Travelling in some kind of van - a campervan, a caravan, an RV, a motorhome - is a unique and fabulous way to see the world. I was lucky enough to spend many months in a campervan as a child, exploring both Europe and Australia, and it was completely life-changing! In this episode I have three guests with a wonderful variety of van experiences. First up, I chat with Julie Kaplan, who is a self-described "reluctant" van traveller, but she tells a great story about a van trip she recently took...

There are so many ways we can try to do better when we travel, and looking for tours or activities that have a conservation angle is one that, with a little research, can be surprisingly easy. In Episode 298 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with two tour operators who have been diving deep into the conservation travel area for years, and to a traveller who was impressed by a conservation project in India and made a point to visit. First up, Roger Smith from Echidna Walkabout does a...

City names like Mosul, Karbala and Basra - and of course the capital Baghdad - are familiar to us all, but not from seeing people's holiday snaps, unfortunately. Tourism in Iraq is a very small-scale affair, but I've been curious about it recently after seeing a couple of people I knew travel there - and I've interviewed two women who've recently travelled to Iraq for this episode. First up, I speak with Julie Kaplan. Curiously, Julie intended only to spend a few days in Kurdistan and on the...

Making connections - either brief or lasting - with local people when you travel can often be the highlight of a trip. In this episode, three guests tell stories about people they have befriended on their travels and I hope it inspires you to be open to these kind of connections when you are next wandering the world, too. My first guest is Antonio Cala, who talks about a stay in Mexico in the first month of he and his wife's years-long journey cycling down through Central and South America....

Travelling overnight in a train is, I think, a very special experience. I've slept peacefully on overnight trains in Russia, Finland and Vietnam, and will happily do so again, for many reasons. Spending extended periods of time on trains is a wonderful way to get chatting to other travellers, a comfortable way to really see a country's landscapes, and of course, it's also more environmentally friendly than flying. My first guest on this episode is Justin Meneguzzi, who recently included...

Raynor Winn, bestselling author, one of my personal heroes, all-round amazingly nice person - is the guest on this deep dive episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. I discovered Raynor Winn's books thanks to the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, when one of our members, Joan, suggested we read "The Salt Path". I'm so glad she did, because it became a firm favourite amongst book club members, and we've subsequently read "The Wild Silence" and will soon discuss Raynor's third book,...

Many of us like to “do good” when we travel, and getting involved in some kind of citizen science program when we travel is a fantastic way to do this. Citizen science might involve making observations of wildlife or flora, collecting other kinds of data or even working in a science lab, and the guests on this podcast have a variety of wonderful citizen science experiences to report. First up, I chat with Roger Smith of Echidna Walkabout. After running tours in Australia for several decades,...

Getting animal experiences right when we travel is something we can all try hard to do - checking ahead of time whether the ways we might be about to interact with animals are ethical and appropriate.  In this episode I have a bit of theory and practice to share. First up, we hear from Nora Livingstone at Animal Experience International, an organisation which helps travellers volunteer at ethical animal experiences around the world.  We then move on to India with my long-time listener Anuj,...

There is, apparently, no end to the appetite of both me and my listeners to hear stories about things going wrong on our travels. It’s not that we want to laugh or point fingers at people who have bad things happen to them - I think it’s more an empathy and sympathy, and the kind of entertainment that arises from someone who’s told a travel story many times, and can tell it well. That’s my excuse anyway: this is just one more of quite a number of episodes on this topic! My first guest in...

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the March 2023 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Travel as a Political Act by Rick Steves. Justin and I chatted about some of the positives of this book - the various lessons learnt from travel and some guidelines for travelling thoughtfully - along with a few parts we didn't agree with so wholeheartedly. If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, all the info is at...

Happy 7th birthday to The Thoughtful Travel Podcast! This is a special episode with a few interesting tidbits about the podcast, inspired by members of the Thoughtful Travellers groups who gave me some excellent suggestions. For example, I've got the stats to show you which seven episodes have been the most downloaded over the history of the podcast; I've also got our group's version of the seven deadly sins of travel. I've also combined this seven-year celebration with a trip report on my...

What really goes on behind the scenes of travel writers, content creators and podcasters, and their counterparts in the tourism and travel industry, public relations firms and tourism boards? I recently spent the best part of a week in Sydney immersed in this world and I realised that lifting the curtain on how this part of travel and tourism works might prove interesting for my listeners. This episode is part trip report (in short: Sydney is gorgeous) and part BTS of IMM Australia, and...

It'd be great if any time we took ourselves travelling and volunteered somewhere that it was a purely good act. The problem is, of course, that we are now getting to understand just how damaging some kinds of volunteer tourism can be. Is it all bad, though? I don't think so! But we definitely have to be very, very thoughtful any time we sign up for voluntourism. In Episode 288 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three travellers about their thoughts and experiences with volunteer...

I don't think I'm the kind of traveller who's going to board a five-thousand-passenger cruise ship any time soon. But when I chatted with these three guests about their experiences with what I've called "not your typical" cruises, then I'm feeling much more inclined to pack my bags and my seasickness tablets! My first guest is Rick Antonson, an author of many fantastic travel books, and veteran of nearly no cruises! He did, however, have a brilliant experience on a river cruise in Myanmar a...

One of my very favourite cities anywhere is Melbourne, Australia. It's a city I seriously considering moving to when I returned from living abroad, and I have so many friends there - long story short, I always love visiting Melbourne. When my son was picked as a goalkeeper for the Western Australian state indoor soccer team, and we found out he'd be headed to Melbourne for the National Fustal Championships in January 2023, I was equally excited about his inclusion in the team and the fact...

I've always wanted to get to Hawai'i some day - but now I know why I haven't made it yet. I needed to read this brilliant book first! This episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is an interview with Annie Daly and Kainoa Daines, the authors of "Island Wisdom: Hawaiian Traditions and Practices for a Meaningful Life". It's one of those brilliant books - all too rare - which serve the function of teaching us really important things about a destination before we arrive, and enrich the...

We know that having expectations can often set us up for disappointment - and many thoughtful travellers will also know that letting go of these expectations and just embracing whatever happens can often lead to the most memorable and enjoyable trips. In this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three guests who prove just that. Firstly, I talk with Diana Fischer of Detours Zürich about some of her experiences of travel and how she’s learnt that being humble and open-minded...

It's the season for Antarctic travel - but should we really encourage Antarctic tourism? That's the question I had in mind when I chatted with Justin Watson (well-known to listeners as my Book Club co-host), who travelled to Antarctic recently on a true trip-of-a-lifetime. We chat about the highlights of an Antarctic trip, Justin's tips for deciding on a ship to join, and also our thoughts on whether Antarctic tourism is for better or worse. You'll have to listen to find out what we...

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the 2022 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Peel Me A Lotus by Charmian Clift with my co-host Justin Watson, and later joined by Thoughtful Travellers member Philippa. 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...

Friendships made while travelling are some of the best friendships of all, right? I think the kind of person we act as while we travel is closer to our best self than usual, plus we’re likely to interact with people who have similar interests and values - and then, whammo, we suddenly have friends for life! In this episode I start off with a beautiful story from Diana Fischer about a friend she made on her first backpacking trip to Asia, in Sri Lanka. It’s a friendship that has stood the...

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the December 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Sovietistan by Erika Fatland with my co-host Justin Watson. 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  See...

We all see the headlines about how travelling is bad for the earth - and yet I know my podcast listeners also agree that travel is so very good for us, in so many ways, that we need to find a way to continue to travel. This makes the ideas of regenerative travel and sustainable travel important to talk and think about, and I'm pleased to have put together this episode to help us all do just that. I chat first of all with Dr Susanne Etti, who's currently the Global Environmental Impact...

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the October 2021 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about A Beginner's Guide to Japan by Pico Iyer with our special guest, Miyuki Seguchi, host of Japan Experts podcast. Get your own copy of the book at https://amzn.to/3oXYz5y  You can listen to Japan Experts on any podcast app or at https://anchor.fm/japan-experts  If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, all the info is at...

I'm one lucky gal. Work and being (suddenly!) the parent of a high school kid has kept me from too many big trips this year - along with the after-effects of Covid on travel - but I have been able to spend time running workshops in various parts of my beautiful home state, Western Australia. When I look at all those trips together, I realise properly what fabulous experiences I've had this year, and I wanted to celebrate this special 280th episode by chatting about how I saw my home state...

For many kinds of travellers who belong to some kind of minority - even large minorities! - the experience of travel can be quite different to the mainstream. The plight of travelling as an LGBTQIA+ person has been in discussion in our household of late thanks to my son's interest in soccer and his disgust at what he's been learning about Qatar's treatment of gay people - and the concern for gay travellers headed there to watch the World Cup later this month. That made it seem just the right...