The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda Kendle

There are countless lessons we can learn from travel: from small to large, nice-to-know to completely life-changing. I'm sure that I'm a completely different person thanks to the things I have learnt while travelling - and hopefully a better one!

In this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with three guests who agree that we can learn a lot when we travel.

First, I speak with Justin Meneguzzi who has a personal lesson connected to confidence, and a broader lesson about social norms, and right and wrong.

Next, Tasha Goldberg explains one of her most important personal lessons from travel, learnt while travelling after a heartbreak; she also talks about how she learnt the difference between the theory and framework of policy and what it's like to meet people actually experiencing that situation.

Finally, I chat with Lindsay Williams, a language-learning expert, about some of the lessons travel can teach us about speaking another language.

Links:
Justin Meneguzzi - https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com 
Tasha Goldberg’s project Evidence of Hope - https://www.evidenceofhope.com/ 
Lindsay Williams’ site Lindsay Does Languages - https://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/ 
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/216

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Paul Theroux returns! This episode is the second half of my interview with travel writer Paul Theroux - if you haven't listened to Episode 214 yet, go and do that first!

In this final section, we talk about another widely-varied array of travel topics, including the magic of train travel, one of my very favourite ways to get around. We also chat about some cultural differences and discuss some of the things that are peculiar to Australians.

We move on to discussing road trips in Australia and the United States, and finish up talking about our children - I know that Paul's sons Louis and Marcel have made truly impressive creative careers for themselves, so I ask him for some parenting tips!

I still feel so privileged to have had this great chat, and I hope you enjoy listening to it just a fraction as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Links:
Deep South - https://amzn.to/3pUcmef 
Riding the Iron Rooster - https://amzn.to/2J0Svt6 
Dark Star Safari - https://amzn.to/3pRQlN8 
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/215

 

 

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I'd need a time machine to be able to tell for sure, but I think that Paul Theroux's "The Great Railway Bazaar" was probably the very first travel narrative book I ever read. It shaped a lot about what I thought about travel - that you should talk to local people, that you should travel slowly, alone where possible, and not in a group of tourists, for sure - and it gave me quite an obsession with trains and the Trans-Siberian railway in particular.

So when I was offered the chance to interview Paul Theroux - of course, I said yes! Episode 214 is the first half of this interview - Paul was a very generous interviewee, and our chat is too long to publish in a regular episode, so you'll find the rest in Episode 215. 

In this half, our chat is wide-ranging and includes leaning languages, ways to get to know the locals, and the pleasure of teaching and studying in a foreign country - a very sneaky way to properly get to know a place!

Links:
The Great Railway Bazaar - https://amzn.to/35Ca6QB 
The Tao of Travel - https://amzn.to/3f5NZVN
On the Plain of Snakes - https://amzn.to/3e7Jg58
The Kingdom by the Sea - https://amzn.to/35z5o6j 
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/214

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the November 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Down Under (aka In a Sunburned Country) by Bill Bryson.

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 omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over recent years, more of us have paid attention to ways in which we can travel a little more sustainably, and harm the environment a little less - but we still have such a long way to go. In Episode 213 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I chat with three travellers who are also very concerned about the impact we are having on the environment, and have a wealth of tips and ideas to share with us.

First up I speak with Brighde Reed from World Vegan Travel, who spends a lot of time writing and thinking about how what we do affects the planet. She has a host of practical tips and I suspect there'll be something useful for everyone.

Next, I chat with Louise Southerden, a very thoughtful travel writer who has plenty to say about sustainability as a broader topic along with some excellent tips for travellers.

Finally, Anna Chittenden talks about more practical ways to be sustainable when we travel, including some specific tips in Asia, and also raises an important topic which we'll have to put a pin in for a future episode!

Links:
Brighde Reed - World Vegan Travel - https://www.worldvegantravel.com/ 
Larq bottles which Brighde mentions - https://www.livelarq.com/ 
Louise Southerden - No Impact Girl - http://www.noimpactgirl.com
Anna Chittenden of The Lost Guides - http://thelostguides.com/
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/213

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travelling is often fun but if you're travelling for a super-special reason like to get married - well, then that's even more fun! This episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is full of amazing destinations and very special trips indeed.

My first guest is Scott Antcliffe, who told me this story about his honeymoon in the Maldives - I loved his tale so much that it inspired me to find some other wedding or honeymoon stories to put into this episode.

Shaney Hudson, my second guest, answered the call - because she is a real over-achiever at weddings! She and her husband got married not one, not twice, but three times, and on three different continents and in quite incredible situations.

Finally, Emma Lovell did something I think many travel-lovers would like to do: she eloped to somewhere foreign and special, and she and her (now) husband had a really unique wedding.

Links:
Getting Engaged While Travelling - https://notaballerina.com/197  
Scott Antcliffe on Twitter - https://twitter.com/cliffy94
Shaney Hudson - twitter.com/shaneyhudson 
Emma - Lovelly Travels - https://lovellytravels.com/ 
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/212

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.