The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

I really love a good cultural difference. It’s true! I find the differences in everyday life around the world utterly fascinating and it’s one of the reasons I keep travelling, trying to hunt more down. In Episode 79 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three other travellers who have also discovered some interesting cultural differences on their travels. First up is Reeva Cutt...

Sometimes crossing a border into a new country is simple. Sometimes it’s not - and it’s the not-simple crossings that turn into great stories later! In Episode 78 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with several guests who’ve had some particularly interesting border crossing moments. First up, I chat with Elizabeth and Jeff Newcamp, who are currently living in Europe and had...

Do you have an unstoppable urge to travel? You are not alone! In Episode 77 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with two fellow travel-lovers who just feel they must travel, as much as possible.   To start off with, I chat with Matt Eakin of Himalayan Schoolies, who started his real travelling adventures age 17, with no particular plan other than that he should catch a plane and go somew...

While sometimes we are inclined to feel suspicious of strangers, the fact is that 99.9% of people are good and when you travel, you will often come across some especially kind strangers. In Episode 76 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three travellers who have had some fantastic and even life-changing experiences meeting strangers on their travels. First up, Kelly Dunning of Global Goo...

Who doesn’t love nature - at least some of the time? Episode 75 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about travels in nature, and the many and varied forms this travel can take.   It starts off in pretty extreme nature when I chat with Luke Mackin, who has a tale of confronting nature in rural Sumatra. But Samantha Fisher, my next guest, has another take completely and describes urba...

Travelling for the first time is something you always remember. And travelling on your own for the first time is possibly even more memorable. In Episode 74 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I talk with four very experienced travellers who all have very clear memories of their first solo adventure and love talking about it. The common theme is that all of them have gone on to travel a whole heap m...

When you travel, something is bound to go wrong. Most of the time, whatever went wrong ends up making a good story, and that’s exactly what the three travellers in Episode 73 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast think too. In this episode, I start of chatting with Luke Mackin of Wild Sumatra, who has two equally hilarious tales about things that have gone wrong both on his travels and in his expat lif...

Visiting museums when you’re somewhere new is very high on the list of many travellers. I don’t love all museums, but there are many around the world that I really truly do love. In Episode 72 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with four travellers who all have lots to say about their love of museums.   First up, I chat with Leah Smileski of Kid Bucket List who is very passi...

If you’ve ever felt anxious about travelling, please rest assured that you are absolutely not alone! In Episode 71 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, we are talking about getting past travel anxiety, and I hope that hearing from experienced travellers who take amazing trips but still feel anxious about that regularly will help you realise that travel anxiety is way more common than you’...

How does growing up as part of several different cultures change you as a person? Or growing up in many different countries? These questions fascinate me and in Episode 70 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I speak with two travellers who have experience with these particular questions.   First up, I chat with Leah Smileski who recently took her children to spend a couple of months in Macedonia...

Making mistakes on our travels is just par for the course, I think, and the three guests on Episode 69 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast have all made different mistakes and come out okay at the other end!   Hayden Lee agrees that mistakes generally lead to the best travel stories. He has a great tale to tell about a road trip in outback Queensland that may have included a mistake or two. &nbs...

Travelling solo is a fabulous experience but not everyone thinks they’re ready for it. In Episode 68 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three solo travel lovers who have various stories and experiences to tell which can give you some tips for making yourself a solo travel success.   I start off with Becky Livingston who has a lovely funny tale to tell about what happened on a...

It’s rare an episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast focuses on just one destination, but when it’s my beautiful home state of Western Australia, I think it’s a must! In this episode I chat with three travellers who’ve explored much of WA and all found lots to love. First up, I chat with Zoë Dawes, who came out to Western Australia for a short trip last year. As a ver...

Regular listeners already know I think it’s enormously beneficial to take your kids travelling from a young age, but in Episode 66 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three other mothers who agree with me. First up is family travel expert Sharon Gourlay of Where’s Sharon. With three kids aged between one and seven, and many, many trips with them under her belt, she’s wel...

Hearing about people’s first trips is fascinating and Episode 65 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about the first times some very experienced travellers ventured out of their comfort zones. First up, Alicia Nelson talks about the first trip she took without her family. A school trip to Washington DC turned out to be pretty life-changing. Sharon Gourlay of Where’s Sharon is one o...

If you travel much at all, you’re going to encounter foreign languages, and Episode 64 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about how learning languages and living in foreign countries has changed the experiences of these three travel-loving guests. First up, I chat with Yasmin Newman who’s a fellow language lover. She’s spent time in both France and Mexico with the goal of im...

Travel can be life changing in many ways and the guests in Episode 63 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast are proof of that. To start off, Amanda chats with Penny Wincer who made what Amanda sees as a huge decision to spend a year volunteering in Thailand at the age of just 18. She definitely learnt a lot and it set the tone for how she’s approached travel - and many aspects of life - ever sinc...

Who doesn’t love exploring new cuisines on their travels? Amanda is always keen to set her taste buds loose on some new foods but as her guests and Amanda discuss in Episode 62 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, it’s not just about the taste buds: foods in other countries can also teach us a lot. In this episode Amanda starts by chatting with Alicia Nelson who learnt some foodie le...

Amanda could give you a page full of reasons she feels a sense of gratitude connected to travelling, but instead, she's going to let her three guests share some of the reason they feel grateful thanks to their travels.   First up Amanda speaks with Alicia Nelson, who is grateful for an important lesson she learnt about life at home while she was travelling. Then Amanda chats to Cassandra...

It’s the round-numbered episode 60 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast and that means Amanda has a mixed bag for you: the common theme is these chats are either fun or philosophical or both. First up, Amanda chats with Becky Livingston who is definitely a kindred spirit on the topic of travel and they had a philosophical chat about all the wonderful reasons we should travel. Changing tone, Aman...

Episode 59 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about having conversations with locals when you travel. Meeting local people is such a fun and rewarding part of travelling and it’s something Amanda always tries to do, even if she has to push herself a bit beyond her comfort zone to do it. In this episode, Amanda start off by chatting with Alicia Nelson about some great lessons she learned...

Travelling solo is a really special way to travel and it’s the focus of Episode 58 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. Everyone’s experience of solo travel is different and these three guests all have a different story to tell from travelilng on their own.  First up, Amanda chats with Abby Lewtas who was inspired by a cousin to hit the world on her own, and took off for a big backpa...

In Episode 57 of The Thoughtful Travel podcast Amanda talks about taking photos of people on your travels, by chatting with a couple of photographers she knows who volunteer with her  for the Fremantle International Portrait Prize. She always feels like photographers are particularly good at being thoughtful travellers because they are always trying to get into the minds of the locals to get...

Travelling to unique places or travelling for unique reasons fascinates Amanda and the three guests she speaks with for Episode 56 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast have some very unique stories to tell. Starting off with fellow travel blogger Sharon Gourlay, they chat about her recent trip to a place that Amanda would love to see - North Korea. Politics aside, it’s simply a truly unique expe...

Travel is so very often life-changing - it’s one of the big reasons Amanda is always trying to encourage people to travel more. On Episode 55 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda talks with three people who agree with her. Amanda's first two guests, Kate Forsyth and Zoë Dawes, speak of their early experiences of travel and how that changed their lives. Kate had some adventurous time...