Zero To Travel Podcast

Jason Moore
  • 4.6 (803)
  • Places & Travel
  • Updated Weekly

✈️ The Zero To Travel Podcast has been downloaded 12+ million times and named a "Best Travel Podcast" by The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, The Telegraph, and Forbes. Packed with life-changing perspectives, inspiration, and practical advice for everyone from travel newbies to nomads, this podcast will give you everything you need to travel the world on your terms, regardless of your situation or experience. Welcome to our amazing global listening community! Since 2013, "Travel Ambassador" Jason Moore from zerototravel.com has been picking the brains of adventurous people living an unconventional life on the road so you can discover new ways to travel endlessly. Along the way, you'll get actionable advice and key resources that will improve your life AND help you travel more as we get down and dirty on topics like; starting and running an online business from anywhere, the best off-the-beaten-path destinations to visit, travel and work opportunities, gutsy budget travel strategies, surprising ways to earn free travel, the digital nomad life, unconventional travel based lifestyles, fun travel jobs, how to plan epic adventures, backpacking, remote work, how to take a gap year or a career break, 4-hour work week inspired topics, ex-pat life, slow travel, travel hacking, sustainable travel, human-powered adventures, trips worth planning, and everything in between. Host Bio: Jason wandered the planet as a nomad for over a decade and spent 15+ years on the road as a tour manager in events/music, a seasonal adventure travel tour guide, and a digital nomad. Originally from the USA, he is now a dual citizen (Norway/USA) based in Oslo. He is obsessed with helping YOU explore our planet on your terms. Follow the show (it's FREE!) and welcome to the global community. 🙏 PS - To sign up for our free newsletter to get travel tips, tricks, destination advice, and more visit zerototravel.com/newsletter.

  1. 6d ago

    How to Be Norwegian (Cultural Concepts Worth Stealing) with Lorelou Desjardins

    Why does a tiny Nordic nation with just 5.5 million people feel impossible to summarize in a single sentence?  Lorelou Desjardins has been writing about Norwegian culture since 2013 at her blog and publishing house, A Frog in the Fjord. She has published six books in Norway and internationally, along with 250 articles in mainstream media including Norway's largest newspaper. Her latest book, How to Be Norwegian, offers a crash course into 55 essential Norwegian cultural quirks. She lives in Oslo and is now a Norwegian citizen.  In this episode, Lorelou and I dig into Norwegian culture and what makes this country so unique, covering the surprising scale of Norway's geography, the country's cabin culture, social dynamics among Norwegians, food and drink customs, the quirks of Norwegian English, and a Norwegian concept worth stealing for your own life.  Norway can feel like a country of contradictions: vast and remote in parts, intensely social in others, shaped by long winters and short summers that flip the whole rhythm of daily life. This conversation moves between practical travel insight and a more personal look at what it is actually like to live here long-term, even after becoming a citizen. Whether you are planning a trip, exploring your own Norwegian roots, or just drawn to borrowing a little wisdom from another culture, there is something here for you.  What is one custom or tradition from somewhere else in the world that you have brought into your own life? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.  Tune In To Learn:  How long Norway actually is, and which European capital it would touch if you spun it on its southern tip  Why a growing wave of travelers are choosing Norway over traditionally hot summer destinations  What Norway's "freedom to roam" law actually allows you to do  How cabin culture works, and how travelers can access cabins most visitors never think to look for  Why Norwegians have a reputation for being emotionally cold, and the bus ride that put that reputation to the test for me  Why Norwegians are so eager to talk about their own cultural identity with outsiders  The surprising history behind Norway's strict modern alcohol laws  Why frozen pizza and Friday tacos became beloved national traditions  The Norwegian concept that's similar to hygge, but with its own colder, deeper edge  And so much more  Resources:  Sign up for our FREE newsletter  A Frog in the Fjord  Lorelou's website  How to Be Norwegian  The Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT)  Want More?  Cracking the Cultural Code, Ethical Travel To Indigenous Areas, & Life in Norway With Lorelou Desjardins  Hidden Norway: 7 Off The Beaten Path Gems You'll Love, Popular Norwegian Concepts Worth Stealing, Trekking In Bhutan, & Living At The Crossroads of Magic & Science w/ Torunn Tronsvang from Up Norway  Top 7 Hidden Gems in Oslo, Norway with Curtis Rojak of Viking Biking  Thanks To Our Sponsors   Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/zerototravel   Experience intelligent trip planning for calmer travel with the TripWaffle app   Earn points on rent and mortgage payments. Apply at joinbilt.com/zerototravel  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  2. 6d ago

    Introducing Via Podcast

    Want to hear a podcast about one my favorite parts of the US? The Via Podcast by AAA paints a picture of the Western United States. If you love American history, road trips, wildlife, and Western folklore you’ve got to check out the Via Podcast. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

    Introducing Via Podcast

  3. Jul 21

    Manifesting Your Ideal Lifestyle (Practical Tools and No BS) with Heath Armstrong

    What would it look like to build a life that reflects exactly who you are and where you want to go?  Heath Armstrong is an entrepreneur, author, and co-founder of Rage Create, a company known for its unconventional affirmation and oracle card decks that have raised over $200,000 through crowdfunding. He spent years living and working nomadically, including a period traveling full-time in a self-built van across the United States. He now runs Deck Creators, a community for people who want to create and launch their own card decks, from his farmhouse in the mountains of North Carolina.  In this episode, Heath and I catch up on his journey from the early days of location independence to the businesses he's building now. We get into his approach to freedom lifestyle design, what it actually means to take inspired versus forced action, and the daily practices he's used to move from vision to reality.  This is one of those conversations that works on multiple levels. On the surface, it's about entrepreneurship and building a life around your values. But underneath that is something more personal: how to recognize when you're operating from fear versus genuine alignment, and what it takes to keep moving in the right direction even when things get hard.   Heath's been through real darkness, real financial uncertainty, and real pivots, and he's thought deeply about all of it. Whether you're designing a lifestyle business, mapping out your next travel chapter, or just trying to figure out what you actually want, there's something in here for you.  What's one thing you could do this week to move closer to the version of your life you actually want to be living? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.  Tune In To Learn:  Why Heath draws a sharp line between inspired action and forced action, and why that distinction changed everything for him  How the note card practice he started years ago still shapes his daily routine today  Why visualizing your goals in the present tense only works if you actually believe them, and what to do if you don't  How to tell the difference between resistance and intuition when they can feel nearly identical  What Heath's "totem pole" framework looks like in practice, and why it brings long-term vision and daily action into alignment  Why your environment and the people around you matter more than most productivity advice will tell you  Lessons from van life that Heath still carries with him, including why nature and isolation sharpened his business instincts  What Heath did when a tariff crisis threatened to sink a shipment, and why he frames problems like video game bosses  Why Heath thinks moving toward the life you want and being happy in the present moment are actually the same thing  Hidden gem destinations that left a real mark on Heath, including a spot in Oregon most people have never heard of  And so much more  Resources:  Sign up for our FREE newsletter  Interested in the Being Box? Email Jason  Heath's website  Rage Create  Deck Creators Community  Heath on Instagram  The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn  The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale  Love Money, Money Loves You by Sarah McCrum   Want More?  Digital Detox: Downsizing Your Digital Life to Create Freedom + Reboot Your Lifestyle Business with Corbett Barr  Building, Growing, and Enjoying a Successful 7-Figure Lifestyle Business with Dan Andrews from Tropical MBA  How to Pivot to a Life With More Freedom (And Travel), Get More Free Time, and Unlock Your Intuition With Jenny Blake  Thanks To Our Sponsors  Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/zerototravel  Experience intelligent trip planning for calmer travel with the TripWaffle app  Earn points on rent and mortgage payments. Apply at joinbilt.com/zerototravel  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  4. Jul 14

    Top 7 Uganda Hidden Gems with Lynett Nakamanya

    What if one of Africa's most diverse and rewarding destinations has been hiding in plain sight — and most travelers only ever see a fraction of what it has to offer?  Lynett Nakamanya is a tourism professional and Kampala native who has worked across the East African travel industry for over a decade. She holds a master's degree in management science with a focus on project monitoring and evaluation in tourism, and is affiliated with the Uganda Tourism Board. She also runs her own trip-planning platform focused on sustainable and meaningful experiences across the region.  In this episode, Lynett shares her list of Uganda hidden gems and travel recommendations, the state of tourism in Uganda today, and the real impact that responsible travel can have on local communities.  Lynett brings a perspective that's hard to find — someone who grew up in Uganda, has spent her career inside the tourism industry there, and thinks seriously about what travel can and should do for local communities. She makes a compelling case for doing a little research before you arrive, because the gap between a standard itinerary and a genuinely memorable one often comes down to simply knowing what to ask for. She also shares a Ugandan saying about travel at the end of this one that's worth sticking around for.  What experience from this episode most surprised you, and has it changed how you think about where you want to go next? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.  Tune In To Learn:  Why a beautiful crater lake just 20 minutes from Uganda's most famous attraction is almost never visited — and why it's worth the detour  How one of East Africa's most rewarding mountaineering experiences sits in Uganda, largely off the radar of international visitors  Why Uganda's 56 tribes make cultural immersion more rewarding when you focus on just one or two  What one of Uganda's most historically significant religious sites reveals about the country's layered cultural past  How a massive collection of islands right next to the airport offers everything from white sand beaches to wildlife encounters that most visitors drive straight past  Why one eastern Uganda destination pairs three waterfalls with some of the world's highest-graded Arabica coffee  Why doing your own research before a trip is the single best way to unlock experiences that never make the standard itinerary  How responsible travel creates a ripple effect through local families and communities that most visitors never see  What cultural mistake tourists commonly make in Uganda that creates more harm than help  And so much more  Resources:  Sign up for our FREE newsletter  Uganda Tourism Board  Uganda Wildlife Authority  Explore Uganda  Want More?  Top 10 Hidden Gems: East Africa (Beyond the Safari) and Transitioning to Travel With Sasha and Megnote Lezhnev  5 Surprising Experiences in Africa, How to Transition to a New Career After Travel, and Exploring the African Diaspora With Jay Cameron  Safari 101: How To Plan A World-Class African Safari (Without Going Broke)  Thanks To Our Sponsors  Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/zerototravel  Experience intelligent trip planning for calmer travel with the TripWaffle app  Earn points on rent and mortgage payments. Apply at joinbilt.com/zerototravel  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  5. Jul 7

    Reconnecting to Nature with Adventure, Purpose, Fun, and Travelers’ Curiosity with Alastair Humphreys

    What if the travel mindset you bring to far-off places is exactly what's needed right where you live?  Alastair Humphreys is a British adventurer, bestselling author, and speaker named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. He spent four years cycling 46,000 miles around the world and has since canoed 500 miles down the Yukon River, rowed across the Atlantic, walked the length of India's Kaveri River, and crossed Iceland on foot and pack raft. In recent years he has become one of the most well-known advocates for microadventures and local exploration, and his newest book is Unwilded: Finding Our Way Back to Nature.  Alastair joins me to unpack the ideas in his book, including why our growing disconnection from nature matters personally and planetarily, and how a travel mindset and nature connection can be tools for changing both.  Alastair has made this case before on the show, but Unwilded takes it somewhere new. This isn't just a conversation about microadventures or getting outside more. It's about a specific kind of blindness that builds slowly across generations, and what it costs us without anyone quite noticing. Alastair brings the same practical, adventure-first framing he always does, but this time it's in service of something bigger: a way to take the traveler's curiosity you feel on the road and put it to work where you actually live. The episode ends with a surprisingly simple exercise that can help you turn the world's overwhelming problems into something personal, actionable, and genuinely fun to pursue.  What's one small thing in your immediate environment that you've stopped really noticing? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.  Tune In To Learn:  Why the traveler's curious, enthusiastic mindset is exactly what's needed at home, and why most of us leave it at the border  What "shifting baseline syndrome" is and why understanding it changes the way you see the world around you  How two apps transformed Alastair's relationship with his daily run, and how to try the same thing  Why spending 15 minutes in nature daily is harder than it sounds, and why that's actually the problem  How connecting with even a tiny patch of local nature can deliver the same buzz as a far-off adventure  What the Overton window has to do with how we approach climate change, travel, and everyday behavior  Why Alastair stopped flying and moved to a vegan diet, and the surprisingly positive effect it had on his life  What the 5-25 exercise is, and how it can help you identify the issues closest to your heart and take action without burning out  How the Netherlands transformed its streets in a generation, and what that says about what's actually possible  The vision Alastair wrote for the world 25 years from now, and why it's closer to reality than it might seem  And so much more  Resources:  Sign up for our FREE newsletter  Alastair Humphreys' website  Unwilded: Finding Our Way Back to Nature  Adventure + Purpose newsletter by Alastair Humphreys  Follow Alastair on Instagram  Merlin Bird ID app  Seek app by iNaturalist  4,000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman  Want More?  How To Have An Adventure On Any Budget With Alastair Humphreys  Exploring A Single Map: A Travel Adventure For Everyone With Alastair Humphreys  Is Your Summer Vacation Destroying The Planet? w/ Seth Kugel  Thanks To Our Sponsors  Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/zerototravel  Experience intelligent trip planning for calmer travel with the TripWaffle app  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  6. Jun 30

    Adventure Filmmaking for YouTube, the Art of Storytelling, and Life on the Road with Molly McDonald

    Molly McDonald is a London-based YouTube producer and founder of Blue Door Productions, a YouTube-first content agency that brings broadcast-level production to digital storytelling. She studied journalism at Boston University and later earned a master's in Irish studies from NYU before building her career in television production in New York City. Her client list includes Red Bull, BBC, and National Geographic, and her films have accumulated over 200 million views on YouTube.  This episode covers Molly's journey from Irish-American New Yorker to YouTube travel documentary producer, including her work on some of the most extreme human endurance expeditions ever filmed and what she learned along the way.  Travel has a funny way of dismantling the stories we tell ourselves about the world, and Molly McDonald has lived that firsthand, from the pubs her family built in Manhattan to the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. She grew up straddling two cultures, and that dual identity turns out to be the exact foundation for the kind of storytelling she now does for a living: finding the human truth inside extreme, unpredictable adventures. There's a real conversation in here about what it means to travel to places that scare you, why the media often gets destinations wrong, and how following a story you can't fully control is actually what makes it worth watching.  What place have you avoided visiting because of how it's been portrayed in the media, and has anything ever changed your mind? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message.  Tune In To Learn:  Why growing up Irish-American in New York shaped Molly's approach to storytelling and travel  How Blue Door Productions brings TV-level production quality to the "wild west" of YouTube  What it was actually like to cross into Iraq during a live expedition, and what happened to all the fear  Why Kurdistan challenged everything Molly thought she knew about the region  How to capture authentic moments on camera when you can't predict what's coming next  Advice for aspiring YouTubers on what to cut, what to keep, and why most people share too much  Why the title and thumbnail of a YouTube video matter more than people realize  How to think about storytelling structure even when the story is still unfolding in front of you  What the concept of "soul places" reveals about how travel changes you over time  Why starting from zero on YouTube is actually an advantage, and what consistency really means  And so much more  Resources:  Sign up for our FREE newsletter  Learn more about Molly's work at Blue Door Productions  Follow Molly on Instagram at @mollybmcd  Watch Mitch Hutchcraft's expedition on YouTube  Want More?  100 Documentaries Project: Traveling the Globe to Find Extraordinary Humans + Changing the World One Story at a Time with Robin Danehav  Transition to Travel: West Africa + Canoeing the River Gambia with Will Hunt  Independent Travel as a Female in Afghanistan, Hitchhiking Iraq, and Ex-Pat Life in Sudan with Jacquelyn Kunz  Thanks To Our Sponsors  Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/zerototravel  Check out Morning Brew Daily for business news that's actually fun.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  7. Jun 25 ·  Bonus

    Y We Travel Podcast: To Meet The Neighbours (Bonus Episode!)

    This week, I'm sharing a bonus episode from a brand new podcast called Y We Travel, co-hosted by my friend Eric Weiner, who has joined me on the show a few times over the years. Eric is a New York Times bestselling author and former foreign correspondent, and his co-host Erica Vella is an award-winning podcaster and former broadcast journalist.  There's no shortage of travel advice out there — who can save us a buck, what to do, when's the best time to go, where to go. But one fundamental question often gets left behind: why?  Born from an award-winning magazine series of the same name, Y We Travel explores the deeper motivations behind our journeys. The show unpacks the emotions, discoveries, and purpose that give travel its meaning.  In this episode, Eric and Erica discuss the origins of the series and their own motivations for travelling. Eric interviews author and Y We Travel essayist Pico Iyer, trading travel anecdotes from Japan to California to North Korea and discussing themes from Pico's piece in The Walrus magazine, which argued that we should travel to meet our neighbours. Erica continues the conversation with a selection of Toronto Pearson passengers, asking: "Why are you travelling today?"  Resources:  Sign up for the Zero to Travel FREE newsletter  Listen to Y We Travel on Apple, Spotify  Read the companion essays at ywetravelmag.ca  Contact Y We Travel: hello@ywetravelmag.ca  Learn more about Pico Iyer  Want More?:  The Geography of Bliss With Eric Weiner  How To Live a Long and Useful Life (The Wisdom of Ben Franklin) With Eric Weiner  Rick Steves On the Hippie Trail (The Making of a Travel Writer) with Special Guest Host Eric Weiner  Thanks To Our Sponsors:  Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/zerototravel  Check out Morning Brew Daily for business news that's actually fun.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  8. Jun 23

    7 Travel Tech Trends Worth Knowing in 2026 + 3 Emerging Hot Spots to Spend Quality Time with Matt Gray

    Matt Gray is the founder and CEO of Pangea, a free social travel app built to help people coordinate travel plans, share recommendations, and connect with their network around the world. After a decade in product development and corporate M&A at a global fintech company, he left the corporate world in 2023 to become a full-time digital nomad and build Pangea full-time. He is on a personal mission to visit every country in the world. In this episode, we get into seven travel tech trends shaping how people plan, book, and experience travel, including why most travel apps fail, the rise of social travel, and what AI can and can't do for travelers right now. We also dig into destination recommendations, advice for running a remote business on the road, and what it means to bridge the nomad bubble. These are genuinely fascinating times to be a traveler and a builder in the travel space, and Matt sits at the center of both worlds. He's thinking seriously about why travel tech has such a high failure rate, and what it would actually take to crack the code, and he brings a perspective that is grounded in years of on-the-ground experience across dozens of countries and travel styles. There is a real conversation here about the gap between wanting to travel and actually doing it, and I think it will stick with you. The travel tech trends for digital nomads piece is insightful, but the human thread running through it all is what makes this one worth your time. Have you ever had a piece of technology genuinely change how you travel or connect with people on the road? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you'll share by sending me an audio message. Tune In To Learn: Why so many travel apps are built to solve a single problem, and why that almost always leads to failure How being a "multifaceted traveler" is reshaping what a useful travel platform actually needs to do Why AI wrappers on ChatGPT are not the same as AI-powered travel tools, and how to tell the difference How social travel is changing the reason people book trips in the first place Why off-the-beaten-path destinations benefit most from the rise of connected travel communities How to break out of the nomad bubble and go deeper in the places you visit Why the people you travel with may matter more than the places you go Destination recommendations for regions quietly gaining traction in the nomad world Advice for running a remote team while living a location-independent life What it looks like to bring urgency to travel, not just talk about it And so much more Resources: Sign up for our FREE newsletter Download the Pangea app Pangea on Instagram Couchsurfing Workaway Want More? From Expat to Digital Nomad: Finding Your Travel Rhythm, Balancing Burnout, and the Digital Nomad Lifestyle with Kristin Wilson The World's Most Traveled Person on the Ethics of Gamifying Travel, Best Regions in the World, and Why To Keep Traveling With Harry Mitsidis of NomadMania Top 5 Reasons For "Slomading" + The Benefits Of Boredom With Tim Marting From Citizen Remote Thanks To Our Sponsors Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/zerototravel Check out Morning Brew Daily for business news that's actually fun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hosts & Guests

4.6
out of 5
803 Ratings

About

✈️ The Zero To Travel Podcast has been downloaded 12+ million times and named a "Best Travel Podcast" by The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, The Telegraph, and Forbes. Packed with life-changing perspectives, inspiration, and practical advice for everyone from travel newbies to nomads, this podcast will give you everything you need to travel the world on your terms, regardless of your situation or experience. Welcome to our amazing global listening community! Since 2013, "Travel Ambassador" Jason Moore from zerototravel.com has been picking the brains of adventurous people living an unconventional life on the road so you can discover new ways to travel endlessly. Along the way, you'll get actionable advice and key resources that will improve your life AND help you travel more as we get down and dirty on topics like; starting and running an online business from anywhere, the best off-the-beaten-path destinations to visit, travel and work opportunities, gutsy budget travel strategies, surprising ways to earn free travel, the digital nomad life, unconventional travel based lifestyles, fun travel jobs, how to plan epic adventures, backpacking, remote work, how to take a gap year or a career break, 4-hour work week inspired topics, ex-pat life, slow travel, travel hacking, sustainable travel, human-powered adventures, trips worth planning, and everything in between. Host Bio: Jason wandered the planet as a nomad for over a decade and spent 15+ years on the road as a tour manager in events/music, a seasonal adventure travel tour guide, and a digital nomad. Originally from the USA, he is now a dual citizen (Norway/USA) based in Oslo. He is obsessed with helping YOU explore our planet on your terms. Follow the show (it's FREE!) and welcome to the global community. 🙏 PS - To sign up for our free newsletter to get travel tips, tricks, destination advice, and more visit zerototravel.com/newsletter.

Information

  • Creator
    Jason Moore
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2026
  • Episodes
    301
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2013-2026 Zero To Travel International AS
  • Show Website
    Zero To Travel Podcast

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