Maira Nolte from Nürnberg, Germany originally chose her job as a flight attendant so she could travel all over the world. She loved that a large part of her job was about working with people and helping others. One day, her work took her to Addis Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia, where she discovered not only the beauty of the country, but also met some people in need of support, especially mothers and children. She decided to help and got involved with the Lufthansa Help Alliance to get...

Originally a musician, Charlotte Orba from Southampton, England was running the pop music and music production degree at Leeds College of Music until a midlife-crisis made her reconsider what she was doing with her time. Desperate for a change in her life, Charlotte decided to take the leap, googled “volunteering overseas” and found first an internship and then a job in marine conservation in Seychelles. Today, Charlotte still works as a marine educator and says she wishes she had known how...

Jeffrey Parks, an attorney turned social entrepreneur, was shocked to see the devastating effects of de-industrialisation on his community after the closure of the famous Bethlehem Steel works in Pennsylvania, USA. While looking for a solution to revive the community he was offered a tour of Germany’s Ruhr Valley, an area that had suffered similar problems after the closure of its coal mines and steel plants. He found that many of the abandoned industrial sites such as Zeche Zollverein had...

Irene Rouwenhorst was worried that having children might mean the end of traveling for her and her husband, but then the Dutch couple took the leap and embarked on a year-long journey through Asia with their two young children, loving every minute of it. Being on sabbatical gave them time to do some soulsearching and think about what they really wanted out of life. When the family reached the Philippines, Irene was offered her dream job working with furniture and interior design and decided...

Benjamin Adrion, the son of a German soccer coach, started pursuing a professional career in soccer at an early age and ended up playing in midfield for FC St. Pauli in Hamburg, Germany, a club that is famous for its die-hard supporters and social conscience. During a winter training camp in Cuba, Benjamin became aware of the need for clean drinking water there. After his return to Germany, the plan for a clean drinking water charity began to take shape, and “Viva con Agua de St. Pauli” was...

Lotti Meier was a fashion designer in Switzerland and enjoyed the glamour that came with it until she "caught the dogsledding bug“ on holiday in Lapland and decided to move to Sweden. Today, she runs the Snowtrail Dogcamp near Gällivare in Lapland. Host Shelby Stanger talks to Meier about finding inner peace while dogsledding through untouched nature some 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle and learns why managing a hundred huskies is no different from managing the same number of people....

Somnath Halder’s life as an IT consultant was turned upside down when he travelled to New York City and walked into a music workshop run by jazz legend Barry Harris. He realized that jazz to him meant freedom, and that playing music was the thing he loved doing most in life. Inspired by Harris, Somnath decided to leave his old life behind to study and teach music back home in India. He talks to host Shelby Stanger about taking the leap to start a new, fulfilling life. Listen to learn how to...

Gesa Neitzel, writer and safari-guide, discusses her life-changing travels through South Africa with host Shelby Stanger. Originally a TV producer from Berlin, she became fed up with her work and went on a soul-searching trip around the world. When she finally set foot in South Africa, she realized that she belonged among the wild animals and beautiful nature there. Today she splits her time between Berlin and South Africa and offers guided tours for tourists. In Lufthansa’s first ever...

Cici Li, founder of Wine Weekend in China, tells host Shelby Stanger how the first taste of Burgundy wine inspired her to study wine-making in France rather than pursuing a career in the cosmetics industry. In Lufthansa’s first ever podcast series, guests tell their inspiring life-stories and give insider travel advice on their favorite places. Cici explains how the French spirit and love of freedom and wine inspired her to become an entrepreneur who imports wine and French joie de vivre to...

Thomasina Miers, founder of the Wahaca restaurant chain and Guardian food columnist, talks to host Shelby Stanger about her life-changing travels through Mexico. She fell in love with Mexican food and was shocked to find that it simply didn’t exist in 1990s’ Britain – so she trained as a chef and opened up a Mexican restaurant herself. In Lufthansa’s first ever podcast series, guests tell their inspiring life-stories and give insider travel advice on their favorite places. Thomasina reveals...

Find out why surf photographer Chris Burkard traded sunny beaches and palm trees for the rugged coastline and icy waters of Lofoten, Norway. In Lufthansa’s first ever travel podcast series, host Shelby Stanger interviews people who tell their own personal stories of how traveling to a new country has been a life-changing experience for them. Chris Burkard reveals how battling the elements not only brought him closer to himself but made his work more personal and meaningful. Listen to learn...