The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

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...

Honestly, the benefits of travelling with kids are uncountable - and that’s benefits both for kids and their parents! in Episode 54 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda talks with three travel-loving parents about how they travel with their kids. First up, novelist Natasha Lester talks about what her three children learn from their travels abroad and how she considers it a far better edu...

It’s common to face a few difficulties when we travel but in Episode 53 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda chats with three guests who face more than their fair share of challenges when they travel, because they or a family member has a disability or a chronic illness. Their stories are inspiring and of course, their desire to travel trumps the potential difficulties and Amanda lo...

Amanda is constantly amazed how creative and inspired she feels while she's travelling - without even trying, the creativity just seems to well up in her and pour out. The best bit is, it turns out she's not alone. In Episode 52 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda starts by chatting with Brooke McAlary about her experience of creativity when she’s on the road. Amanda was expecting her t...

Everyone has experienced culture shock on their travels, but what about reverse culture shock? When Amanda returned back to Australia after six years living in Asia and Europe, reverse culture shock hit her badly, and she's definitely not alone: Episode 51 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast includes chats with three other travellers who’ve had the same experience. 
First up, Amanda chats with...

Sitting in sunny Perth, Western Australia, makes cold weather or illness seem far from Amanda's mind, but they still happen to us on our travels and we still get through it! In Episode 50 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda chats with three guests about experiences of adverse weather and health on their travels and it turns out that these generally make for some good stories. First up, Amanda...

History can really come alive when you travel to the place where it happened. Episode 49 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about understanding history through travel, and Amanda talks with three history-lovers who have had great experiences learning about history while they travel. Zoë Dawes inherited a love of history from her father, and today when she travels she is always on the loo...

It’s been a whole year since The Thoughtful Travel Podcast launched and it has been an immensely fun and rewarding time! Episode 48 is the Grateful Anniversary Episode and Amanda starts off giving plenty of thank yous out to many people connected to this podcast, including Brooke and the fantastic Jackrabbit FM team, the dear old friends who agreed to be interviewed for the show before it ev...

Loathe tours? Amanda knows many thoughtful travellers recoil at the thought of a month-long bus tour of Europe, but there is a time and place for shorter, smaller tours and that’s the topic of Episode 47 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. First up, novelist Natasha Lester tells tales of the amazing private tours she took through Paris, helping her to research the history of fashion in a way t...

Travelling is a great way to make friends; travelling to meet up with online friends in the real world is another great reason to travel. In Episode 46 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda chats with three travellers who have tales to tell about the friends they meet up with around the world. First up, Cait Flanders describes the road trip she went on through the United States which include a...