The Thoughtful Travel Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

This episode is a joyful collaboration with Tracy of the UK Travel Podcast.

When one of your best friends invites you to his wedding in the Lake District in England, you say yes!

We first met Cham in Cambodia - back in Episode 114 - and we've holidayed with him across Asia ever since, but meeting up in the UK to celebrate his wedding was our most exciting adventure together yet. My 14-year-old son and I took the opportunity to explore some more of north-west England and northern Wales while we were there, taking in Manchester, Liverpool, the Lake District, and northern Wales, including Wrexham and Llangollen.

In this collab with the UK Travel Podcast, Tracy interviews me about my UK experience and I describe it through a thoughtful travel lens, from our planning, our experiences and then our post-trip reflection. There's also some unexpected sandwich chat!

Links:

• Tracy Collins - UK Travel Planning https://uktravelplanning.com
• And, Tracy's Global Travel Planning at https://globaltravelplanning.com 
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
• Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com 
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/326

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you think of Australia, you're bound to imagine a few stereotypes of what life here is like: sun and sand might feature, and you will perhaps imagine we're a laidback nation of permanently relaxed people. Over the last year, the topic of what people think about Australia has come up with quite a few guests so I decided to compile an episode about these ideas.

I chat first with Michael Jensen who spent half a year here on student exchange in the 1980s, and recently returned for another months-long stint: what had changed? Quite a lot, as you can imagine, and we had an interesting chat.

Alex Zeringer, a German student now based in Ireland, came to Australia on a much more recent student program just last year, and I asked him about his impressions of my home town of Perth.

Our reputation often precedes us, and Julia Kaplan told me her ideas about Australia and its people although she hasn't yet been here - but she's met enough Aussies abroad on her travels to get a good idea.

Finally, I speak with Jules Park, who moved here from South Korea, and tells me some of her initial cultural shocks, including the tale of pink hair!

Links:

• Brent and Michael are Going Places - https://www.brentandmichaelaregoingplaces.com/ 
• Alex Zeringer on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-zeringer-532728130/ 
• Julie Kaplan - https://www.juliekaplan.com/ 
• Jules Park - Amazing Sydney Life on Instagram or TikTok - https://www.instagram.com/amazingsydneylife/  or https://www.tiktok.com/@amazingsydneylife 
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
• Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com 
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/325

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am absolutely convinced that taking kids travelling is one of the best things you can do for them, and in this episode I've gathered together the thoughts of four fathers who agree with me!

First up, I chat with Rupert Grey, who took his daughters across the world at a young age - in particular, he tells me about their experience visiting Bangladesh in the 1990s, and the impact that their travels has had on them now that they are adults.

Cristian Martinus tells me about the reactions from kids on his tours in Morocco, then has a great example to share about a time when things went wrong while travelling with his young daughter - but it all turned out brilliantly.

Peter Baines then tells me about the experience of cycling with his own children in Thailand, as well as an example of a father and son pair who were recent tour participants.

Finally, Rick Antonson takes it one generation further with his tales about travelling as a grandfather, and in particular his trip with a ten-year-old grandson in western Canada. 

Links:

• Rupert Grey - https://rupertgrey.co.uk/
• Rupert’s movie Romantic Road - https://www.romanticroadmov.com/ 
• Cristian Martinus - Sun Trails  - https://www.sun-trails.com/ 
• Peter Baines - Hands Across the Water - https://www.handsacrossthewater.org.au/ 
• Rick Antonson - https://www.rickantonson.com
• Rick’s new book, Train Beyond the Mountains - https://amzn.to/3Zq1C8T
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/316

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Things inevitably go wrong when we travel and I know from experience that listeners of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast quite enjoy hearing these tales! In Episode 235 I have three guests sharing some travel slip ups - some of their own making and some quite out of their control.

My first guest is Bob DiMenna who was travelling in Peru with two friends when they had an issue with, well, punctuality - but not what you might expect! I then chat with Kayla Ridley who has a sorry luggage tale to tell from a cruise ship trip she took as a high school student. 

Finally, Patti Buff shares her story of a mishap when she and her cousin were exploring the coast of one of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. Their excursion doesn't end how she would have liked it to!

Links:

• Bob DiMenna from The Travelers Blueprint podcast - https://thetravelersblueprint.com
• Kayla Ridley of Kayski Creations - https://kayskicreations.com/ 
• Patti Buff - https://pattibuff.wordpress.com 
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/235

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Much of the fun of travelling is about bumping up against other cultures and habits - and these days as thoughtful travellers, we usually try to be prepared for this and learn what we can before we arrive. But cultural faux pas or "gross moments" happen to the best of us and there are some great examples to be found in Episode 234 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast.

First up, I chat with Bev Malzard who tells me a series of fabulous tales about her own unfortunate cultural moments during the course of many years of travels. Some hilarious, some serious - all things that Bev would do differently the second time around!

I then speak with Pam Mandel about a common cultural blunder - dressing inappropriately. Some years back Pam ended up unintentionally in Pakistan - unprepared and ill-informed - and made a cultural blunder she didn't intend to.

Links:

• Bev’s blog TravelGal on the Move - https://travelgaltravels.com/ 
• Pam Mandel’s website - https://www.nerdseyeview.com
• Pam’s book The Same River Twice - https://amzn.to/319lwbq 
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/234

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Opportunities for university or college students to study abroad - during non-Covid times, of course - are very special. While I didn't get an opportunity to study abroad for any part of my university education, it's something I definitely want to encourage my son to do and putting together Episode 233 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast reminded me of many reasons why.

First up, I chat with Jennifer Johnston who spent time in the United States studying abroad as part of her Australia-based university degree. She speaks of many of the advantages of study abroad programs and the huge changes they can make in the students who take them.

I then speak with Tinsley Rios about her shorter study abroad experience in Peru - a reminder that it doesn't need to be a long program to have a lasting impact.

Finally, Patti Buff tells me about her experiences as a college exchange student in Dublin, Ireland - and we chat about some of the many extra-curricular parts of being on a study abroad program which are just as valuable as any time in the lecture hall.

Links:

• Jennifer Johnston - Travel Bug Within - https://travelbugwithin.com.au/ 
• Tinsley - Travel with Tinsley - https://travelwithtinsley.com/ 
• Patti Buff - https://pattibuff.wordpress.com
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/233

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's party time!!

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, in the past week, has both turned five years old (ready to start school now!!) and download numbers have hit half a million. It's been a very exciting week in our household!

In this special celebration episode, I start off with a quick chat about podcast statistics and where The Thoughtful Travel Podcast fits into download numbers in general (remember, I like statistics - I love maths!).

But then I digress to chat about how I've reached this stage, and reference psychologist Angela Duckworth's book Grit, which I'm currently re-reading - it's an interesting thing to consider how passion and persistence can work hand in hand and then suddenly, I have a five-year-old podcast and a much clearer vision of what else I want to do with it (and thoughtful travel in general) in the future.

Finally, I give in to a directive from my son who, on listening to some older episodes, instructed me to tell more of my own travel stories. I've linked them to this fifth anniversary in a typically quirky fashion but just bear with me and enjoy the tales!

Links:

Average podcast stats - https://www.thepodcasthost.com/planning/whats-a-good-number-of-downloads-for-a-podcast/

Grit - Angela Duckworth - https://amzn.to/3fneKr3 

Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers

Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/232

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all have some kind of unconscious bias - or a few! - some stereotypes or misconceptions that we think deep down, even if in our conscious minds we don't think we do. It's human nature, but yet another marvellous part of travelling is it often helps us identify and confront these unconscious biases, and the examples from the guests in Episode 231 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast demonstrate this perfectly.

First up, I chat with Tonya Fitzpatrick who first tells me one of her own experiences in recognising and confronting an unconscious bias, and then explains another example from a traveller she'd interviewed on her own podcast.

I then speak with Pam Mandel, who's travelled more than usual within her home country of the United States in the past few years, and found she also needed to confront and overcome some unconscious biases about her homeland.

Links:

• Tonya Fitzpatrick of World Footprints - https://WorldFootprints.com 
• Pam Mandel’s website - https://www.nerdseyeview.com
• Pam’s book The Same River Twice - https://amzn.to/319lwbq
• Pam’s project The Statesider - https://statesider.us/ 
• Harvard’s Implicit Association Test - https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ 
• Article critiquing the IAT - https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/psychologys-racism-measuring-tool-isnt-up-to-the-job.html 
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/231

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the March 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams.

If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, all the info is at https://notaballerina.com/bookclub, and you can keep up with all the thoughts about our current books in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook Group at https://facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers 

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this special round-numbered episode I wanted to muse on just one of the important lessons the 2020 pandemic has taught me about travel.

In this episode I talk about issues like taking relaxing holidays (I'm bad at it; and most of the Thoughtful Travellers community agreed it's not their style); travelling close to home and staycationing, and some of the reasons I really miss the ability to travel further afield, to different cultures, languages and countries.

Links:

• Support the podcast on Patreon - https://www.notaballerina.com/support
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/230

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.