El Cafecito Travel Talks

What does it mean for a woman to enter the world of plant medicine — especially in another country, placing her trust in people she may barely know? Phoenix grew up between two worlds: New York and Ecuador. Those experiences eventually brought her back to Cuenca, where spirituality, Reiki, women’s circles and San Pedro became an important part of her life. In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Tal...

How do you travel for six months without spending like a tourist every day? In this episode, I speak with Mirella, a young traveller of Cameroonian heritage who grew up in Germany and France and has spent several months travelling through Latin America. Along the way, she volunteered in Colombia and Ecuador, including as an English teaching assistant, at a refugee shelter, and with an Afro-Ecuador...

What happens when the life you planned abroad suddenly changes? In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks , Tony heads into the countryside outside Cuenca, Ecuador, with Mary and three dogs  for a conversation about travel, relocation, community, loss and starting over. Mary had already lived around the world before eventually settling in Colorado, where she spent decades working in real estate...

What happens when rising rent makes you rethink not just where you live — but how you live? Chris worked in construction in the United States before deciding he’d had enough of paying rent. That decision led to four years of van life and, eventually, a journey through Latin America. Over tea at El Cafecito in Cuenca, Ecuador, we talk about how an unexpected trip to Colombia for affordable dental w...

Someone listening to this series may inevitably be wondering:  Is ayahuasca for me? That’s where we begin the final part of my conversation with Daniel Hannah. Daniel talks about mental preparation, intention and respect for the traditions surrounding ayahuasca. We discuss what someone should look for when choosing a retreat, whether doing ayahuasca in its traditional South American setting matter...

What happens when you remove almost everything we normally depend on, food, water, phones, entertainment and even our sense of time? In Part 2 of my conversation with Daniel Hannah, we move beyond ayahuasca itself and into one of the more extreme experiences on his journey: a four-day, four-night vision quest in Peru’s Sacred Valley. Daniel describes entering isolation at roughly 3,500 metres, wit...

What leads someone from ordinary travel into the world of plant medicine? In Part 1 of this three-part conversation, Tony sits down with Australian traveller Daniel Hannah to talk about the journey that eventually led him to ayahuasca and a very different way of looking at healing, spirituality and personal growth. Daniel shares his story of travelling since 2016, his early experiences with psyche...

Douglas Chang was born in Ecuador, but his family story began thousands of kilometres away in China. Three of his grandparents came from China to Ecuador with very little, eventually settling in small communities near Guayaquil. Douglas remembers stories of his grandmother, his father leaving school at 12 to work, the family running small businesses, and the importance of cacao at a time when it r...

When Hannah O’Hare Bennett arrived in Ecuador as a Peace Corps agriculture volunteer, she wanted more than travel...she wanted to build relationships and truly understand a place. Placed in a small rural community near Saraguro, Hannah initially struggled with isolation, limited Spanish and the thought of spending two full years away from home. But through the patience, humour and warmth of her ho...

“Home is where the backpack is.” Ken has spent 40 years travelling the world and 36 years working internationally as a United Nations peacekeeper and diplomat. Born in what is now Zimbabwe, he was given 48 hours to leave the country at the age of 18 and began building a life without a permanent home. In this episode, Ken remembers travelling before smartphones, GPS, online reservations and ATMs......

Dan left London with a plan to travel through eight or nine countries across Latin America. Almost a year later, that plan looks very different. Three months in Panama became six months in Colombia. In Salento, an unexpected relationship pulled him into a local family and changed the direction of his journey. When the relationship ended, Dan had to move forward — but he doesn’t regret the experien...

What if your travel companion had been to 117 countries, needed his own luggage, had his own Instagram account—and happened to be a lion? Meet Montgomery J. Lion, better known as Monty, Ken’s rather unusual travel companion. Monty’s story began in Tanzania, when Ken brought him home for his son. Years later, when his son left for university, Monty joined Ken on the road—and never really stopped tr...

What will you remember from your travels a year from now?  Carina, a traveller from Germany, has taken a sabbatical to spend more than a year exploring the world. But she isn’t just travelling; she’s documenting the journey. Through a private written journal, photography, and printed photo albums for each country she visits, Carina is creating a personal record of the places she sees, the food she...

At 73, a traveler shares a very personal story about looking for companionship abroad, using an international matrimonial agency, and eventually marrying a woman in Colombia. He talks openly about spending thousands of dollars through the agency, the excitement of arriving in Medellín, falling in love, getting married and the red flags he admits he ignored along the way. At his request, we have ch...

What is it like to travel the world as a Black queer couple? In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks , Tony sits down with Ash and Phae, two slow travellers from the United States who share their experiences navigating the world while embracing multiple identities. From defining what “non-binary” and “queer” mean in their own words to discussing safety, community, and the realities of long-ter...

What does it take to visit all Seven Wonders of the World before turning 26? In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks, I sit down with Austin from the Netherlands, who set himself an ambitious goal: visit all seven of the New Seven Wonders before his 26th birthday. From watching the sunrise over Machu Picchu to seeing the Taj Mahal at dawn, Austin shares the unforgettable moments, unexpected tr...

What would you do if you had no return date? At just 24 years old, Fabian left behind a career in sports event management in Austria and bought a one-way ticket to South America. Six months later, he’s still exploring—discovering new cultures, making friendships in hostels, cheering alongside locals during the World Cup, and learning that travel is about much more than checking countries off a lis...

Should you join a group tour or travel independently? In this episode, I sit down with Nathan, an experienced traveller and international teacher, to compare the advantages and disadvantages of both styles of travel. We discuss safety, flexibility, cost, meeting new people, language barriers, and when each approach makes the most sense. We also talk about cruises, all-inclusive resorts, relocating...

In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks , Tony sits down with Azim, a 27-year-old teacher from Dublin, Ireland, who is working at an American international school in Valledupar, Colombia. Azim shares what led him to leave Ireland, how international teaching can open the door to travel, and what life is like in a hot, music-filled Colombian city famous for vallenato. The conversation explores c...

What really goes on behind the scenes of a hotel? In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks, Tony sits down with Pierce Lowney, an Irish hospitality professional who started working in a local pub at just 14 years old before building a career in luxury hotels. Now backpacking across South America, Peirce shares the stories, lessons, and unforgettable moments he’s experienced from both sides of t...

In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks, Tony sits down with Gregorio Cárdenas from Medellín, Colombia, who set out on the adventure of a lifetime: riding his motorcycle from Colombia to Ushuaia, Argentina—the southernmost city in the world. What started as a dream became a journey through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Along the way, Gregorio balanced life as a digita...

In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks , Tony sits down with Troy, who recently relocated from the United States to Cuenca, Ecuador — along with his dog, Cosmo. Troy shares the real process of moving internationally with a pet, including paperwork, airline restrictions, unexpected costs, and why he eventually used a pet transport service with a pet nanny. He also talks about the extra complic...

What is it like to move to another country at age 10, learn a new language, attend school in a different culture, and build a new life from scratch? In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks, Tony Lloyd sits down with Karmarri and his mother, artist Iyahdae Rose, as they reflect on two years living in Cuenca, Ecuador, before returning to the United States. Karmarri shares his experiences learnin...

What would make someone from Switzerland trade a plane ticket for a sailboat? In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks, Tony Lloyd sits down with Tobias, a young traveller who chose the slow route to the Americas. Instead of flying across the Atlantic, he spent 26 days at sea, sailing from Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands to Martinique in the Caribbean. Tobias shares what life was really like...

In this episode of El Cafecito Travel Talks, Tony Lloyd speaks with photographer and recent graduate Skye Jalal, who is travelling through Ghana, Kenya, Germany, Ecuador, and Mexico on a Watson Fellowship. Skye shares how photography became her way of exploring identity, community, family, and the African diaspora. She discusses her experiences photographing Afro communities across different count...