The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

This year has been nuts! In a good way, thankfully. Episode 120 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is a fun summary of 2018 both in terms of my travel, everything I've learnt from that travel, everything I've learnt from all of you amazing listeners, and what the podcast has done this year. Listen in and you'll hear about what looking back on travel in Japan, Fiji, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam has...

Travel can be utterly life-altering in so many ways and this episode's three guests have brilliant stories to illustrate exactly that!  First I speak with Natascha Mirosch, with her story about a trip to a Greek Island which resulted in a completely life-changing event ... though you'll have to listen to find out what, no spoilers here! I then chat to Talon Windwalker, who brought tears to my...

They might be buzz words at the moment, but ecotourism and responsible travel are nonetheless super-important and that's why Episode 118 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about how to travel without causing any harm (and maybe even doing some good).  First up, I chat with my lovely friend Meagan of Malas With A Mission, who is one of my favourite people to talk to about the issue of res...

Learning should never stop just because you're not at school and in Episode 117 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast we talk about taking classes when you travel - because of just countless benefits that come with them! First up I chat with Tiana Templeman who is a bit of a pro at finding a class whenever she travels, regardless of the topic. She thinks it's a fantastic way to get a different experien...

How do you choose your next destination? In Episode 116 I chat with four travellers about the different ways they decide where they're going to travel next and between them we discover a multitude of reasons people choose their destinations - and there are no doubt still more! First up I chat with Tamara Gruber who takes some trips alone with her school-aged daughter and is clever at tying in some...

I’m always fascinated by cultural differences and if you’re travelling in Muslim countries there can be quite a lot of customs that are different to my home country of Australia. In Episode 115 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I’m bringing together stories of travelling in various Muslim countries from three guests who’ve all had interesting experiences. First up, I talk a...

I've had lots of special travel experiences in my life but my recent week in Cambodia with Hands On Journeys easily rates as one of the most special of all, so I'm really excited to share these chats with three of my fellow travellers in Cambodia - well, to be precise, two travellers and our one-and-only tour guide extraordinaire, Cham. First up, I chat with Meagan Hurst from California, who has p...

Anyone who's lived an expat life of some sort tends to be a good traveller, right? (Actually, I have a friend who's an exception to this, but it's rare.) In Episode 113 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three people who are currently living as expats - a Polish woman in the United States, a Swede in Australia and an Australian in South Korea, just to have a good mix! - about their expat...

Wellness travel is a fast-growing industry, but it's a part of travel that I haven't taken much part in to date. I'm intrigued, though, I was happy to speak to three guests for Episode 112 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast who have had a whole spectrum of wellness experiences as part of their travels. First up I chat with Cheri Shanti, who has had some really interesting experiences in central Amer...

Exploring the lesser-known parts of Thailand was something I was lucky to do recently following the annual Australian Society of Travel Writers convention in Bangkok. With a small group of delightful travel writers I explored the towns of Phrae and Nan in the north-east of Thailand and being such an "off the beaten path" pair of destinations, I just had to share something about them with you for E...

I didn't start off being all thoughtful about travel and I also know I still have so much to learn - and that'll continue to need to learn - about many of the ways we can approach our travelling in a more thoughtful way. But in this special episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Episode 110, I've put together a list of ten thoughts I've been thinking about thoughtful travel in the past little w...

When you travel, you take pictures. When you travel a lot, you take lots of pictures, and you start to want them to be good pictures! That's one reason why Episode 109 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast features three travel-lovers who've become interested in photography. First up, I chat with Jim Jones who got his first DSLR camera when he took a big trip through Europe by train - and has gone from...

My beautiful home country of Australia is a diverse place when it comes to nature, from the outback desert to tropical rainforest and everything in between. In Episode 108 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat to three travellers who have enjoyed different parts of the country while they've been exploring nature in Australia. I talk first with Kati Craythorn. She grew up in Berln but has since b...

Travelling as a teenager or with a teenager is eye-opening in many ways, and Episode 107 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about trips and holidays with teenagers. My son is a still a few years away from the teen years but I'm ready to learn about how to make travelling with teens as enjoyable as possibile! My first guest in this episode is Erin Gustafson who regularly travels with her three...

Sometimes food is the whole reason for a trip, but other times, like what we'll hear about in Episode 106 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, it's the unusual food experiences (planned or unplanned) that are what you remember. In this episode I chat first with Eva Westerling, who had some particularly unusual eating experiences while on a ten-day hike in the desert in Oman. Some parts of this chat a...

Lots of people enjoy visiting art galleries on their travels - I didn't start out that way but I'm definitely a convert now. In Episode 105 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three art lovers who have some great tips and ideas about art gallery sightseeing around the world. To start with I chat with Christine Knight, a fellow Aussie who spent a few year living in New York City - arguably...

As promised, I wanted to tell a bit more about some of the experiences we had on our recent Fiji trip, and I asked some of the friends I made on tour to join me for a chat - so Episode 104 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about Fiji and Empowerment Tourism.  I actually asked my friends Whitney and Luana to tell me about their favourite part and, like me, they both decided it was our da...

As a fairly hard-core extrovert, tackling the topic of “introvert travel” is something I have definitely had to leave to my guests, but Episode 103 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about their experiences of travelling as an introvert and I found it all fascinating! First up, I chat with Samantha Fisher who surprised me by saying she’s an introvert - she’s from the U...

Are certain places better - or perhaps easier, and more fun - take your children travelling? In Episode 102 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast we talk about child-friendly cultures for travellers, a topic that came up after I started hearing from my interviewees about some particular countries and cultures where kids were especially welcome. First up, I chat for the first time with Lindsay and Marsh...

Which destination would you love to return to? In Episode 101 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I’ve asked some of my guests about the destinations they keep returning to. Mine, for the record, is Japan - I lived there for two years, and have been back twice since, but want to go as many more times as is humanly possible! My first guest on this episode is Lucas Peters, who currently lives in...

I asked in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group for some ideas for celebrating the milestone of releasing Episode 100 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast and Emma came up with the fabulous idea of going behind the scenes. Thanks to everyone who pitched in with more questions and especially to Kati Craythorn who offered to interview me. This episode is a chat with Kati asking me those questions an...

Travel safety is often a concern and I'm sure I'm not the only one who checks government safety advisory messages (often with a grain of salt, it must be said) before I travel to a new destination. But honestly, crazy things can happen whether you're at home or abroad and I tend to agree with Pam Lynch, one of the guests in Episode 99 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, when she talks about the sent...

Ever got lost when you've been travelling? In my experience getting lost usually means you have a fun story to tell and that is definitely the case with the guests in this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast.  First up I chat with Kelly from Global Goose who had a bit of an incident following a hiking trail in the jungle in Borneo. All worked out well, of course, because Kelly lived to t...

If you ever get the chance to choose to live in another country (perhaps for study or work, or many other reasons) then you're very lucky because it's a special experience indeed. In Episode 97 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I talk with three lovely guests about their experiences of living in other countries for work or as part of their studies and we truly traverse the world, talking about Tha...

Africa is one of those most amazing destinations, and of course it's not a single destination but countless different countries and regions which are all so different to each other - yet we tend to lump them in together, probably because many of us haven't got to exploring too much of Africa yet. I start Episode 96 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast chatting with Linda Schlencker, who has spent many...