Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Travel Matters

With AI producing more content and Google constantly changing the rules, how does a travel creator actually stand out? Josefine and Dom of Red White Adventures have a refreshingly simple answer: be more yourself.

The Danish-Canadian couple has travelled together for more than eight years and turned what began as a casual travel blog into a full-time content business focused on outdoor adventures, slow travel, and the digital nomad lifestyle.

Recorded at TBEX Europe in San Sebastián, this conversation gets into the reality behind that journey – from learning SEO and affiliate marketing to working with tourism boards, building multiple income streams, and deciding to commit fully to the blog.

They also talk candidly about the uncertainty created by Google updates, why creators need to think long term, and why following every social-media trend can eventually make everyone look the same.

Perhaps their most useful advice comes down to something no algorithm or AI tool can easily reproduce: your own experiences, personality, and point of view.

In this episode:

• Why staying longer in a destination can lead to better travel content
• How Red White Adventures turned a hobby blog into a business
• Their approach to affiliate marketing, brand partnerships, and diversification
• Why community matters when the industry is changing
• How personality and authenticity can help creators stand out in the age of AI

Relevant links

• Red White Adventures: https://redwhiteadventures.com/
• Produced by RadioGuru: https://radioguru.co.uk
• TBEX: https://tbexcon.com/

Follow Travel Matters in your podcast app for a new conversation every Friday.

Can AI save travel creators hours of work without removing the personality, experience and human perspective that make people trust them?

At TBEX Eau Claire, Palle Bo and Rick Calvert sat down with content entrepreneur and author Julia McCoy, who had recently made a dramatic transition from outspoken AI sceptic to President of Content at Scale (now BrandWell).

Julia explains what changed her mind. Early AI writing tools produced generic, unreliable content filled with fluff. Then she discovered technology capable of researching, writing and producing content at a speed that forced her to reconsider what the future might look like for professional writers and content creators.

The conversation also explores the risks. AI can confidently invent facts, places and even legal cases, making human judgment and fact-checking essential. For travel bloggers, the bigger question is whether travellers will continue searching for blogs when an AI tool can build an itinerary in seconds.

Julia's answer is that personal experience matters more than ever. AI may provide information, but it cannot replace your stories, your observations or the trust created by a recognisable human voice.

In this episode:

• Why Julia changed her mind about AI almost overnight
• How AI hallucinations make fact-checking non-negotiable
• Where AI can save travel creators significant time
• Why firsthand stories remain a travel blogger's greatest advantage
• Whether ChatGPT and similar tools will take traffic away from travel websites

Update Since Recording

This conversation was recorded in 2023. Content at Scale later became BrandWell, and Julia McCoy has since left the company. She is now the founder of First Movers, which helps businesses implement AI systems, automation and digital-clone technology.

Relevant links:

• First Movers:
  https://firstmovers.ai
• Content at Scale – now BrandWell:
  https://brandwell.ai
• Julia McCoy on LinkedIn:
  https://linkedin.com/in/juliaemccoy/
• The Content Writer's Handbook:
  https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Content-Writers-Handbook-Audiobook/B0CX793N8L
• Transcendent Man documentary:
  https://transcendentman.com/
• Learn more about TBEX:
  https://tbexcon.com
• Find more Travel Matters episodes in your podcast app or at:
  https://tbexcon.com/podcast/
• Podcast produced by RadioGuru:
  https://radioguru.co.uk

Follow Travel Matters in your podcast app for a new conversation every Friday.

In this episode, we meet Caroline Makepeace (Caz) from yTravelBlog and This is Raleigh about Raleigh, North Carolina.

Together with her husband, Craig, she's been traveling the world since 1997 and since 2007 with their two daughters.

The White House invited them to attend a travel summit as one of the top digital travel influencers in the world in 2014, and in 2020 they were granted a green card for their "extraordinary ability in the art of travel blogging."

Caz and Craig are from the Central Coast of Australia and now live in North Carolina – but they like to call the world our home.

She was the Opening Keynote Speaker for TBEX North America in Billings, Montana, 2019. We planned to have her on Travel Matters back then, but it wasn't possible to make it happen. So, better late than never… Enjoy this conversation with an extraordinary travel blogger.

In this episode, we have an interesting conversation with pioneer travel blogger Melvin Boecher from Germany.

Melvin is the founder and CEO of Travel Dudes, co-founder of the Social Travel Summit, former COO of iAmbassador, and with more than 15 years of successfully running his business, he is a pioneer of professional travel blogging.

His Social Media are very popular. On Twitter, he has accumulated around 250.000 followers, and Melvin appears on over 8.500 recommended Twitter lists – this ranks him in the top 3 in travel. His Facebook page has over 115,000 fans, and his Instagram has around 50,000 followers. He's also on YouTube, where he and his team post some great videos.

Hear how he started as a travel blogger, how he built his travel blogging empire, and what he shared in his session at this TBEX.

In this episode, we have an interesting conversation with Catharina Fischer about sustainable travel.

Catharina is one of the leading experts in influencer marketing and a digital leader with over ten years of experience in tourism. At TBEX Europe 2023 Kalamata, Greece, she gave an interesting talk about the impact of tourism trends on travel content creators.

Before she was Head of Social Media at the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), she was in various marketing positions in the tourism industry. At the GNTB, she implemented the international Social Media Strategy in over 12 markets & created in 2013 the first international influencer campaign for Germany.

Since 2015 she has been working for the consulting network Tourismuszukunft. Here she supports destinations, hotels, and tour operators, mainly in DACH countries, with their digital marketing. In 2016 she initiated the industry think tank 'Change4Destination' which is dealing with the question of the 'future of public destination marketing'. The think tank white paper became a must-read in the German-speaking markets.

Furthermore, she created the VideoSummit – the leading conference for video in tourism with top videographers and video bloggers worldwide. 

Connect to Catharina Fischer on LinkedIn.

In this episode we say "mojn" to Jessica Schmidt from Hamburg Marketing. By developing, communicating and coordinating the Hamburg brand, they highlight the locational attractiveness of Hamburg and the Hamburg Metropolitan Region in Germany and abroad. 

Hear how they work with content creators.  

Martin Solhaugen is a filmmaker, youTuber and photographer from Oslo, Norway. Martin has worked on global projects for Tourism-boards, luxury hotels, and high-profile clients. Martin has been traveling the world for the past 6 years in pursuit for cultural and visual expressions. With a big heart for visual storytelling and a unique eye for detail, he has worked on global projects for Tourism-boards, luxury hotels and high-profile clients.

He did two sessions at TBEX Europe 2023, and in this conversation, he shares some tips, and talks about how the same video made him more money on Facebook than on YouTube.

Chris Lau talks about his YouTube channel, SeeLauTravel and then we get into a long conversation about selling – an important skill to have as a travel content creator.

With 10+ years of experience in a professional-level sales role, being recommended by other world-class creators, and having helped almost 80 creators from around the world, Chris also has a Mentor Program where he teaches how to travel for free, get paid for your work, and really make this into a lifestyle. See more about that on SeeLauTravelMentorProgram.com. 

In this one, we meet another experienced travel blogger and entrepreneur, Yeison, from the Costa Rica travel blog, Mytanfeet. 

The keynote speaker at this TBEX, Yeison (pronounced like Jason), is Costa Rican, born and raised. He started Mytanfeet with his wife Samantha, who moved to Costa Rica in 2012 from the United States and ever since then. 

Mytanfeet is a blog with local tips, detailed guides, photos, videos, and maps to help you plan the perfect trip to Costa Rica.

Welcome to Travel Matters, recorded at TBEX Europe 2023 in Kalamata, Greece.

In this one we have a conversation with the amazing couple, Mike and Anne Howard from HoneyTrek.com. They're two Americans that realized life is short; the world is big, and the value of travel too great to wait another day. So, when it came time for their honeymoon, they decided to sell their stuff and embark on a trip around the world. They left on January 22, 2012, and are on "The World's Longest Honeymoon" … 11 years and counting!

Books:
Check out their National Geographic book "Ultimate Journeys for Two" and their glamping book "Comfortably Wild".

Other links:

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/HoneyTrek
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/HoneyTrek
Instagram: https://Instagram.com/HoneyTrek
YouTube: https://YouTube.com/TheHoneyTrek
TikTok: https://TikTok.com/@honeytrek
Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/HoneyTrek

Welcome to Travel Matters recorded live on tape at TBEX Europe 2023 in Kalamata, Greece.

In this one, we have a conversation with one of the speakers, Edu Giansante – a Brazilian who lives in Dublin. He's the Founder and Content Creator at E-Dublin – a brand that has reached more than 50 million YouTube views and reaches 1 million accounts every month. For more than ten years, Edu has demonstrated his skills as a highly experienced strategic thinker for online communities for companies across the world. He was awarded the Community Professional of the Year 2020 at the CMX Awards – one of the most prestigious companies in the communities industry.

Edu did a session where he explained how community-led content is the new way to do business. No matter the industry, we're seeing a shift in how companies and content creators with a strong community are leading businesses. We are moving from broadcasting to connecting, telling to hearing, and transactional comms to symbiotic.

You can download Edu's Community cheat sheet from his session on ed.community/tbex. His website for Brazilian expats in Dublin is called eDublin, and you can find also connect with Edu on LinkedIn, Instagram, twitter, and follow his popular YouTube channel.

We are also talking a lot about AI and the future. Edu mentions a cool app called Captions (download it in the iOS store) and we also talk about the app called Lemon8, and the documentary Transcendent Man.

Enjoy an interesting conversation with Edu, and please share if you like it.

Welcome to Travel Matters recorded live on tape at TBEX Europe 2023 in Kalamata, Greece.

In this one we have a conversation with one of the speakers, Itai Marshall. He's a Social Media strategist from Israel who made the leap from YouTube to TikTok, where he has now amassed more than 200,000 followers and 12 million likes with his high-energy and snappy video style.

Itai is also a video marketing coach, and his work includes showing tourism professionals how to effectively create short-form video.

At TBEX in Greece he did two sessions: "Elevate your Online Presence and Personal Brand with TikTok" and "Creating the Ultimate Short Form Video"

You can follow Itai on TikTok, Instagram, and on any other SoMe channel as itaimarshall.

Shelley Marmor turned travel blogging into a multiple-six-figure business within two years. In this episode of Travel Matters, she shares why mindset matters, why SEO comes before monetisation, and how travel creators can use affiliate marketing more strategically instead of simply adding links and hoping for the best.

What separates a travel blog that makes a little side income from one that becomes a serious business?

In this episode of Travel Matters, Palle Bo and Rick Calvert sit down with Shelley Marmor, founder of TravelMexicoSolo.com, TravelBlogging101.com and several other niche travel sites. Shelley started her first blog in April 2020 and was making multiple six figures by her second year of blogging.

Her secret? She says it starts with treating the blog as a business from day one.

Shelley explains why tracking your money changes your mindset, why SEO is the foundation of affiliate income, and why travel bloggers should focus on "buying keywords" that attract readers who are already ready to book.

Instead of simply placing affiliate links into random posts, Shelley breaks down how to create content for "hell yes" buyers – the people searching for things like the best hotels, tours, rental cars and travel services in a destination.

She also shares what she has learned from running five blogs, working with human writers, testing affiliate partners like Booking, Expedia and Stay22, and balancing affiliate income with display ads and her own courses.

The conversation also touches on AI, conference networking, the value of attending TBEX, and why independent creators often need to get out from behind the screen and meet like-minded people in person.

Key Takeaways

• Treat your blog like a business from day one if you want it to become one.
• Tracking your income and expenses is a major mindset shift for creators.
• SEO comes before monetisation – no page views usually means no affiliate sales.
• Affiliate marketing is not the same as simply adding affiliate links to a post.
• Focus on "buying keywords" that attract people ready to make a purchase.
• Travel bloggers should test different affiliate partners, including Booking, Expedia, Stay22 and direct relationships where possible.
• Affiliate income can outperform display ads when it is done strategically.
• Running multiple niche sites can work, but Shelly warns that five blogs may be too many for most people.
• AI may become hard to ignore, even for creators who are not early adopters.
• Conferences like TBEX can create unexpected connections, ideas and opportunities.

Relevant Links

• Travel Mexico Solo: https://travelmexicosolo.com
• Travel to Merida: https://traveltomerida.com
• Travel to Oaxaca: https://traveltooaxaca.com
• Tulum Travel Secrets: https://tulumtravelsecrets.com
• Travel Blogging 101: https://travelblogging101.com
• Start With Why by Simon Sinek https://simonsinek.com/
• TBEX: https://tbexcon.com

Welcome to Travel Matters, and the first of many episodes from TBEX Europe 2023 in Kalamata, Greece.

In this one – recorded today, two days before the conference, we talk to conference director Shane Dallas about what to expect from this conference.

Welcome to Travel Matters, and we're joined by serial entrepreneur and travel-junkie Dannelle Gay, AKA the Traveling Cheesehead. She loves to talk about Travel, Partnerships with Destinations, and teach bloggers how to make money.

Her latest book '100 Things to Do in Wisconsin Before You Die' just came out and she is more than delighted that TBEX is coming to her home state!

LINKS:

Blog: TravelingCheesehead.com

Book: '100 Things to Do in Wisconsin Before You Die' – or use your own Amazon affiliate link.

TheTravelingCheesehead on InstaGram.

Welcome to Travel Matters, and we're joined by Pro Travel Photographer, Ajay Sood from Travelure.

'Travelure' started on wordpress.com in 2007, and switched to this self-hosted site in May 2015. It began as an aggregation of Ajay Sood's articles published in travel, photography, and in-flight publications like Condé Nast Traveller, Huffington Post, JetWings, Travel3Sixty°, Smart Photography, Taj Magazine, GoGetter, etc. Travelure simply means building a lure of travel among its readers.

Follow Ajay on Instagram and on Travelure.in

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand, and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Welcome to Travel Matters, and we're joined by four awesome content creators: Nathan Sado, Sarah Hughes, Dave Brett, and Dan Zeek.

Sarah and Nathan have several sites, but their main site is Live Dream Discover. Adventure traveler Dave Brett is better known as Travel Dave UK.

You can follow Dan Zeek on YouTube as Zeekman Eats and Zeekman Travels, on Instagram as Zeekman73 and Zeekman Travels, and on TikTok as ZeekmanDan.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand, and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Welcome to Travel Matters and the two interesting conversations with three unique content creators. This one was also recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand.

In this episode, we're joined by Paul Pruangkarn and Matt Gibson from Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

Founded in 1951, PATA is a not-for-profit membership-based association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region.

By bringing together our private and public sector members, PATA facilitates meaningful partnerships to enhance the value, quality and sustainable growth of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand, and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Breaking news....
See more on the new TBEX website.

Welcome to Travel Matters, and the two interesting conversations with three unique content creators. This one was also recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand.

First you can meet two American Thailand experts. Jason does a lot of content from Thailand on his YouTube channel, and Ric has his base in Bangkok. We're also joined by Filipino, travel blogger, Yosh Dimen.

Jason's YouTube channel is called Travel & Pamper, and everywhere he goes, he visit the local barbershop for a haircut, hair wash, pedicure, facial, foot scrub, massage, or a straight razor hot towel shave. Now that's a different angle to a travel YouTube channel. And he's doing well with 579.000 subscribers and almost a quarter of a billion views.  

Ric is an extreme traveler on a quest to travel to all 193 UN countries and he shares his unique experiences, must-see places, and off-the-beaten path locations on his blog, Global Gaz. He's the host of the popular podcast, Counting Countries, where he interviews travelers who also are aiming to visit every country in the world. Also, he founded a new conference called Extraordinary Travel Festival, held for the first time in Yerevan, Armenia in October 2022. Co-host of Travel Matters, Palle Bo, was there and did a lot of interviews with some extraordinary travelers on his own podcast, The Radio Vagabond.

Yosh Dimen, started The Poor Traveler in 2010 with his friend Vins Carlos. The blog is about being smart when traveling, planning, and budgeting. And (as they say on the blog), in most cases, the cheapest is not always the wisest. The truth is, although they were struggling financially when they started, it wasn't the reason for the name. They called it poor to mean "unfortunate or unlucky". As in poor soul, poor choices, you poor thing.

Yosh and Vins are very successful with 855,000 followers on Facebook, 77,000 followers on Instagram, and almost 90,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel. Yosh was on the closing panel at TBEX Asia, and will be a keynote speaker at TBEX Europe 2023 in Greece.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand, and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Welcome to Travel Matters, and the two interesting conversations with two unique content creators. This one was also recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand.

Meet Scott Gurian from Far From Home Podcast and Maria Haase from San Diego Explorer. Scott mentioned his podcast where he met a Medicine Man in Peru and went to an ayahuasca ceremony.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand, and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Welcome to Travel Matters, and another episode recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand.

Meet Australian Sharon Gourlay from DigitalNomadWannaBe. Sharon is an SEO expert and runs 15-20 sites, does training, and hosts the weekly podcast "Make Money Blogging with Digital Nomad Wannabe". Here she teaches you how to turn your blog into a business with sustainable passive income.

Our second guest is a Kiwi. Megan Singleton from  Blogger at Large, has been travel writing full time since 2000 and blogging since 2006. She's also also the travel correspondent on Newstalk ZB radio on Sundays and also love to host tours for her readers around New Zealand, her home country.

Megan did a session with the simple title "Extraordinary Creative Collaboration Ideas for Content Creators and DMOs", where she shared how to create and host tours for our readers. The session covered how to plan a tour, how to determine pricing, how to market it and most of all, how to make sure it's fail safe in this post-Covid environment.

This episode of Travel Matters is hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Welcome to Travel Matters and the first episode of 2023. This one was also recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand.

Meet Kyle Jennermann, a Canadian national who found himself falling in love with the Philippines and its people. He calls himself "Kulas", a nickname he was given several years ago by one of the people he met on one of his trips there. He decided to introduce the Philippines to the rest of the world in his YouTube channel, "Becoming Filipino".

And that is happening. Click this link and see an act from a senator, to grant him citizenship.

Even though his channel has more than a million subscribers, and he's able to live of it, he's very modest and very sharing.

Follow Kulas on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and soon also on TikTok. Finally, here is a link to the "Lucky Me! Lomi" TV commercial we're talking about.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand, and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Happy New Year!

Should travel creators ever work for free? And is a free trip fair compensation – or simply unpaid labour with a nicer view?

Travel Matters is back, and our first conversation of the new season brings together two longtime members of the TBEX community: Jen Ruiz, the travel writer, author and entrepreneur behind Jen on a Jet Plane, and Melvin Boecher, founder of Travel Dudes.

Jen believes that when a creator is brought in to produce work for a campaign, money should always be part of the agreement. Melvin agrees that professional creators need to be paid – but argues that collaborations, barter and other exchanges can still make business sense when both sides receive genuine value.

The result is a lively and occasionally heated debate about what creators are worth, when exposure or experience may have value, and how travel bloggers can build businesses that are less vulnerable to changing algorithms and declining revenue streams.

In this episode:

• When a complimentary trip becomes unpaid work
• Why follower count does not determine the value of your content
• Getting paid for creative assets as well as audience reach
• Negotiating better affiliate partnerships directly with businesses
• Why every creator should consider developing a product of their own

Relevant links:

• Jen on a Jet Plane: https://jenonajetplane.com
• Travel Dudes: https://traveldudes.com
• Learn more about TBEX: https://tbexcon.com
• Find more Travel Matters episodes in your podcast app or on https://tbexcon.com/podcast/
• Podcast produced by RadioGuru: https://radioguru.co.uk

Follow Travel Matters in your podcast app for a new conversation every Friday.

Welcome to the Christmas episode of Travel Matters, also recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand.

In this one Tomiko is sitting in for Rick in the interview with Indonesian travel blogger and author Trinity Traveler aka "The Naked Traveler".

Trinity is Indonesia's leading travel writer, author of 15 best-selling books incl. The Naked Traveler series and a blogger since 2005. She's had such an interesting life that her life story was turned into two movies. Not many of us can say that.

You can also hear about Rick chasing his new Alaska dog in the rain and about him being afraid of being replaced on the podcast.

Follow Trinity on Instagram and Facebook.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand, and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Happy Christmas!

Time to kick off the episodes recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand. And we start with the men of the hour, Conference Directors Shane Dallas and Anton Diaz.

Hear about the biggest TBEX of the year and what was so unique about it. You can also hear a bit about some of the upcoming guests.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand, and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode, Rick speaks with travel blogger and Airbnb expert Toby Doré about connecting travel influencers to short-term rental hosts. His blog is The Cajun Traveler, and he's on Instagram as @TheCajunTraveler.

We also meet Nicole from Explore Houma, Louisiana. Just 55 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana's BayouCountry contains over 2500 sq. miles of mysterious swamps and vast wetlands. 

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Lafayette and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert.

In this episode, Rick speaks with Frederic Aouad from Stay22 and Allie Eggert Visit Billings.

If you're interested in working with Visit Billings at alyson@visitbillings.com.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Lafayette and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert.

In this episode, Rick speaks with Shelia Scarborough from Tourism Currents and Dianne McNamara from Go RVing.

If you're a content creator and would like to work with Go RVing, you can reach out to christy@fireituppr.com

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Lafayette and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode, Rick speaks with Vivian TrovaTrip and Susan Melton from Janesville, Wisconsin.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Lafayette and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode, Rick speaks with Sven and Rene from Tripello. Tripello does Travel in a new and different way, it's a platform that can get you up to 60% discount hotel rooms. Also, they have an affiliate program that might interest you.

He also has an interesting conversation with the closing keynote speaker, Gerald Gruenig. He's a local TV host in Lafayette but now also very active on social media. On TikTok he's @GeraldGruenig, on Facebook "KLFY Gerald Gruenig", on Instagram @GeraldGruenigTV and on Twitter @GeraldGruenig.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Lafayette and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode, Rick speaks with his homeboy San Diego Travel Host Jay Jay Maniquis from the YouTube channel, Jaycation, and TBEX Conference Director for North America Tim Leffel. Tim is a veteran travel writer who has dispatched articles from five continents. He is an author of multiple books, editor of Perceptive Travel, and a long time travel blogger. His company, Al Centro Media, produces a variety of additional websites including Hotel Scoop.

This episode of Travel Matters is hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and produced by The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this first episode from TBEX North America in Lafayette, 2022, Rick speaks with Radio host and culinary personality Jay Ducote and Ines Boutamagia from SafetyWing.

Not only does SafetyWing have Nomad Insurance, but they also plan to build a country on the internet, calling it Plumania.

This episode of Travel Matters is hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

A vagabond is a person who wanders from place to place without a fixed home.

Our guest today is the bestselling author of the widely celebrated Vagabonding. Now, Rolf Potts has written a new book called "The Vagabond's Way"

This book is a bit different, containing 366 Meditations on Wanderlust, Discovery, and the Art of Travel.

We're super excited to have him on the show today.

This episode of Travel Matters is hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this electrifying episode of Travel Matters, Palle Bo and Rick Calvert sit down with Christine Lozada, famously known as the Drone Queen. Dive into the world of drone photography and videography as Christine shares her journey from a newbie to a renowned drone expert. Discover the secrets behind capturing breathtaking aerial shots, navigating legalities, and utilizing drones to land incredible travel partnerships. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just curious about drone technology, this episode is packed with insights and tips that will elevate your travel content creation to new heights.

Three Key Points

1. Drone Photography and Videography Essentials: Christine Lozada reveals her top tips for capturing stunning aerial shots, including the importance of smooth, cinematic movements and understanding safety settings to prevent crashes.
2. Strategic Use of Drones for Content Creation: Learn how Christine uses drones not only to enhance her travel videos but also to differentiate her content, land partnerships, and monetize her work. She emphasizes the accessibility and affordability of drones as powerful tools for storytellers.
3. Memorable Drone Experiences and Safety Insights: Christine shares captivating stories from her drone adventures, including an encounter with a black tip shark migration and a daring drone retrieval from a cliff in Ethiopia. She also discusses the evolving ease of flying drones and how they have become essential tools for modern travel creatives.

In this episode, we will tell you when and where the next TBEX Europe is taking place. Also, a few more details about TBEX North America in Lafayette and TBEX Asia in Phuket, Thailand.

This episode of Travel Matters is hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode, we speak with Anton Diaz from Our Awesome Planet and Max Hartshorne from GoNOMAD.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode we speak with Fierita Catalano about how he livestreams wherever he goes – to a huge following.

Fierita is the winner of the 2021 MoJo Travel Journalism prize from Agencia EFE, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and Vueling. Fierita Catalano went from a 20-year career in mainstream television in Argentina (that included hosting game shows and a sports broadcaster) and shifted to an interactive travel format through his Decidilo website and Social Media. Fierita has travelled through 39 countries with no external funding, and he built up a community of more than one million followers.

We speak with Fierita about the benefits of livestreaming, including how to use it to build your community.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode we speak with Francis Tapon who is an extreme traveler. He spent five years visiting every country in Africa – and climbing the highest mountain in each country. Now he's writing a book about that journey. You can see more about him on ftapon.com and follow him as ftapon on social media.

We also have Michael Collins from TravelMedia.ie back for a conversation about social media.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Rachel Heller of Rachel's Ruminations and Shobha George of JustGoPlacesBlog did a session called Promoting Responsible Tourism in Content Creation at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain. This is a big, important, and interesting topic that we had to have a conversation about. We're four people in this week's Travel Matters and more or less four different opinions. And you might not agree with any of us, so we'd love to hear what you think. So, join the conversation on TBEX on Facebook.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode we first talk about Rick leaving California after having lived there his whole life. He and his family are moving to Utah. Before two interesting interviews from TBEX Spain, he tells us how that happened.

Then we speak to Fuse who comes from a background of teaching SEO to photographers as she has been a photographer for a decade. Now she's the first and (according to Rick) only TBEX volunteer helping out with photography and so much more.

She also has her own travelblog, FuseTravels.com and you can follow her on TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest.

We also have an interesting conversation with Alastair McKenzie. He has been a travel journalist/editor since 1989, originally in local, then national radio before moving online just before the millennium.  He's been an active member of the travel blogger & social media community since it started, a regular speaker at social media travel conferences, and write about social travel. He's also a member of the Captivate Digital Media collective, and the British Guild of Travel Writers.

His blog MechTraveller.com is a niche blog about geeky travel, attractions, history, and transport. At this conference he moderated a keynote panel on the big stage and in this episode of Travel Matters he shares his thoughts on the travel media industry – and the difference between traditional media and travel blogging.

This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

Leo Long is a travel writer from China and a first timer at TBEX. Hear what he thinks about being here just a few hours into TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain.

In this episode we also talk to Kerwin McKenzie. Kerwin is originally from Jamaica, and is an ex-airline employee who is now a travel content creator, author, and public speaker. He's worked in various capacities at four U.S.-based airlines for 14.5 years, flown 181 airlines, and visited 137 countries/territories (105 UN).

Today, he runs Passrider.com for airline employees, Cruisinaltitude.com with information about airline travel, Unfamiliardestinations.com with details about 365 under-visited destinations, and DiscoveringHouston.net, which provides travel information for Houston, Texas. He also cooks Jamaican food at CookingWithkerwin.com.

Kerwin has attended 17 TBEX conferences, again here at TBEX Europe he did the first timers' briefing. What is the best way to get the most out of a TBEX conference?

We're also talking to Kerwin about Black Travel Alliance, a professional non-profit organization, created in 2020 to encourage, educate, equip and excel black travel professionals in education, media, and corporate positions.

You can follow Kerwin on TikTok and on Instagram as @LoyaltyTravels. Also, you can follow TBEX on TikTokand on Instagram.

This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

We're just hours away from TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain. We have The Travel Camel, Shane Dallas, Conference Director for TBEX Europe, as a special co-host as we talk about what to expect the next two days – and much more.

This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX Europe in Marbella, Spain and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this last episode recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities, WA, we speak with Candy Krajangsri from Amazing Thailand. Candy is working at their Los Angeles office, and we talk about what to expect when we go to TBEX Asia in Phuket in November.

Then we're also joined by our good friend Michael Collins from TravelMedia.ie – a full-service public relations, marketing, events, communications, and travel trade representation company, founded in 2006, and managed by Michael Collins. Hear how he managed to travel during the pandemic.

See y'all in person at TBEX Europe in Marbella Spain tomorrow.

This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this week's episode, we have a conversation with Jen Ruiz from Jen on a Jet Plane about how we as travel content creators should use TikTok.

And then Rick Calvert also shares some of the highlights for the upcoming TBEX Europe happening in Marbella, Spain next week.

This episode of Travel Matters was recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities and hosted by TBEX CEO, Rick Calvert and The Radio Vagabond, Palle Bo.

In this episode of Travel Matters, join hosts Palle Bo and Rick Calvert as they sit down with travel blogger Mike Shubic from Mike's Road Trip at TBEX North America 2023 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They dive into Mike's journey from early tech adoption to exploring the latest in AI tools, sharing invaluable insights for content creators. Tune in to hear about Mike's adventures, the transformative power of AI in the travel industry, and how technology is shaping the future of content creation.

Key Points

1. AI Tools for Content Creation: Mike Shubic discusses various AI tools like ChatGPT, Luminar AI, and others, highlighting how they can enhance content creation, marketing, and video production, offering new revenue opportunities and audience engagement for travel creators.
2. The Evolution of Travel Blogging: Mike shares his journey from starting Mike's Road Trip in 2009 to becoming a travel influencer, discussing how early adoption of video and new technologies like AI have transformed his career and the travel blogging landscape.

Future of AI in Travel and Content Creation: The conversation explores the potential and challenges of AI, including its impact on white-collar jobs, the importance of maintaining human creativity and artistry in content, and how AI can be a valuable tool without replacing the authenticity of personal experiences.

In this week's episode we first have a conversation with Christopher Mitchell and Jeremy Jones. Together they cofounded the blogging newsletter, This Week in Blogging.

Chris is a travel content creator and runs sites and brands such as TravelingMitch and Ultimate Ontario, and communities such as the Toronto Blogger Collective. Jeremy also runs several blogs on the topics of travel, Pittsburgh, wine, and home & gardening.

We also have a conversation with Engin Kaban from Turkey. He's technically an engineer, practically a traveler. That's where the name of his blog EnginEER Travel comes from.

This episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities.

Welcome to another episode of Travel Matters recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities. We have a conversation with Juliana Broste aka Traveling Jules, a filmmaker and YouTuber who gave a session with tips on how to improve your travel videos. Jules is an 11-time Heartland Emmy award winning Travel Video Journalist, a producer, shooter, writer, editor and host.  She also shares inspiration and education for creators and video production professionals in The Video Hustle.

Also, we speak to TaKenya Hampton, who is an author, blogger, podcaster, and life and business coach helping people tap into their full power to live a life that's led by their desires. We talk about her session, "The Travel Blogger's Guide to Maintaining the Back End of WordPress".

This episode is recorded at TBEX North America in Tri-Cities. We have a conversation with Ron Williams from the Tri-Cities area about what they have to offer and tourism in Washington State.

Also, we talk a bit about what it means to be part of a FAM Trip after a TBEX.

The first TBEX conference since the pandemic changed everything was taking place in Tri-Cities in April. 
At the conference, Palle Bo talked to a few first-timers, and after that, he and Rick Calvert spoke to one of the Conference Directors, Tomiko Harvey.