The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the June 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Couchsurfing in Iran by Stephan Orth. 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 Faceboo...

When we travel, we are sometimes wary of strangers - but should we be? The stories in Episode 242 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast suggest we shouldn't be. First up, I chat with Vince Dickson about one of his early travel experiences in Europe. He ended up almost penniless in Paris and that's when he came across a helpful stranger. I then talk to Pam Mandel who also had a wonderful experience with...

Some travel is for fun; other travel is for a huge range of reasons. And some travel turns out to be really emotional - that's the kind we are looking at in Episode 241 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. First up, I chat with Henry Gold. He's the son of two Holocaust survivors and tells the story of visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp with his mother when she was in her late seventies, when s...

It's a round-numbered episode so time for something different: this time I'm the one getting interviewed, and I answer questions about what happens behind the scenes of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, gathered from listeners through the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group and other social media sites. It's three years since I did the first Behind the Scenes episode and so much has changed. This ti...

Wandering the world with your eyes wide open means you'll inevitably encounter some incredible street art and murals. My favourites (to date) have been in Penang, Malaysia, but after exploring the topic more while making this episode I can't wait to see more in many other parts of the world.  My first guest in this episode is Jenny Herbert, who speaks about discovering the street art in a cit...

Travelling to participate in a sporting event is a niche reason to travel that a surprisingly large number of travel lovers have experienced during their loves, and I love the unique benefits and fun of trips for sport. In Episode 238 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I speak with three people who've travelled for a wide variety of sporting reasons. First up, I chat with Tim Tricker who has had man...

You know I'm all about travelling more thoughtfully and purposefully - and you might find it strange that I'm talking in Episode 237 with the author of a book about *not* travelling! Jenny Herbert's book "The Art of Being a Tourist at Home" is, as the title suggests, about how to get that travel feeling, and many of the benefits of travel, without straying far from your home turf, and certainly wi...

It's nearly a year since I recorded an episode about how Covid-19 was affecting us here in Western Australia, and what I thought about travel then and for the future: so it's time for another one.  In this special solo episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - inspired by a visit to the airport! - I talk about the Covid experience in Perth, Australia, over the past twelve months, and also sh...

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 ht...

Things inevitably go wrong when we travel and I know from experience that listeners of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast quite enjoy hearing these tales! In Episode 235 I have three guests sharing some travel slip ups - some of their own making and some quite out of their control. My first guest is Bob DiMenna who was travelling in Peru with two friends when they had an issue with, well, punctuality -...

Much of the fun of travelling is about bumping up against other cultures and habits - and these days as thoughtful travellers, we usually try to be prepared for this and learn what we can before we arrive. But cultural faux pas or "gross moments" happen to the best of us and there are some great examples to be found in Episode 234 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. First up, I chat with Bev Malzard...

Opportunities for university or college students to study abroad - during non-Covid times, of course - are very special. While I didn't get an opportunity to study abroad for any part of my university education, it's something I definitely want to encourage my son to do and putting together Episode 233 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast reminded me of many reasons why. First up, I chat with Jennifer...

It's party time!! The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, in the past week, has both turned five years old (ready to start school now!!) and download numbers have hit half a million. It's been a very exciting week in our household! In this special celebration episode, I start off with a quick chat about podcast statistics and where The Thoughtful Travel Podcast fits into download numbers in general (rememb...

We all have some kind of unconscious bias - or a few! - some stereotypes or misconceptions that we think deep down, even if in our conscious minds we don't think we do. It's human nature, but yet another marvellous part of travelling is it often helps us identify and confront these unconscious biases, and the examples from the guests in Episode 231 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast demonstrate this...

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the March 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams. 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 Fa...

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 tra...

Travelling abroad is an amazing experience but living abroad takes this to an entirely new level. It's not for everyone but if you've been fortunate enough to call new countries home or you're wondering whether you'd like to, Episode 229 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is for you. I chat first with Flip Byrnes, a bit of a serial ex-pat who has plenty to say about how living abroad compares to tra...

Volunteering abroad is an experience lots of thoughtful travellers contemplate - who doesn't want to give back when we can. But of course, we know that not all volunteering opportunities are created equal. In Episode 228 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three women who have had fairly in-depth volunteer experiences in Uganda, Zimbabwe and Nepal, and their stories might help you reflec...

Travelling to see the sights is one thing; travelling when you get to know some of the local people is a whole other level of wonderful experiences. Finding ways to have meaningful interaction with locals is something really important to me when I travel, and the three guests in Episode 227 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast illustrate some wonderful ways to do so. First up I chat with Tasha Goldber...

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 br...

Whether you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet or not, the stories in Episode 225 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast will still fascinate you, I'm sure! I start off chatting with Lindy Alexander, a social worker turned freelance writer who spent eight months living in rural Uganda in her mid-twenties. As a vegetarian, she was a bit concerned about what she could expect there in terms of food and what...

Usually the souvenirs we purchase on our travels are relatively small - we want to be able to fit them in our baggage to bring home, after all. I say usually: because Episode 224 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast proves that there are times when people make rather large purchases when they travel! Curiously, none of these three guests had any plan to make these big purchases on their trips - which...

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the January 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Bewildered by Laura Waters. 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...

Travelling with kids in tow is a great way to see the world, but if you're the only parent, it can add a degree of difficulty - but it can also make for the most rewarding trips of all! On Episode 223 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three single parents who've had wonderful experiences taking their kids away - although sometimes, things do go wrong! My first guest is Cindy Siano whose...

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 e...