Travel with Amateur Traveler Podcast

The Amateur Traveler talks to Dan Stromberg about his recent trip to Mali. Mali is a destination so remote that Dan says “I couldn’t imagine myself being here when I was there”. Dan started in the capital city of Bamako, before heading out to Bandiagara and Dogon country. The highlight of the visit was a trek along the Bandiagara Escarpment which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Dan and his girlfr...

Chris, the Amateur Traveler himself, talks about a recent trip to New Zealand’s North Island where he went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and took a dolphin watching cruise up by the Bay of Islands. He visited the Coromandel Peninsula with Cathedral Cove and Hot Water beach, toured but can’t talk about Hobbiton near Matamata, climbed Mt Maunganui, saw (and smelled) the geysers and baths at Rotorua...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Pamela Beck of the Department of Tourism for Prince Edward Island in Eastern Canada. Pamela describes Prince Edward Island (or PEI) as a get away from it all location that is easy to get to. Surrounded by beaches this 140 mile long island features wonderful seafood and champion oyster shuckers. It has miles of bike trails and relaxed helpful locals. Pamela also descri...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Melanie Waldman of TravelsWithTwo.com about a recent trip to the Cook Islands in the Pacific. Think of the Cook Islands as Tahiti without the French language and using the New Zealand dollar to make it more affordable. Melanie tells us about this corner of Polynesia with beautiful resorts that she and her husband visited for their 10th anniversary. They hiked the moun...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Sam Oppenheim who makes a rare 4th appearance on the show to talk about Bali in Indonesia. Sam started his exploration of Bali in Ubud which is the cultural capital of the area. He met two of the people mentioned in the popular book Eat, Pray, Love: Wayan and Ketut Liyer. In Ubud he attended some of the traditional Balinese dances (Legong, Barong and Kecak). Sam explo...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Erik Smith about his home state of Michigan. Erik has been on the show twice before talking about National Parks but this time he tells us about the beautiful state of Michigan. While Erik is from the Detroit area and describes some of its museums and other attractions what he really recommends is the west coast of Michigan with its sand dunes and sunsets, Traverse Ci...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt of Everything-Everywhere.com  about UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The World Heritage List includes 890 sites from around the world which are part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having “outstanding universal value”. We talk about various sites as well as how to use this list as a resource in your travels....

The Amateur Traveler talks to Lillie Marshall of AroundTheWorldL.com about the 3 months she volunteered in Ghana in sub-Saharan West Africa on her round the world trip. She worked for the program Youth Creating Change. Lillie talks about some of the tourist spots in Ghana like the the slavery castle at Cape Coast and Mole National Park. Then she talks about what it is like to live and volunteer in...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Melody who has been living as an exchange student in Hong Kong. Melody tells us what to see in Hong Kong from the very western feeling Central neighborhood of Hong Kong island, the peak and the mid-level escalators to the more Chinese neighborhoods in Kowloon and the less populated New Territories. She also takes us out to some of the outlying islands like Lantau isla...

The Amateur Traveler talks to photographer Ralph Velasco about a trip to the very new country of Montenegro. When Ralph visited the country it was the newest country on the planet after it split off of Serbia. This mountainous country boasts the southern most fjords in Europe, old walled Venetian towns, fortresses, island churches, hikes, rafting, and some wonderful photography. Ralph stayed on th...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Matt Anderson about a recent trip to Taiwan during the Chinese new year celebration. Matt, who is an English teacher in South Korea, started his trip in Taiwan’s capital of Taipei before exploring the eastern coast and the rich heritage of Taiwan’s aboriginal people in the south. In Taipei Matt recommends eating at the Shilin night market where the fried chicken and t...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Sean Keaner of the BootsNAll travel network about the city of Portland Oregon. Sean describes the independent character of the city that is expressed in its brew pubs, food carts and hip culture. It is also evident in the famous Powell’s bookstore. Portland has a reputation for being rainy but Sean tells us when to come to Portland, where to ride a bike and where to f...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Matthew Stone about his home in Northern Virginia. Matthew describes things to do in Northern Virginia either as a side trip from Washington D.C. or a trip in its own right. We start at the famous monuments and Arlington National Cemetary just south of the District of Columbia and proceed to George Washington’s home of Mount Vernon. Matthew then describes some parks a...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Chris Rosenkrans from Pennsylvania about his trip to the country of Yemen. Chris started in the capital city of Sana’a which he thinks is one of the beautiful cities he has ever seen. Chris then recommends a trip to the Haraz mountains to see Shibam Hadhramaut (a shibam is a city built into the cliffs) and north to Kawkaban. In addition wander around Sana’a to some of...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Lee from Atlanta about side trips that you can take when you travel to Shanghai this year for Expo 2010. Lee is currently living in China and talks about 3 different weekend trips to destinations that are located near Shanghai. Lee starts us the in history-rich city of Nanjing the site of “China’s Holocaust” in WW 2. Nanjing has been the capital for 6 different Chines...

The Amateur Traveler talks about a recent trip to Maui as the guest of the Maui Convention and Visitors Bureau. In this second half of a two part episode Chris talks about some of the local culture, food and festivals. He had a chance to explore his rancher roots at one of Maui’s cattle ranches, dine on local produce at some high end restaurants, mix with the locals at the Maui Ag Festival and lea...

The Amateur Traveler talks about a recent trip to Maui as the guest of the Maui Convention and Visitors Bureau. In this first half of a two part episode Chris gives an overview of the island and talks about the Hawai’i Nature Center, the beaches and the road to Hana. Learn about swimming or hiking in lava tubes, hidden beaches and some of the naive plants of Maui. Show NotesVisit Maui BlogRainfall...

The Amateur Traveler talks to John Clayton about a recent trip to Wales. John was the host of a radio travel show called “Travel with a Difference” for 16 years in the Los Angeles area and was invited to Wales by the Wales Tourism board. John is a train buff and was invited to ride on the restored narrow guage railroads of Wales which were built originally to carry slate from the Wales slate mines...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Mike from Toronto who is living in Japan as part of an exchange program Mike talks to use about the Chugoku or middle region of Japan. Mike starts us out in Hiroshima with its world famous peace park and atomic bomb museum and its lesser known shopping and izakaya eateries. After we sample the okonomiyaki at okonomiyaki mura Mike sends us off to see the red Torii gate...

The Amateur Traveler talks to George Wendt from Oars.com about white water rafting down the Grand Canyon which is one of Chris’s dream vacations. The Grand Canyon can be traversed in motor pontoon boats, oars rafts, paddle boats or dories. Each has different advantages and disadvantages. The water is fast and cold and the rapids get up to class 5. All the while you are drifting through one of the...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Betty from Betty in the Sky with a Suitecase about her recent trip to Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah) to see the orangutans and proboscis monkeys. Betty flew into Kuching in Sarawak and started in the Demai beach area where she stayed in a treehouse. She saw the Probiscus Monkeys at Bako National Park and the Bat “fireworks” at Mulu National Park. Betty also visited the ma...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Kathy from My Time To Travel about her recent trip to the Republic of Georgia. Kathy is a fan of mountains and Georgia has them in abundance because of its location between the Lesser and Greater Caucuses. She visited the Black Sea coast at Batumi, the capital of Tibilisi, the wine region, the cave city of Voronya and went part of the way up the legendary Georgia mili...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Mike and Hillary of the SpotHopping blog about their trip to Easter Island / Rapa Nui in the South Pacific. They visited Easter Island as a stop on their round the world trip. Easter Island is a small destination and one of the most remote destinations in the world. When you are on the island the only other people within 2000 miles are the 50 people on Pitcairn island...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Pauline Frommer again about tips for budget travel. We talk about booking tours and alternative places to stay instead of hotels. We talk about which travel destinations are inexpensive now and which ones have hidden fees. Learn where a travel expert takes her family on vacation. Pauline Frommer’s London and the second edition of Pauline Frommer’s New York City were n...

The Amateur Traveler talks to Stefanie Michaels (better known as @AdventureGirl) about a recent trip to the Marquesas Islands which are near Tahiti (or part of Tahiti depending on who you ask). Stefanie sailed on the freighter Aranui from Tahiti out to these remote islands. She encountered a warm people living in a tropical paradise… with very nice cars and nowhere to drive. Learn more about your...