The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Episode 21 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about the internet. What did we do without it? On the surface, the advent of the internet can surely only be a huge bonus for travellers, right? We can research, book and communicate with so much ease. But as all of today’s guests point out, there are definitely both pros and cons of the internet for travellers. This whole discussion starts when Amanda speaks with Leyla of Women on the Road, as she reminisces on the “old school” way of getting information about the safety of countries long before the internet. Amanda also speaks with Jeremy and Katie Kloberdanz of The Life Bohemian. They are indeed living a pretty Bohemian life, working online as they travel the world, but it’s not always all that digital nomad life is cracked up to be. Finally, Amanda chats with Tom Parson aka The Lego Backpacker, who had some really interesting comments about hostel life since the internet and mobile devices became everyday items. Links:  Leyla at Women on the Road - http:/

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast has reached its 20th episode, and Amanda is celebrating by sharing a collection of special stories her guests have offered that haven’t fit into a particular topic yet, but are far too good not to share. Annalicia Lynn kicks off this episode with some of her fascinating experiences in Taiwan, and in particular some of the more unusual English names chosen by her students. On a completely different tack, Kerstin Pilz talks about two experiences she and her friend had overseas after becoming widows - and while these stories arise from tragic circumstances, these particular anecdotes are ones you definitely have to laugh at. Amanda's favourite guest today is none other than her own father, Barry Kendle. He lived and worked in Papua New Guinea in the late 1950s and has some very interesting stories to tell about his times there, many of which Amanda had never actually heard before.Links: Annalicia Lynn of Yoga and Pilates Online -http://yogaandpilatesonline.com Kerstin Pilz of Trav

In Episode 19 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda returns to the topic of travelling with kids - she's on a mission to prove to everyone that taking kids traveling is beneficial both for the kids and the parents.  First up, she speaks with Bethaney of Flashpacker Family who has several years of experience of travelling with very young children and is certain it has many benefits for them. She provides a great argument against the people who think that because kids won’t remember their travels, it’s not worth taking them. Lisa Luken of Simple Joy Living has taken several long (and many short) road trips with her three children in their quest to visit every state in the US and she has some great tips for taking kids travelling. Her and Amanda also chat about some of the great lessons both the adults and kids have learned from these experiences. And finally, Adam of Bilingual Monkeys tells Amanda how his Japanese-born-and-raised kids enjoy the experience of returning to visit the American side of their famil

 Discovering new cultural norms and comparing them to our own is one of the most fascinating parts of travel and the three guests on Episode 18 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast have all given this issue a great deal of thought as well. First up, Annalicia Lynn describes the cultural confusion she felt when she first moved to Taiwan to speak English. The assumptions she made about the culture based on her own experiences back in the States led her to some uncomfortable moments in her early days in Taiwan. Jeff Sandquist talks about cultural fusion and his experience of Scandinavian heritage as he grew up with in Minnesota, and what he found when he visited Norway and saw Scandinavian culture up close. In another case of cultural confusion, Glenn Shiell describes the issues facing the Japanese ski resort of Niseko with the growing numbers of Australians coming to ski during the Australian summer - and what happens when these Aussies don’t necessarily show quite enough cultural sensitivity. Links:  Annalicia

  Where does wanderlust come from? It’s a question that’s intrigued Amanda ever since she discovered that some people don’t like travelling, others love it despite their parents never mentioning it, and others still (like Amanda) have been led to a life of travel by their parents’ example. In Episode 17 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda talks to three travel lovers who have had their wanderlust sparked by very different things. For Bethaney Davies of Flashpacker Family, it was a childhood babysitter who started it all - after which she became a teenage Lonely Planet addict! The next guest on this episode is Diane Bortoletto of Travelletto, who was somewhat influenced by her parents - although she didn’t take her first overseas trip until the age of 24. Lastly Amanda speaks to Ava of My Meena Life who is a really interesting guest because her wanderlust has only hit her recently - but it’s hit her hard!Links:  Bethaney at Flashpacker Family: http://flashpackerfamily.com Dianne Bortoletto of Travellett

Travel is a powerful tool for so many things but one more way that travel can bring great meaning to your life is by helping you to process grief - and that’s what Amanda's two guests in this episode have certainly discovered. Episode 16 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast features two women who have found travel to be very therapeutic in dealing with grief. Amanda's first guest is Ava of My Meena Life, an American who has temporarily relocated to Germany, and has travelled extensively throughout Europe in the last year. Sadly, Ava lost her father a couple of years ago, but her experiences abroad have been instrumental in helping her deal with her grief about his loss. Secondly, she speaks with Kerstin of TravelPilz, who not only lost her husband about five years ago, but then had her feelings of grief doubled when a devastating cyclone hit her town just weeks after his death. She took off on a journey through Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India as a way to process some of this grief and her story is a fascinating o

Gaining confidence from your travels is just one more great reason to get out there and travel often. In Episode 15 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda talks to three guests who all agree that travelling has increased their confidence substantially and helped them out in all kinds of ways, including life beyond travel. First up, Amanda chats with Jeff Sandquist of Intentionally Wandering, who only started travelling relatively recently and learnt so much from it - travelling gave him a brand new kind of confidence. After that she speaks with Annalicia Lynn who spent a year living and working in Taiwan and was particularly able to notice how much her confidence had grown when her family came to visit. Amanda's final guest is Candace Rardon, and when they spoke, Candace was spending a couple of months in Norway writing a book about a trip she took to India, which was the kind of trip which pushed her far outside her comfort zone and therefore boosted her confidence significantly. Links:  Jeff at Intention

In Episode 14 Amanda returns to the topic of scary tales from our travels. Frightening experiences can be entertaining, but they also teach us that most travellers simply feel the fear and travel anyway. The three guests in this episode certainly do. Annalicia Lynn is a yoga and pilates instructor who taught English in Taiwan for a year and had some really interesting experiences there - including quite a few frightening ones! Likewise, Glenn Shiell spent some time in China for a conference and ending up having quite a scary experience at the Great Wall, but he lived to tell the tale. Finally, Diane Bortoletto returns with a fearful moment from a trip to Brazil when she became separated from her travelling companion and ended up in a taxi ride through the jungle. But like all Amanda's guests, she lived to tell the tale. Phew! Links: Annalicia Lynn of Yoga & Pilates Online - http://yogaandpilatesonline.com Glenn Shiell of Snowriders Western Australia https://snowriderswa.com Snowriders WA Facebook community at

Slow travel is a real buzz word these days but many travellers have been using slow travel principles for decades - because travelling slowly is a fantastic way to see the world and really get to know it well. In Episode 13 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, Amanda talks to three different travellers who have all embraced slow travel in their own way. First up is Tim Leffel, who prefers smaller towns and villages over big cities because it’s easier to travel slowly in a place where you can get to know the locals. Amanda also speaks to Candace Rardon, who as a freelance artist and writer is able to really practice slow travel, and she does it both on a daily basis by sitting still somewhere for a few hours to sketch, and planning her trips so she stays places for weeks or months. The final guest today is David Soto Jr who is currently in the middle of his own slow trip in a van around the United States. When Amanda spoke to him he was sitting in his van on an airforce base with his dog Rusty looking on; since

Cultural differences make our travels so much more interesting (if somewhat complicated at times!). In Episode 12 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, we talk about culture clash, and the differences we discover when we travel abroad. Stephen Henson has spent many years travelling back and forth to China, as well as doing business there, and has many tales to tell - today’s stories about the value of luxury and the importance of appearances in modern-day China are fascinating. Amanda then speaks to Adam Beck of Bilingual Monkeys about his experiences both on arrival in Japan some twenty years ago, and more recently when he has the experience of reverse culture shock when he visits his home country. Finally, she chats with fellow Australian Mike Campbell, who is spending a year housesitting his way around the United States with his family. He’s particularly shocked by one particular cultural difference between the US and Australia and Amanda finds she definitely agrees! Links:  Journeys with Stephen - http://j

In Episode 11, Amanda is celebrating the magic of getting lost on our travels. Back in Episode 2 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast she talked about the terror of getting lost, but this time round everyone’s getting lost stories are way less scary and are usually just plain fun.  First up in this episode Amanda speaks with Dianne Bortoletto, a Perth-based travel blogger, and they spill the beans on a slightly embarrassing but very funny incident when they both got kind of lost while in Bangkok for a conference. One of Amanda's most popular guests, Kiliii Fish, returns in this episode with yet another fascinating story, this time about his attempts to find an Ecuadorian indigenous basket maker and how he was pretty much lost most of the way. And finally, Joe Baur of the wonderful Without A Path podcast returns with his very sensible idea about intentionally getting lost. Amanda realised while talking to Joe that she's done the same thing herself on occasion and that intentionally going somewhere unknown and w

It's always a bit sad to hear someone say they didn’t want to travel somewhere because they were worried about not being able to get by in a foreign language. Struggling to communicate can be half the fun of a trip (at least in retrospect!) and we can learn so much from cultures with different languages and customs. Today Amanda has gathered together some tips and tricks from a number of travellers who have experience both in learning languages and in getting by in languages they don’t know. We start off with the highly multilingual Leyla Giray Alyanak, who has an incredibly useful language tip, and then move onto another clever linguist, Kerstin Pilz, who reminds us that it’s not just the words in another country but the more subtle cultural differences too which are important for good communication. Finally, Amanda chats with David Soto Jr., a very interesting man who’s currently living in a van with his dog and travelling around North America. He recalls one of his first experiences in trying to speak It

In Episode 9 of Amanda returns to the frightening parts of travel, because a lot of the time the story’s in the scary bits. What’s scary to one person might not worry someone else, but if something creates fear for you while you’re travelling, it’s probably something you’ll remember long after your trip is over. Jean of Traveling Honeybird has a great story to tell about scary moments on a horseback trek though the mountains of Mongolia, and some tips and tricks to get through those frightening experiences. She and Amanda also swap tales of their fears of driving (or being driven) in cars without seatbelts at high speed! Amanda also talks with Candace Rose Rardon again, this time about a particularly scary moment she had on a trek through Turkey. It was one of those incidents where nothing bad ended up happening, but it could have ended up quite differently. On this side though, it makes a great story. Links:  Jean at Traveling Honeybird http://www.travelinghoneybird.com Candace Rose Rardon at The Great A

In Episode 8 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda talks to parents about travelling with their kids, and then turns the tables and talks to some kids about travelling. First up is Mike Campbell, a fellow Aussie who’s currently spending a year house-sitting his way across the United States with his family. He’s learnt a lot about the differences between travelling as a couple and travelling with a four-year-old daughter. Amanda's second guest is Tim Leffel who talks about his teenage daughter’s experience of living abroad in Mexico. After talking to these dads, Amanda decided she needed to talk to some kids, too, and had a chat with her own six-year-old and his eight and ten year old cousins, all of whom have been lucky enough to travel pretty extensively for their young age.  Links:  Mike Cambell’s Live Immediately www.liveimmediately.com Live Immediately on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/liveimmediately/ Tim Leffel http://timleffel.com 5 things my daughter is getting out of living abroad - Tim Leff

Episode 7 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about making unexpected friendships when you travel. Getting to know local people is one of my favourite parts of travelling, and my two guests have had some great experiences doing just that in various parts of the world. First up is Bethaney Davies from Flashpacker Family, who has two really interesting stories to tell about friendships she established with local people in Vietnam and Myanmar. Her tale of meeting the monk in Myanmar (who, yes, is on Facebook) is one of my favourite stories ever! My second guest is Jeff Sandquist of the Intentionally Wandering podcast. He tells of how his experiences couchsurfing on his solo road trip around the United States helped him make two new friends who he’s still in touch with. Links: Bethaney at Flashpacker Family http://flashpackerfamily.com Jeff at Intentionally Wandering http://www.intentionallywandering.com Jeff’s Intentionally Wandering podcast on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/intentionally-wande

Whether good or bad, facing surprises is usually part of travel. In Episode 6 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I’m talking to two other travellers about the surprises they’ve encountered on their travels. First up is Candace Rardon, someone I was super-excited to interview and have known online for some years. Candace is a sketch artist, writer, photographer and all-round travel genius and a deep thinker on travel as well. She shares several stories of surprises she’s had when her expectations have been shattered on her travels - and how this always turns out for the best. Next I talk to Jeff Sandquist of the Intentionally Wandering podcast. He philosophically talks about how surprised he has been by the impact of travel on his life and how the lessons from travel have been drawn back into this everyday life at home, too. Links: Candace Rose Rardon at The Great Affair http://www.candaceroserardon.com Candace’s book on Amazon Beneath the Lantern's Glow: Sketches and Stories from Southeast Asia and Japan http:/

Episode 5 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is partly about fear, and partly about confidence. I think they go hand in hand when it comes to travelling! I’ve certainly experienced my share of fears about travelling and I know I’m not alone. My first guest today is Leyla Giray Alyanak of Women on the Road, and although she’s one of the people I think of as a guru in the solo travel for women area, she confesses that she has a bunch of fears related to travel, and I think that’s important for all of us to realise - we can be scared, but we can still travel. Following Leyla, I share a great chat with Bethaney Davies of Flashpacker Family, who tells me all about the first time she travelled on her own. Let’s just say it started with a week of tears in her hotel room but got far better than that. Links:   Leyla at Women on the Road http://www.women-on-the-road.com Episode 2 feature Leyla’s stories about getting lost http://www.notaballerina.com/2016/03/thoughtful-travel-podcast-episode-2-terror-getting-lost.html

Episode 4 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast starts the conversation about the thorny issue of cultural stereotypes - and how travelling and meeting people of all different cultures can really help you smash through stereotypes and learn that people really are all the same. The first guest in this episode is Canadian travel blogger turned Peruvian resident Nora Dunn of The Professional Hobo, and she has an interesting tale to tell about meeting some indigenous Australians at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. Nora is followed by another extract from my fabulous chat with Kiliii Fish, who has worked extensively with indigenous people across the world and has so much of interest to say on the subject. Finally, I chatted with Joe Baur of the Without A Path podcast about other stereotypical views people have, particularly when it comes to labelling a country and its people as either safe or dangerous. All of these guests will leave you something to think about, I’m sure! Links:  Nora Dunn - The Professional

Episode 3 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about staying with locals on your travels and some of the many bonuses that come with meeting local people. It is definitely a different experience to staying in a hotel in the main tourist zone! I start of this episode chatting with Kerstin Pilz about her many experiences staying with locals, such as the time she went to Cuba accidentally alone and ended up being put up by a whole extended family wherever she travelled. I also chat to Linda and Craig Martin who have used Couchsurfing many times with great success, and made lifelong friends as well as having a roof over their heads. Finally, travel writer Tim Leffel has some good tips about staying out in the suburbs to really get a good feel for a place. Links:  Workaway https://www.workaway.info Couchsurfing https://www.couchsurfing.com Airbnb https://www.airbnb.com WWOOF http://www.wwoof.net Craig and Linda at Indie Travel Podcast http://indietravelpodcast.com Craig and Linda at Performance Foundary http://

Welcome to Episode 1 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast! This episode has some great stories about both successes and failures when trying to get something to eat or drink in a country where English is not the first language (and one where it is!). Everybody who’s travelled has struggled with this situation many times, and I got to chat with several travellers who’ve had both fun and frustrations. In this episode, I talk with Linda and Craig Martin about their tricky experience trying to order red wine in Slovakia; Stephen Henson shares a friend’s tale about trying to ask a simple question at a Taco Bell store in China, along with some of his own mishaps (even in other English-speaking countries!); and finally, Kristy Morton and I lament the difficulties she had ordering in a French patisserie as well as the lack of language learning that seems to take place in our home country of Australia. Links: Pizza for Christmas in Japan http://www.notaballerina.com/2011/12/japanese-language-success-for-my.html Craig an