanied by her Tunisian husband. You’ll have to listen to find out some particularly surprising reactions! Finally, I’m joined by Margarita Pas who discusses her experiences in Tunisia and in the Maldives, and she has plenty of tips for how people can look and behave respectfully when travelling in Muslim countries. Links:
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| 12 Oct 2020 | 209 Travelling With Grandchildren | 00:26:13 | |
Episode 209 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast was inspired by a chat I had with Rick Antonson a year or so back, who described a trip he'd taken in Canada with his ten-year-old grandson Riley. Since then I've been looking out for other stories of travelling with grandchildren and am excited to publish this episode with its three great tales. First up of course is Rick's story which began it all - and I particularly love it because it takes place on a great train journey in Canada, something I'd like to emulate one day (hopefully before I have grandchildren of my own!), Next, I chat with Nan Caple who is grandmother to ten - and has a wonderful family tradition of getting together on a trip with the extended family. I think her grandchildren are very lucky! Finally, I loved speaking with Fiona Newman, a listener of the podcast who volunteered to tell her story of taking two of her grandchildren on a very special trip to Europe - the kind of trip that, I have no doubt, those kids will hold very dear in their hearts forever. Links:
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| 25 Feb 2019 | 128 - Travel Planning and Research | 00:24:14 | |
Hands up if you like the planning and research part of travel almost as much - or maybe even more - than the actual travelling itself! Some of the guests on Episode 128 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast would freely admit they have something of an obsession with the planning side of travel and you can learn a lot from listening to them, I think (or, like me, you may just giggle!). First up I chat with two spreadsheet-obsessed accountants, Narelle and Shauna, who have a lot in common when it comes to planning their trips in extreme detail. Some of their tips, though, are actually pretty awesome! (Though I draw the line at their perhaps over-the-top Plan B, C and D plans?!) Next I talk to Queen about the research she did ahead of her recent move to live abroad in Mexico, and finally to Tiana who also agrees that a big part of the joy comes in researching and deciding where to go. There are also lots of planning and research tips from Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group members liberally sprinkled throughout the episode. Links:
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| 21 Dec 2020 | 219 Seeing the Northern Lights | 00:23:50 | |
It's Christmas time which - weirdly, I guess, since I live quite far down in the southern hemisphere! - makes me think about the North Pole, about snow, about cold climates. That made it feel an appropriate week for my episode about seeing the Northern Lights or aurora borealis - an incredible phenomenon I haven't had the chance to witness yet, but after hearing these four guests describe their sightings, I'm more keen than ever. First up, I chat with Justin Meneguzzi who has a particularly romantic tale about his Northern Lights sighting (although it didn't all go quite to plan). Next, Karen Emanuel makes me rather envious as she describes not one, but two trips she's been on which led to seeing the aurora. Following Karen, I chat to Travis King who got to experience a surprise sighting in Alaska. Nearby in the Yukon region of Canada, my final guest, Tobi Barth, runs a tour company which specialises in aurora hunting, and he tells me how that works. Links:
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| 18 Feb 2019 | 127 - Yoga and Meditation Travel | 00:25:28 | |
Ever been on a yoga retreat in an exotic destination or considered a meditation vacation? On Episode 127 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast we are talking yoga and meditation travel - where's a good place to go for a yoga holiday, what are the benefits of spending some of your travel time meditating, and much more! My first guest is Meagan Hurst who is my total go-to-gal for all things yoga - and she comes through with some great discussion of yoga teacher training in Nicaragua and also the idea of "DIY yoga retreats", for the budget-conscious yoga traveller. After that I chat to Kate Manser who accidentally went on a multi-year yoga and meditation world tour! She has lots of interesting tips on destinations across Asia and some interesting tales too. Finally, I talk with Queen D Michele who recently moved to live in Mexico, in the Lake Chipala area, which as it turns out is a bit of a hotspot for meditation and yoga and has quite drastically changed the way Queen lives. Links:
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| 21 Feb 2023 | 286 Melbourne, Victoria, and Sports Travel | 00:21:26 | |
One of my very favourite cities anywhere is Melbourne, Australia. It's a city I seriously considering moving to when I returned from living abroad, and I have so many friends there - long story short, I always love visiting Melbourne. When my son was picked as a goalkeeper for the Western Australian state indoor soccer team, and we found out he'd be headed to Melbourne for the National Fustal Championships in January 2023, I was equally excited about his inclusion in the team and the fact that we'd "have to" go to Melbourne! This episode is a trip report about our experiences on sports travel, as well as a few days down in San Remo and Phillip Island, topped off with a city staycation in the heart of my beloved Melbourne. Links:
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| 11 Feb 2025 | 337 Wonderful Learnings from Travel | 00:24:14 | |
Travellers will all have their special memories about the wonderful learnings they've had from travel: from tiny things like a new way to enjoy a favourite food, to enormous life-changing epiphanies inspired by other cultures or someone they meet. In Episode 337 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three people about some of the ideas that have stayed with them or made them think. First up, Thomas Swick describes several moments including a long (very long!) train journey through eastern Europe, and what this still means to him decades later. Angela Correll then gives examples of some of her cultural learnings while living in and renovating a home in Italy. Finally, Daniel Troia explains some of what a unique experience riding a bicycle across America taught him about himself and the world. Links:
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