Travel with Amateur Traveler Podcast

The Amateur Traveler talks to Pam Mandel of Nerd’s Eye View and the Holoholo Wale blogs about two less visited islands in the Hawaiian islands – Lanai and Molokai. Both islands are less developed than their neighbors and better islands for relaxing on a beach than filling up your time with excursions from the activity vendors. Molokai is the one of the two that stole Pam’s heart away with a more a...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Jon Miller of the Rest of Everest podcast about his journeys in Nepal. Jon originally went to Nepal as part of a film he was shooting on an Everest expedition, but as Jon tells it you come for the mountain but fall in love with the people and the culture. Jon describes Kathmandu with is various temples or stupas like Swayambhunath (the monkey temple) and Boudhanath wi...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Dave Grenewetzki about his recent trip to Iceland. Taking advantage of the weakness of the Icelandic economy Dave and his family drove the ring road around Iceland and visited places with great names like the waterfalls Svartifoss, Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss and Gulfoss, Lake Myvatn and the dark castles of Dimmuborgir, the glacial lagoon of Jokulsarlon, the geysers of...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt about his trip to the 5 different countries that make up the Gulf states: UAE (Dubai), Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. Each of these countries is an Arab country and a muslim country but in some, like Dubai, large portions of the population are from elsewhere. These countries include the very modern emirate of Dubai with its malls, hotels and an indoor sk...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Karl Anders who has traveled to Sri Lanka 8 times after striking up a friendship with the late author Arthur C. Clarke who settled there. Karl takes us on a vital tour of Sri Lanka from the capital of Colombo to the beautiful beaches to some of the archeological ruins at Dambulla, Sigiriya, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Dambulla is notable for some of the cave murals....

The Amateur Traveler talks to Ivan Hernares, an award winning Philippines travel blogger, about his home country of the Philippines. Ivan leads us on a virtual tour of the 7107 islands of the Philippines archipelago starting in Manila. Manila has the walled city of Intramuros that reflects its Spanish colonial heritage as well as its asian heritage in Binondo (its chinatown where we can pick up so...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Christine who comes to tell us that Wisconsin has more to offer than just visiting my relatives. She starts us on a tour of the state from the college town and capital of Madison with its street fairs, concerts and capital building. We hear about the influence of Wisconsin born architect Frank Lloyd Wright who founded his school of architecture at nearby Taliesin. We...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Sam Oppenheim (who has previously been on the show talking about trekking in the Himalayas and traveling to Cuba) about travel to Laos. Sam Visited Laos as part of a year spent traveling around the world when he traveled extensively in Asia. Sam’s itinerary included the capital of Vientiane as well as Luang Prabang, trekking in the hill villages around Luang namtha an...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Sarah from Whitehorse in the Yukon about that corner of Canada with long winters but dramatic scenery. She tells of of Winter festivals like the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous as well as Summer festivals like Dawson City Music fest, Atlin Arts and Music Fest and the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival. We talk about sporting events like the 24 Hours of Light and Kluane to...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Madeline Jhawar from the Italy Beyond the Obvious blog about Sicily. Madeline was a tour guide for a number of years in Italy and says that Sicily is where the tour guides vacation. This beautiful island is more intense than the rest of Italy but it is also rich in culture and history. It is sometimes an assault on the sense says Madeline who honeymooned on the island...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Lisa who has lived as student in Uruguay on two different occasions about that small South American country. Lisa talks about the capital city of Montevideo where she lived with independence plaza (and its statue to Jose Artigas), the markets, and the ramblas. She also talks about the food including the beef, chivito, mate, uruguay pizza, bizcocho, dulce de leche, and...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Nick from Iowa about his stay on the remote tropical island of Niue in the South Pacific. Niue is a coral atoll which is affiliated with New Zealand. This country has only 100 square miles and around 1500 people so this is a place to get away from it all and explore some of the striking scenery such as the coral formations of Togo Chasm, Vaikona Chasm and the Limu poo...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Lisa Lubin of LLWorldTour about her round the world trip which extended from a year to a two and a half year odyssey and a nomadic lifestyle. Lisa talks about her trip but also talks about the various jobs she worked along the way. Why would an Emmy winning TV producer want to work in a coffee shop in Australia, teach English in Germany, become a research assistant in...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Lee from Atlanta who is currently living in Qing Dao, China about traveling independently in Beijing, China. Lee describes getting around by bus, subway and taxi, eating street food, and biking through the Hutongs of Beijing. He guides us to lesser known sites like Beijing’s underground city and the site of the old Summer Palace. He leads us to the great wall at Badal...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Carole Terwilliger Meyers the author of Weekend Adventures in San Francisco and Northern California. Carole comes on the show to talk about California’s traditional wine country of Napa and Sonoma Valleys. This episode focuses primarily on the Napa Valley and the many wineries that can be found there. We explore recreated castles, wine tasting , tours as well as other...

The Amateur Traveler talks again to Douglas Duckett the author of a popular free travel guide to Israel. This time we talked to Douglass about traveling to the holy city, Jerusalem. We step back and look at Jerusalem through the eyes of the three major faiths for which it is a significant location: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. We look at significant sites for all three religions such as the Ch...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Diana Higuera who is a native of Venezuela who worked for a number of years as a tour guide on adventure tours to see Venezuela's wildlife and natural beauty. Diana takes us on a virtual tour starting in Margarita island, then heading to the Los Roques archipelago north of Venezuela, then in an indian canoe up the Orinoco river. From there we will head to the tepuis (...

This is a special Amateur Traveler episode that talks about the history of the show. It also includes one of the early episodes (episode 9 on Bad Hotels). It was recorded at the Park Royal resort on Cozumel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Amateur Traveler talks to Audrey Scott and Daniel Knoll of UncorneredMarket.com about Prague where they lived for 5 years. Audrey and Daniel are currently traveling around the world and talked to me from El Salvador. Audrey and Daniel talk about the touristy things to do in Prague like the Prague castle, the Charles bridge and Wenceslas Square. They also talk about the touristy things that the...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Jason and Janie about their trip to Bavaria and Southern Germany. Jason and Janie had perviously been on the Amateur Traveler on Travel to Barbados - Episode 109. The talk about visiting the Black Forest with its wineries, Geramany’s tallest waterfall and the world’s largest cuckoo clock. They also visited the walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Rothenburg (which...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Joy Dupont about taking a guided tour to visit Beijing, China. Joy talks about the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Lama temple, the Temple of Heaven and the Hutong area of Beijing which still looks like old China. We talk about shopping at silk factories, cloisonné factories, jade factories and the world's largest herbal drugstore. We also talk about an area of Be...

The Amateur Traveler talks to travel writer Jeanine Barone about Estonia. Estonia is a small forested country with picturesque islands, medieval fortifications, a thriving design community, a great restaurant scene and a young and vibrant culture. Estonia only recently regained its independence from the U.S.S.R. (1991) but is thriving and filled with innovation. This interview, like all the Amateu...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Raul from Atlanta about his recent trip to Krakow Poland. Learn about this former capital of Poland which is a treasure trove of history. Raul will take us to the cloth hall in the old town, Kazimierz and the Wawel Castle. We will also talk about his trips to the unusual Wieliczka salt mine with its rock salt carvings. A very poignant side trip to Auschwitz and Birken...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Robin who is an expert on Hawaii about the island of Oahu. More specifically Robin is a Conde Naste "Top Travel Specialist" for Hawaii. We talk about populous and bustling downtown Honolulu and the see and be seen beach at Waikiki. We also talk about quieter beaches like Ala Moana Beach Park, Magic Island, and Haleiwa, snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, kayaking, swimming wit...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Erik Smith (who was a guest on Travel to America’s National Parks - Amateur Traveler Episode 121) about Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We talk about all the different geothermal highlights of the park including Old Faithful, other geysers, thermal pools, etc. We also talk about wildlife, hiking, camping, floating down the Snake river, the grand canyon of...