Speaking of Travel® With Marilyn Ball

Brian Biro has delivered over 1,300 presentations around the world and is one of the nation's foremost speakers and teachers of leadership, possibility thinking, thriving on change and team building and is the author of 11 books including bestseller, Beyond Success! Brian talks to us about how travel is so empowering and how staying in our comfort zones can become confinement zones. He loves...

Dayna Reggero of The Climate Listening Project, Rita Frost of Dogwood Alliance and Rev. Leo Woodberry of the Justice First Tour, discuss forest conservation and how to protect our connection to nature. Forests are life-sustaining. Forests provide us with the very air we breathe and clean our drinking water supply. They are our connection to nature and can help us cope with stress, fatigue and anxi...

Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park and Lake Lure is just a short forty-minute ride from Asheville and within the Blue Ridge Foothills of Western North Carolina. I love this place! Find out all there is to see and do with my guests from Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park, the Broad River Inn, the Esmeraldo Inn, Lake Lure Inn, and the Burntshirt Vineyards Tasting Room and Bistro. There’s a...

Liquid Spark Foundation founder Julie Thorner leads small groups of women through Eastern Tibet with a mission to connect with women on the other side of the world and learn a different way of life. She began the non-profit foundation to help provide education sponsorships to Tibetan young women to go to college, as well as fund projects at the nunnery they visit based on the needs and interests o...

Asheville Van Life founder & director Micah Pulleyn explains how the van life culture is rising to stardom. Find out how people thrive in their careers while exploring the world and enjoy the freedom and flexibility of being digital nomads. Asheville Van Life operates with the principles of respect, imagination, curiosity, connection and humility. The beauty of the van life community is in its...

Drew Binsky has visited 140 countries since 2012 and brings the world to all of us. He inspires people to step out of their familiar zone and shows us we are all one with his unique videos and stories. Drew is a blogger, teacher, traveler, entrepreneur and innovator. And is well-loved by many! Drew tells us about his journey so far and how he's made a career from making travel videos online a...

Grant and Megan Baird are self professed travel junkies and took a giant leap of faith when they left to travel around the world. Find out how they shook things up and changed their lives for the better. We talk about making the decision to leave comfortable careers, their home and pets, and how they prepared for this epic journey and created the freedom to find themselves. Thanks for listening to...

Adriana Chavela Stamey and Ron Stamey are a husband and wife pair and lifelong entrepreneurs who founded Hola Carolina Magazine. While Adriana and Ron are business partners, they insist that couples going into business together remember to put the same investment into their own relationship. In fact, they share the same thirst for adventure and love traveling to new places just as much as they lov...

For Eytan Elterman and Marco Bollinger, making the film 2.5%-The Osa Peninsula, was the catalyst that led them to launch Lokal Travel and work to transform the travel industry for the better. Eytan and Marco fell in love with the Osa Peninsula while filming their documentary and partnered up to form Lokal Travel in an effort to address the lack of support for local communities like in the Osa Peni...

Did you know spending time in nature improves your brain, reduces stress and keeps you fit? I know when I walk through the forest and climb up to a mountain overlook, it clears my head and allows me to reboot. As John Muir said, "The clearest way into the Universe is though a forest wilderness.” At home in NC’s Great Smoky Mountains, naturalist and writer George Ellison and his artist wife, E...

Eryn Murman and Jason Hite of 5jBarrow recently took a one-year tour of the US, moving their life out of NYC and into a van, getting married, and finding out how different our culture is from town to town. They explain how busking is different in cities and towns like NYC, Asheville, New Orleans, Burlington, San Francisco, and how they witnessed their music to be an amazing tool in breaking down w...

Mark and Patrick took a trip of a lifetime to Patagonia and added challenge and excitement to their lives. They ventured outside of their bubble of protection to live this adventure to the fullest and explain how the trip unfolded and why they chose to go there. Find out why this epic journey was so worth all the effort to make it happen and the gifts they received for this incredible experience....

Mike Aiken is a musician whose love for singing, songwriting, and sailing has taken him all over the world. He talks to us about sailing the world in search of music, what it's like to view the world from the deck of a sailboat and his newest album, Wayward Troubadour. And he reminds us that no matter where you travel, there are good people everywhere! Thanks for listening to Speaking of Trav...

Are you longing to get happy, kick back and have a real California beach experience? Kelly Miller, President of Visit Huntington Beach, the official destination marketing organization for Surf City, USA, (which by the way was recently ranked one of the happiest places to live), explains why Surf City's endless summer is the place for you. Kelly is a longtime travel professional who loves to r...

Danielle Visco and Ryan Rabidou are entrepreneurs who took a turn leading Airstream’s Endless Caravan. Danielle and Ryan traveled to the best snowboarding spots in the US like Jackson Hole, Big Sky and Sun Valley. They left their schedule purposefully flexible to chase winter storms over the two-month journey. Find out what it’s like to take an adventure-packed winter trip living a nomadic lifesty...

The Speaking of Travel Climate Listening Project Series continues with Dayna Reggero and guests Carl Chesick of the Center for Honeybee Research and Phyllis Stiles of Bee City USA. We discuss how places are working to be pollinator friendly, how climate change is impacting bees, why pollinators are important for food and biodiversity, why bee research is important and more! Thanks for listening to...

Although Jane Kramer’s roots are in the traditional music of Appalachia, she tells us how traveling influences her songwriting and explains her method for tapping into the soul of each place she visits. And she sings for us too! Jane's newest album will be released this fall. www.janekramermusic.com Thanks for listening to Speaking of Travel ! Visit speakingoftravel.net for travel tips, trave...

Bistra Hristova is a photographer who grew up in Bulgaria and has lived in the US for 20 years. Her interest in traveling is fueled by a connection to nature and a desire to explore a simpler way of life. Bistra talks to us about travel, hiking and how art is a big part of her upbringing. She also explains what it was like coming to the states and finding her true self. Thanks for listening to Spe...

I’ve lived in Western North Carolina for 40 years and had never been to MerleFest until a few weeks ago. And I'm here to tell you MerleFest is one of the most organized music events I’ve ever attended with an amazing lineup of talent. This was the 31st year and it's like a big camp for musicians and music fans held on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina....

What is Green Travel really? The Speaking of Travel Climate Listening Project Series continues with my guests Dayna Reggero and Sam Ruark-Eastes, director of the Green Built Alliance. We discuss why and how to offset travel carbon, what to look for in green travel destinations, how hotels can be greener, how Airbnb homes can be green built certified and more! Sustainable travel is about creating a...

MerleFest, founded in 1988 and one of the best music festivals in the country, is an annual homecoming for musicians and music fans, held on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, NC. Learn about the history of the festival and hear from some of the top performers, including Town Mountain, The East Pointers and Nu-Blu! A fun time is always had by all so get to MerleFest! Thanks for...

Michele Laub believes the path of transformation is often revealed on a journey to a sacred site and she leads guided spiritual journeys to Teotihuacan, The Pyramid City in Central Mexico, the Ancient Home of the Toltecs, known as Artists of the Spirit. Michele explains the history of Teotihuacan and what happens to a traveler on a spiritual journey, the connection of don Miguel Ruiz, author of Th...

Imagine traveling the world with your bestie who is your twin! Gregg and Ross Levoy take a month-long trip every year and they have fun stories to share! Traveling with your twin does have benefits! Gregg and Ross tell us about the advantages of traveling as twins, their hunger for novelty and why they travel for a month out of every year... (hint--because they can!) and why they love getting clos...

Mary Jaeger-Gale, GM at Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park, is back in the studio with an update on all things Spring! Park Improvements, Hiking Adventures, Photo Workshops, Mother’s Day Weekend Special, Spring Break Family Fun, Earth Day, SprinGo in Chimney Rock Village and Memorial Day Weekend Family Fun! One visit will just not be enough! Photo credit: Dave Johnston Thanks for listening to...

Jonna Kwiatkowski has researched and taught about the psychology of creativity and aesthetics for 22 years and recently took a sabbatical on the island of Mallorca. What she experienced is transforming. Jonna and I talk about why she took take a sabbatical and how she decided to go to Mallorca. We also talk about what it was like to live somewhere she didn’t intend to live for long and how the set...