Can we take selfies with monkeys? Can I feed apes? Why are macaques aggressive towards humans? Can I eat primates? In this episode of Travel Devil, we're exposing the wildlife exploitation in southeast Asia's tourism culture - with Connie Needham. While Vietnam and Southeast Asia is a backpacker’s paradise, it’s also home to more and more wildlife exploitation marketed as “once-in-a-lifetime experiences.” Today we focus on primates: monkeys and apes. Researcher Connie shares her insights on s...

In this episode of Travel Devil, I sit down with Victor Figèra from La Route du Soja to discuss his incredible long-distance train journey from Paris to Taiwan with his partner Léa. Victor shares how his childhood shaped his passion for sustainable travel and how they navigated a route that emits five times less CO2 than flying. We dive into their most memorable experiences—crossing breathtaking landscapes in China and Kyrgyzstan, a heartwarming arrival in Hong Kong, and culinary adventures i...

Today's episode is all about beach cleanups, sharing the story of the coastal and marine management expert and founder Daniel Angelis, who got started during the refugee crisis. Daniel shares his journey of how the refugee boats impacted his home island Lesbos in Greece, and how they dealt with the trash. He's opening up about leading ocean cleanups and tackling plastic pollution along some of the world’s most beautiful yet fragile coastlines. In Lesbos, environmental conservation met hu...

How can we visit Portugal in a more sustainable way? Today's guest is the portages Marta Domingues, a founder of eco-projects and a biodiversity activist.Marta explains the problems she faces on a daily basis living in Portugal. Over tourism caused her not to visit Lisbon anymore, taking the bus can take a long time, visiting beautiful beaches with her kids became a 3-hour-queue experience by car... But all of those negatives make room for positive solutions.How can we do eco travel in Portug...

Many tourists prefer fun facts and experiences over the heavy truths of wildlife conservation, leading to a tourism model that often neglects the needs of the animals and the environment. What are green flags and red flags of wildlife safaris? Where is a volunteer's money actually going? ...Margarita Samsonova, an unconventional GREENfluencer and the founder of Behind The Greens media, explains the big differences between fancy safaris and real conservation efforts. She shares how luxury...

Bikepacking or work 'n holiday? Mix both to get workpacking. This week's guest decided to leave his office and make it mobile. Gunnar Fehlau started working from his e-cargobike, as he calls it "workpacking". Gunnar shares tips on how to start your own bicycle touring workpack journey and explains how his start wasn't the best. Our host Clara Francken talks with him about the difficulties he faced and the solutions he found. How Gunnar arranged his one-year trip from idea to the start to...

Responsible travel means that we need to be aware of our impact. And to say that this conversation is a wake up call, is an understatement. Today's guest Praneetha Monipi explains all the do's and don'ts when touching nature. The goal is to keep the biodiversity alive. What is the real impact of our seashell collection? Why is rock-stacking not a good idea? What's the impact of tourism on local wildlife and communities? Host Clara Francken asks all of this and more to learn from her gues...

In the 1950s, Klaus' parents left Germany on a ship, aiming for a better life in Canada. In this episode, our host Clara Francken talks to Klaus about his travel dreams. Klaus wishes to travel back to Germany and sail back to his roots. Why does he want to travel on a freighter ship? Why did his parents migrate to Canada? What is the impact of sailing aboard a cargo ship?Check out possible cargo ship voyages: cptnzeppos.com/en/alle-reizen/The video Klaus is talking about (Cargo Ship Travel | ...

1500km of cycling around the Dutch border & crossing to neighbor countries hundreds of times. Bicycle touring around your own country while following strict rules. Vincent Wever cycled around his homecountry The Netherlands. His rules? 1. stay as close to the border as possible2. don't do the same route twiceThe borders of Holland touch both Belgium and Germany. But they also cross houses, stores, gardens, rivers and more. What inspired Vincent to travel around The Netherlands? What ...

Luxembourg, the world's richest country, made public transport free. Today we're talking about Luxembourg and its buses, tramway and train system. This is great for the environment, is very practical and reduces the amount of traffic which was going in the capital. Luxembourgish railway system is called the SNL (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois). How did this change affect the country? Is it free to take the train to Luxembourg from neighbouring countries such as Belgium,...

How to find cheap train tickets? How to travel comfortably? Which countries should you visit by train? Join our host Clara Francken as she shares expert tips, insider secrets, and captivating stories from the rails, guaranteed to elevate your European train travel experience. Stories from delayed journeys through Belgium and Germany to sun-soaked escapades in Spain and a four-day trip to Greece, this episode is your ultimate guide to mastering European train travel. Discover how to snag...

What is it like to go long-distance bicycling?  This week’s guest William Spencer biked from the U.K. to India in less than one year, experienced culture shock, danger and profound friendship on the road. Now he's older, but still traveling by bike. He explains which life lessons he learned from being on the road, why age doesn't matter, which challenges he faced and how he overcame those.  William cycled more than 100.000 km across 23 countries. He even wrote a bestselling book about his...

These female ecoleaders are changing the travel industry by raising their voice.  9 women who will inspire you to travel differently and show that there are many solutions. Tania MuximaDalisa CamciEmma’s RoadmapMargreen Margarita SamsonovaOlivia PianaJane GoodallSylvia EarleWangari MaathaiGreta ThunbergFirst, I talk about my past interview partners (1-3) who have inspired my own travel journey: long distance cycling, hitchhiking and local travel. Afterwards, I'm sharing the stories of...

This guy is traveling to every continent of the world using his own human power. No plane, no car, no engine was used for his journey. He takes us back on his road in Oceania where he took the rowing boat to sail between Java and Papua. He rowed 4.00 km in Indonesia and is the first one rowing this long road. In total he rows and sails 12.000 km and cycles 70.000 km to reach his ultimate goal: the summits of Puncak Jaya (Oceania), Mount Everest (Asia), Kilimanjaro (Afrika), Mount Vinson...

In this week's solo Christmas special, Clara is talking about her experience celebrating Christmas for the firs time abroad. Spending Christmas away from the family, in a place surrounded by new friends only. Social life is already hard during winter times, let alone finding people to celebrate Christmas with. Your host Clara Francken explains how her family Christmas tradition looks like, how she spent her Christmas in Turkey, and answers your questions about spending these days away from...

Everything you need to know about a gap year, and more. What is living in Turkey like? Living in a host family? Learning a new language? Travel Devil host Clara shares her own experience in this week's episode. She answers your questions about her year abroad, and explains how she chose to travel with the exchange organization AFS. At first, she opens up about the process of deciding the country Turkey and shares insights of AFS camps. Then she dives into how living in Turkey, Izmir, changed...

How to explore your home country? Can you travel close to home and have fun? See beautiful destinations? Travel Devil host Clara talked about weekend trips and micro adventures with Emma. She started exploring Belgium when the pandemic hit, and shares her experience on Instagram on @emmasroadmap. In this episode, she'll share the top beautiful destinations in Belgium, how to find micro adventures close to your home, how to plan your weekend trips, and more. This episode is full of fun tips...

Is cargo ship traveling better than boarding a cruise ship? Travel Devil host Clara talked to Joris, he traveled the Atlantic Ocean as a passenger on a container ship. After that life-changing experience, he started his own travel agency CptnZeppos. In this episode, Joris shares everything you need to know about being a passenger on a cargo ship. I promise you will feel good, inspired, and laugh during this episode.  Want to watch the podcast-related video? Go to...

Is it really dangerous to go bike packing  solo as a woman? Travel Devil host Clara talked to Tania, full-time traveler on her bicycle about 8 month a year! Tania did a 10.000 km tour in South America, 9.000 km in Afrika and many more km's on other trips. Her story isn't only very strong, she's extremely inspiring and was a big inspiration to start Clara's own bicycle touring journey. Suggestions for future guests? Dm me on instagram.com/clarafrancken Want to watch my videos? Go to...

Join Clara for her first solo episode where she opens up about her Flixbus experiences and tells you about this new travel podcast. In the theme of Halloween this is a horror story which takes place at the bus station in her home town. Clara shares her personal experience with Flixbus and reacts to other's bad experiences on Reddit. If you're asking yourself if you should travel by bus... This episode is for you! Suggestions? Dm me on instagram.com/clarafrancken Want to watch my videos? Go...