The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Amanda Kendle
  • 4.7 (63)
  • PLACES & TRAVEL
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle is a show for travel lovers. Each episode is packed with travel stories from fellow travel addicts on topics like using foreign languages, meeting the locals, getting lost and what we learn from our travels.

  1. 2D AGO

    388 Iceland: Chats with Locals

    Iceland is a place many travellers dream of visiting; if, like me, you've been lucky enough to see Iceland, you probably desperately want to return. In this Chats with Locals episode, I talk with three Icelanders about their country: why they like living there, what Icelanders are really like, and all about their favourite Icelandic traditions. I also ask them what surprises visitors to Iceland, why they think it's such a popular place for travellers, and what important information we need to know before we go. The Chats with Locals series, sponsored by Slowly, a global penpal app, is something I've been wanting to do for ages: some of the best moments of our trips come from speaking with local people, learning about what's the same or different where they live compared to us, and getting the unexpected stories that you don't know about (for me in this episode, it's about the fame of cats in Reykjavik - there's an intriguing reason!). Since Iceland is one of my all-time favourite places, it seemed a great place to begin! A huge thank you to my three guests Ragnhildur, Alda and Halli for so openly and warmly sharing information about their home country, Iceland. Links: Thanks to sponsor, Slowly - download Slowly to start building genuine friendships today -available for free on the App Store and Google Play - https://notaballerina.com/slowly Ragnhildur Jóhanns, artist -  https://www.instagram.com/ragnhildur_johanns/ Ragnhildur's shop The Heart of Reykjavik -  https://www.hjartareykjavikur.com/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theheartofreykjavik/ Alda Sigmundsdóttir - https://aldasigmunds.com/ Alda's books about Iceland - https://amzn.to/4s8cXYC Alda's new book The Shape of Silence, coming soon Haraldur (Halli) Thorleifsson - https://www.haraldurthorleifsson.com  Halli's Ramp Up - https://www.rampup.team Iceland reading list on Amazon https://amzn.to/4dpAyR3 Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/388   *Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.     Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    31 min

  2. MAR 24

    387 Ten Years of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

    A decade ago to the day - 25th March 2016 - I launched the first episodes of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. Somehow, I have just kept interviewing great people about their thoughts on travel, put together episodes almost every week, and magically, I've now been running this podcast for a full ten years! To celebrate, I've compiled some of my very favourite snippets of stories my guests have told me over the years. I've got the sad stories, the hilarious stories, and the ones that gave me advice I've both ignored and also followed! A huge thanks to every listener and every guest over this decade - I appreciate you all so much, because without guests and listeners, this would be a very boring podcast indeed. Here's to another decade! Links: James Mwenda in Episode 246 - Deep Dive Interview https://notaballerina.com/246  Dean O’Shea in Episode 133 - The Big Trips That Changed Everything https://notaballerina.com/133  Nicci O’Mara in Episode 174 - Life Lessons from Travel https://notaballerina.com/174  Matt Eakin in Episode 78 - Border Crossings https://notaballerina.com/78  Bex Thomas and Angela Correll in Episode 344 - Learning Languages and Making Mistakes https://notaballerina.com/344  Stephen Henson in Episode 1 - Food in a Foreign Language https://notaballerina.com/01  Tim Tricker in Episode 224 - Big Purchases on Your Travels https://notaballerina.com/224  Narelle Wilson in Episode 128 - Travel Planning and Research https://notaballerina.com/128  David Soto Jr in Episode 13 - Slow Travel https://notaballerina.com/13  Heidi Brown in Episode 358 - Solo Travel for Women https://notaballerina.com/358  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/387 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    31 min

  3. MAR 18

    386 It Could’ve Been Much Worse: Surviving Travel Dramas

    Some travellers have a much keener sense of adventure and embracing physical risk on their travels, and others just stumble into a travel drama they didn't anticipate; we have all kinds on this episode about things going wrong! First up, Tudor Morgan, a veteran of many Antarctic stays and current Antarctic Ambassador for HX Expeditions, calmly explains a near-disaster he experienced some years back when working for British Antarctic Survey. Patrick Nash then explains a tricky border crossing from the 1980s between then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), and the Central African Republic. Over the years, I have heard a number of harrowing border crossing tales from my guests and this is up there with the best of them! Finally, I chat with Shannon O'Brien about an accident she was involved in while travelling in Myanmar. To go with the theme of this episode it could, of course, have been so much worse - though it was already pretty bad, I reckon! Links: Tudor Morgan of HX Expeditions - https://www.travelhx.com/en-au/  Patrick Nash - https://www.patricknash.co.uk/  Patrick’s book Shots Across the Water: Tales of a Journey Through Africa - https://amzn.to/4cMl0UQ  Shannon O’Brien - https://www.shannon-obrien.com/ Shannon’s memoir Stray - https://amzn.to/4bQdiKT  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/386   *Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    21 min

  4. MAR 8

    385 Women in History and Travel - International Women’s Day 2026

    It's International Women's Day again and I've got a different focus this year: some of the ways history and travel is not the same for women! When we travel, especially on our own, we can be confronted with cultural differences and people's opinions in a starker way than others, and I loved hearing more about this from listeners who contributed to a chat on this in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group.  History is also not the same for women - and women are often omitted from the history we learn about a place when we travel there. I chat with Nikki Padilla Rivera of She Shapes History about how this happens and what this fabulous Australian-born tour company is doing about it. Links: 2025 International Women’s Day Episode 340 - https://notaballerina.com/340  She Shapes History walking tours and more - https://sheshapeshistory.com/    Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/385 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    21 min

  5. MAR 1

    Book Club 24: Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent

    This special episode is the audio of the live-streamed February 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting with author Hannah Kent about her book "Always Home, Always Homesick" - https://amzn.to/3Kxcb7M   If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, sign up for our updates at https://thoughtfultravellersbookclub.substack.com/ You can also read more about it 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  *Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates ProgramNotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    54 min

  6. FEB 26

    384 Travel With All Your Senses

    We often focus on the visual when we travel ... after all, travellers go sightseeing, not "sound-hearing" or "taste-tasting"! But when we look back on our travel memories, it's often a smell, taste, sound or feel that actually has the most long-lasting impact.  In this episode we hear from three travellers about their own experiences with non-visual senses, starting off with travel writer Tom Sykes, who also emphasises why this is important for writer as well. I then chat with Hannah Ballint about some of her fondest travel memories, which often involves sound and smell, across Vietnam, the United States and Australia. Finally, Ethan Kavanagh takes us through some of his highlights of a trip to Ireland with a focus on the feel and taste, too. Links: Tom Sykes - https://tomgsykes.co.uk/  Tom’s new book (coming March 2026) - The Years of Travelling Anxiously - https://amzn.to/4cyr2L1  Tom’s book recommendation, Sven Lindqvist’s Exterminate All The Brutes - https://amzn.to/4u1LAlo Hannah Balint - https://www.hannahbalintcoaching.com  Ethan Kavanagh - The Perth Tourist - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-perth-tourist/id1823861279  Ethan on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/noisepilotau/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/384   *Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program - NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    24 min

  7. FEB 19

    383 Small Connections, Big Memories

    One of the most memorable parts of travel is the people that we meet - not just the friends we make or the people we stay with but also the incidental encounters along the way. Speaking with people on our travels is one of the ways we learn the most about the places we're visiting and it's amazing how long these people stay in our minds, even when we don't know their names. In this episode I share some of my own small but memorable encounters, as well as including stories from four guests. Eryn Gordon starts us off with a tale from Thailand, where the people are stereotypically friendly and she proves it to be true. Amy Willis then shares a place she goes where it's easy to make a connection with the local people wherever you are. Nomad Bianca Rappaport explains how she's managed to both make and maintain connections during her years of housesitting in many places around the world, and finally Heidi Brown highlights one of the big benefits of repeated visits to a beloved place. Links: Eryn Gordon’s website Earth to Editorial - https://earthtoeditorial.com/  Eryn's TEDx Talk on “What it means to be a good traveler” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WQYSdm-5ps Amy Willis from Ker & Downey https://kerdowney.com/ Amy's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/amynwillis/  Bianca Rappaport Website: https://wanderwell.club/  Bianca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wanderwellclub - Heidi Brown - https://www.heidikristinbrown.com/ Heidi’s memoir The Map I Draw: A Memoir of Travel as a Passport to Self - https://amzn.to/44Mky6T  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/383   *Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    24 min

  8. FEB 12

    382 Travel Meet Cutes

    We need some light relief in these tricky times and I found these stories just perfect! Finding love while you're travelling sounds like it belongs in a romantic comedy, but even those must be inspired by truth: this episode has stories from three couples who met in far-flung parts of the world, sometimes both far from home. If you think about all the decisions that led them to be in the same place at the same time, you have to really start thinking that fate is a thing! First up I chat with Edward and Kim, who together tell the story of how they met - and later, how they became a couple and many years later, husband and wife - when Kim decided to head to Tanzania to do some volunteer work before going to graduate school. Next, Hannah Balint explains how she was about to leave Vietnam after living and teaching there, and just a few weeks before her plane took off, she bumped into a handsome Australian in an unusual place. Finally, I talk to my friend Shaney Hudson about how she originally met her Dutch husband. This tale also crosses many continents and it's pretty amazing that love always seems to win the day! Links: Edward Lyimo and Kim Krowne from Pristine Trails - https://pristinetrails.com/  Hannah Balint - https://www.hannahbalintcoaching.com  And thanks to Shaney Hudson!  Episode 212 - Honeymoons and Weddings - https://notaballerina.com/212  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/382 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    25 min
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4.7
out of 5
63 Ratings

About

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle is a show for travel lovers. Each episode is packed with travel stories from fellow travel addicts on topics like using foreign languages, meeting the locals, getting lost and what we learn from our travels.

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