Speaking of Travel® With Marilyn Ball

Imagine turning your passion for adventure into a meaningful cause to help save the planet. Jasper Horsey shares why he and his three mates began Tuk South and spent the last of their savings on two Tuk-Tuks to travel the world and highlight the conservation of wild spaces and the people protecting them. Discover why Jasper, Josh, Ivo and Robbie, four conservation-minded adventurers living in Keny...

Annette Joseph lives half the year in La Fortezza , a medieval fortress in the countryside of northern Tuscany. She loves entertaining and offers creative retreats and workshops teaching styling, photography, painting and cooking. And did I mention shopping?  Annette's book about the renovation journey of La Fortezza is covered in her book, "Italy is My Boyfriend." Her new book abou...

The Speaking of Travel + Leave No Trace series continues on location in Australia with Richard Crawford where he's busy working on Season Two of Leave No Trace TV. After a whirl-wind few months of travel, Ricky is in Australia with the show’s director and cameraman (and so much more), Ben Alcott. Listening to these two is a real treat!  Ricky and Ben share how they’re witnessing a greener tra...

Namrata Patel’s poignant and witty story, “The Candid Life of Meena Dave,” explores diaspora and dual-cultural identity among Indian Americans and why traveling helps to better understand what home really means. Namrata explores why travel, patience and perseverance are valuable traits to cultivate and pushes you to keep trying. "There’s an old saying that goes, 'If at first you don’t su...

For entrepreneur Becky Cannon, traveling and learning from different cultures is an integral part of providing healthy and practical products for the well-being and development of babies and families. From an early age, Becky questioned her life’s purpose and wondered, “How can I contribute in a positive way to these overwhelming global challenges around me?” Fast forward 40 years and her marketin...

Mark Chesnut is a New York-based travel writer and public speaker. He's the 2019 winner of the NLGJA Excellence in Travel Writing Award and the author of the new memoir "Prepare for Departure" (Vine Leaves Press, 2022), which explores, among other relatable topics, the transformative power of travel. Mark shares some of his earliest travel memories and the role travel played in his...

Chow Chow is a unique culinary event series in Asheville, NC, providing a platform to amplify voices working to sustain and strengthen its community and promote the culture and culinary scene. Rebeca Lynch is the Executive Director of Chow Chow and has served alongside the passionate and committed volunteer board of directors. She supports the region’s community of creative makers, helping build c...

The Speaking of Travel + Leave No Trace Series with Richard Crawford continues. Richard is the host of the Amazon Prime TV series Leave No Trace. And today we have a special guest. Dr. Rachel Dodds has over 20 years of international experience across a wide spectrum of the tourism industry, is the Director of “Sustaining Tourism,” a boutique consulting firm and is also an Associate Professor at Ry...

Traveling across the world as a solo female, Christy Teglo documents her unique experiences along the way. Christy shares what it's like traveling again after these past few years and how it feels to be in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and her nine-day hiking tour in Ecuador.  And Christy talks about her love for long distance thru hiking. Her book, Weathered: Finding Strength on the John Muir Tra...

Clark Lovelace, Executive Director for the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority in Western North Carolina, shares how sustainable and educational initiatives help improve healthy growth and protects natural resources.  Despite the challenges over the past few years, Clark, his team, and members of the community continue to step up. Their tourism leaders understand the needs of locals...

Nicole Smith, founder of Flytographer, a travel service that connects you with hand-picked local photographers in many destinations around the world, turned her side hustle into a multi-million dollar business. Today, Nicole and her team have grown Flytographer into a multi-million dollar business that operates across six continents and was ranked as one of the fastest-growing startups. She is pas...

Gandhi once said, “Though what you have to give may seem insignificant, it is very important that you give it.” Tanya Weaver, Executive Director of the American Foundation for Children with AIDS (AFCA), has helped families in some of the most underserved and marginalized communities in Africa. AFCA is a non-profit organization providing critical comprehensive services to infected and affected HIV+...

Milenlli Araya Masis is a naturalist guide in the Manuel Antonio region. Born in Costa Rica, she provides education into the country’s biodiversity with a vast knowledge of conservation, wildlife and history.  Costa Rica has 169 areas of conservation protecting 26% of the territory, with 5% of the biodiversity of the planet.  Milenlly shares some of the projects helping create successful conservat...

Francois Lemay is a professional goalie instructor and a hockey ambassador who traveled to North Korea to coach their hockey teams. His book, "If I Ever Make It Back: Coaching Hockey In North Korea," captures some of his stories about spending time with local North Koreans no one talks about and its resilient, humble, shy and down-to-earth athletes.  Also on Speaking of Travel is Chef Lu...

The Speaking of Travel + Leave No Trace Series with Richard Crawford of the Amazon Prime TV series, Leave No Trace, continues. Learn how to better prepare for traveling and find solutions to become a savvy traveler.  Ricky talks about his latest travel experiences and shares his observations on what we can do to be smarter about traveling and how to get the most value out of this privilege we have...

Travel writer Joshua Jung traveled to Uzbekistan as a tourist and before long he began to feel as though he was being treated like a local. Josh shares why sometimes it's better to stand out as a tourist. Josh describes why being immersed in the life, culture, and language of another country through the lens of a local is the experience travelers search for. But for Josh, being an American –...

Connie Berry’s dream of becoming an archaeologist ended when she learned there was more to it than discovering the tombs of lost pharaohs. Instead, she created the Kate Hamilton Mystery series, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Her sense of place and love of the British Isles sets the tone for adventure and mystery.  Connie shares how she first...

Andy Teirstein composes for film, opera, and movement theater and he finds inspiration in the folk roots of modern culture and as a folk fiddle and banjo player. His new album, “Restless Nation,” reflects, musically, on his many travels. Andy's early life reflects an eclectic background comprised of music, clown work, exploration, and acting. A vagabond by nature, his travels have helped brin...

Marilyn Ball, host of Speaking of Travel, and Richard Crawford of the Amazon Prime show, Leave No Trace TV, share current travel stories and tips to help you become a savvy traveler and equip you with skills to make travel easy.  Even pre-pandemic, there was a surge in consumer consciousness and places were being built on sustainability. Ricky shares tips for choosing certified sustainable accommo...

Mark Collins, partnerships manager with RomanticAsheville.com, is at the center of creating successful partnerships in the travel and tourism industry and shares how cooperation and partnerships are used to achieve business and community goals. Mark shares how the resiliency of the travel industry over these past few years has helped turn us more into sustainable tourists, with an aim to travel wi...

Diana Ralston is the founder and executive director of Can’d Aid, a national nonprofit that is creating a movement rallying people to become catalysts for change in their own communities through an unconventional approach to giving back. Diana’s many years of experience in the nonprofit sector and her entrepreneurial approach is changing the way people think about philanthropy.  Can’d Aid's r...

Dayna Reggero of the Climate Listening Project is collaborating with Gulf Coast locals to help protect the place they love from oil and gas development through filming and making art to lift up the truth tellers. The Gulf Coast is not a sacrifice zone for pollution with already existing oil and gas development and now with 24 proposed LNG gas export terminals. This will be very harmful for the fra...

Richard Crawford, host of the Amazon Prime TV show, Leave No Trace, shares his recent journey to Australia and what it's like to travel today, addresses some of the challenges for sustainable tourism, and provides tips for becoming a more mindful traveler. Richard is passionate about the health of our planet and helps us highlight the importance of conservation, sustainable travel and eco-tou...

At 15, Hilde Lysiak believes you can accomplish anything, regardless of age or gender. In her memoir, Hilde on the Record, she shares her journey in finding her voice and discovering what is most meaningful in her life. At age seven she launched a newspaper and realized kids can plunge into the world and take action. Today she feels like her own world is just beginning. Hilde is an American journa...

Sonya and Frank DiPalma recently spent time in Sardinia, Italy, as part of Sonya’s research for a book about the Homeless European Land Project (HELP) which provided refuge for about a dozen displaced persons in the late 1950s thanks to actress Hope Lange and actor Don Murray. HELP served as a model for the United Nations for resettlement of refugees and it also influenced the creation of the Peac...