Speaking of Travel® With Marilyn Ball

Fede Vargas was born in Mexico and raised in Canada. He’s a former adrenaline-driven sales exec who is now on a purpose-driven podcasting journey and the creator and host of the popular podcast My Most Authentic Life . Fede shares how he connects with people choosing to live courageously and inspire and empower us to create the life we truly want to explore with self-compassion, self-care, and hum...

Jan Schroder is a travel writer and editor for close to 25 years and shares how she began her career. Jan provides advice for people who want to be successful travel writers and also reveals some useful travel tips. For many years, Jan was the managing editor of a travel magazine and a freelance travel writer for well-known outlets including Fodor’s, Orbitz, Global Traveler and International Livin...

Speaking of Travel takes us into the private world of two maestros of the kitchen who share their passion for community with stories and inspirations to reveal what helped them become modern culinary legends. Chef Erica McCier, also known as Chef Trudy, is the owner and executive chef of Indigenous Underground restaurant in Abbeville, SC. Chef Erica’s indomitable spirit, talents in the kitchen, an...

Amit Jaipuria, founder of Postcard Travel Club , is connecting luxury travelers with boutique hotels and tours that advance responsible tourism and shares why storytelling helps make travel a force for good. When you put people who live in and care about destinations at the center of travel content, their innate joy in sharing their stories and their passion for place says it all. Amit shares the...

Travel is known to change you. Surrounding yourself with different cultures, different people and different outlooks on life are bound to change all of us a bit.  That’s one of the greatest things about traveling as a whole - apart from tasting the different cuisines of course! We are on a constant learning curve as we venture from our comfort zones.   The Speaking of Travel + Leave No Trace Serie...

Speaking of Travel is celebrating our 10-year anniversary by revisiting classic Speaking of Travel conversations from our first decade, like this one with Pico Iyer , essayist and author, best known for his travel writing and one of the most revered and respected travel writers alive today. Pico brings an understanding of the beauty and wisdom of cultural differences and shares how an emerging glo...

Marcy Berra shares her travel stories and reflects on travel memories spanning many years and many countries. Marcy explains how to immerse yourself in the local culture by connecting with the people, history and food.  Listening to Marcy's stories fuels imagination. She has the courage to open herself up to taking risks and making changes. She is flourishing and adapting her strength to help...

Travel insurance continues to be one of the most confusing aspects of the travel experience. Ben Camille is a foremost travel insurance expert and founder and CEO of Travel Defend, the leading insurance broker. Ben answers questions and shares tips on how to know what to look for to travel smarter. Ben is an entrepreneur and shares how his businesses begin and develop into leading industry leaders...

The Speaking of Travel and Leave No Trace TV series continues with host Richard Crawford and director and camera person, Ben Alcott. They share tips for safety and health while traveling and what’s coming on Season Two.  You can now watch all episodes of Leave No Trace TV , Season One, on Tubi , the leading free, premium, on-demand video streaming app, and on Bingenetworks.tv . Ben and Ricky share...

Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks shares her new book, "Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage,” a memoir of her adventures in music and her hopes for tomorrow. Inna shares what it was like growing up in Odessa, studying in Chicago, and teaching in Los Angeles. Her poignant, beautiful story about love and hope includes the special people in her lif...

Mark Gordon Smith, founder of Private Italy Tours, shares the current state of travel to Italy. Find out how hotel costs in Italy are changing and which websites you can use to find competitive fares and techniques to negotiate directly with airlines. Mark also shares where visitors are going in Italy to avoid crowds and large cities, the new itinerary services offered by Private Italy Tours, and...

Loti Woods, Co-Founder and Ex. Director of Champions For Wildlife, shares how traveling and educating children about how to love wildlife using art is helping create a passion for helping to change the world.  Loti and her husband travel around the country for their nonprofit Champions for Wildlife with a very simple mission: To inspire kids to fall in love with wildlife using art.  Their focus is...

Imagine hospitality providers who instill their guests with the confidence and inspiration to try new things and new places to explore. Jennifer Simpson, CEO (Chief Experience Officer) and co-owner of Bespoke Experiences, based in New Orleans, provides custom, luxury travel services in 17 cities throughout the US and Canada.  Jennifer shares why creating superlative human experiences that connect...

Professional dancer and trained musician Mickela Mallozzi is the award-winning host and producer of Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi , a dance travel series covering her adventures as she experiences the world, one dance at a time.  Mickela is magical and joyful and so passionate about the people of the world you just want to be with her and dance! From re-discovering her family’s roots in Southern...

Julie Kaplan shares her solo adventure in Iraq and how her visit was transformative, challenged stereotypes and showcased the country's vibrant culture. And how she created a video series, "Julie in Iraq,” that is getting rave reviews.   Julie's passion for travel ignited at the age of 12 when she embarked on solo trips to visit her grandparents on the East Coast of the US. Since th...

Guy Groom, an independent traveler with a passion for going off track into remote locations and exploring isolated cultures, shares how his inspirations for traveling changed over time and why not all those who wander are lost. Guy explains why the freedom to wake up and do what presents itself to him is priceless, and what it feels like to truly be in the moment in the environment.  And how his j...

Today we continue with the Speaking of Travel + Leave No Trace Series with Richard Crawford. Richard is the host of the popular TV series, Leave No Trace TV, and together we highlight the importance of conservation, sustainable travel and eco-tourism. And Ricky has been out there traveling!  On this episode, Ricky catches us up on where he and his crew have explored for Season Two of Leave No Trac...

Key West continues to be a vibrant writers' colony and journalist Carey Winfrey compiled a new eclectic collection, “Key West Sketches – Writers At Mile Zero,” by writers who have lived, worked, and played in Key West. Carey spent 45 years as a journalist in newspapers, television and magazines, retiring as only the third editor of Smithsonian magazine in 2011, the year he and his wife Jane b...

People began traveling to Jackson County to beat the heat in the 1790s. Guests Nick Breedlove, ED of Jackson County tourism and Brett Stewart of Outland Hospitality in Cashiers, NC, share why this region is the place to cool off. There is so much to see and do in Jackson County. With charming small towns like Balsam, Cashiers, Cullowhee, Dillsboro, Glenville, Sylva, Tuckasegee, Webster, and Whitti...

Neil Weinstein dedicates his life to helping solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. But it wasn't always that way.  Neil shares what it was like growing up in a family that never traveled and how he eventually found his wanderlust. He explains how he transitioned his career to international development, where his job is travel. Over the years he and his wife Annette have lived and work...

For author Sierra Godfrey, living abroad as a child opened her eyes to the greater world and made her appreciate change. Sierra shares how her love of finding home and transformation helped create uplifting stories. Sierra is a Santa Cruz, CA, native and her love for her hometown comes through in her debut novel, A Very Typical Family. Her forthcoming  novel, The Second Chance Hotel, is set in Gre...

Sometimes a journey back into family secrets becomes so riveting, you can't help but be transported. For author Dominic Smith, his newest novel, Return to Valetto , transports readers to a near-abandoned town in Umbria, Italy. Dominic shares a story rich in history, resilience, and courage.   Dominic explains the book's connection to Italy and how his research evolved during his travels...

Matt Willey is an artist with a love for honeybees. He's the founder of The Good of the Hive Initiative, a global art project with a radical mission of bringing people together through art, bees and conservation. The bee and her hive are his symbol, but the project is about much more than bees. Matt shares his background as an artist and why he's now painting 50,000 honeybees in murals a...

Gerry Ellis is the founder and director of the nonprofit GLOBIO, which he launched in 2001 after a 20-year career as a wildlife-environment photographer/filmmaker traveling the entire planet. At GLOBIO he continues to travel leading up the organization's filming and media programs in the wilds of Africa and Borneo to bring the plight of great apes and primates into view. GLOBIO is a global aw...

Amit Jaipuria is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience founding startups across diverse industries. He is also the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at the Postcard Travel Club where he’s building a social network of mindful travelers interested in promoting mindful travel through storytelling. Amit shares why traveling mindfully becomes a better way to travel and its role in sel...