The Thoughtful Travel Podcast Amanda Kendle
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- Society & Culture
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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319 Homestays When You Travel
Staying in someone’s home is the ultimate in starting to understand the local way of life when you travel, and I’ve had some brilliant homestay experiences in the past. In this episode devoted to homestay accommodation, I first tell you my own tales of Russian homestays, with some of the delightful interactions with homestay hosts in Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Moscow and St Petersburg.
I then chat with Nina Karnikowski who explains many of the thoughtful values of homestays, and has a great example of her own experience in India. My other guest is Iris Villarreal, who tells me about some homestays she has done in Guatemala, learning much about the local culture along the way.
Links:
Nina Karnikowski - https://ninakarnikowski.com/
Iris Villarreal - https://www.instagram.com/outventurenow
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/319
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318 Gevorg Babayan: Deep Dive into Experiential Tours in Armenia and Beyond
When I was first introduced to Gevorg Babayan and his company LikeLocal.io, which matches travellers with local experiences, I knew he'd be a good guest for The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, but as I got to know him more through interactions in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group, I soon realised that a quick chat wouldn't be enough - we would need a deep dive!
In this chat, I learn more about Gevorg's background in Armenia, his work in tourism there and abroad in places like Cambodia, and most impressively to me, some of the unique approaches to tours he offers his visitors. I loved hearing about his creativity in coming up with different ways that travellers can get to know more about a destination and its people, and I'm sure you will too.
Links:
Like Local - https://www.likelocal.io/
Netflix Episode with Olafur Eliasson on Abstract: The Art of Design - https://www.netflix.com/title/80057883
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
Join my newsletter community at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/318
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
317 Border Crossing Tales
Tales of things going wrong - or almost - are always popular, and I think if you throw in the trickiness of a border crossing, these stories are top-notch entertainment! In this episode, I start off chatting with Michael Jensen about a triple-border experience in northern Thailand recently - made more fun by knowing exactly the spot he was talking about as I was lucky enough to visit that same spot just last year.
I then talk to Antonio Cala who has not one but two border crossing tales to tell from a long motorcycle trip he and his wife took from the top to the bottom of Africa in 2022. The first involves the river border between Cameroon and the Central African Republic, a tale that had me worrying the whole time about hippos. Antonio's second story takes place on the border between Algeria and Mauritania, a spot that wasn't even a tourist border crossing at all until 2019, and let's just say, that doesn't go smoothly at all.
Links:
Michael Jensen - Brent and Michael are Going Places - https://www.brentandmichaelaregoingplaces.com/
Antonio Cala - Adventure Fix - https://www.adventurefix.co/
Episode 78 on Border Crossings - notaballerina.com/78
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Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/317
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
316 Fathers on Travelling with Kids
I am absolutely convinced that taking kids travelling is one of the best things you can do for them, and in this episode I've gathered together the thoughts of four fathers who agree with me!
First up, I chat with Rupert Grey, who took his daughters across the world at a young age - in particular, he tells me about their experience visiting Bangladesh in the 1990s, and the impact that their travels has had on them now that they are adults.
Cristian Martinus tells me about the reactions from kids on his tours in Morocco, then has a great example to share about a time when things went wrong while travelling with his young daughter - but it all turned out brilliantly.
Peter Baines then tells me about the experience of cycling with his own children in Thailand, as well as an example of a father and son pair who were recent tour participants.
Finally, Rick Antonson takes it one generation further with his tales about travelling as a grandfather, and in particular his trip with a ten-year-old grandson in western Canada.
Links:
Rupert Grey - https://rupertgrey.co.uk/
Rupert’s movie Romantic Road - https://www.romanticroadmov.com/
Cristian Martinus - Sun Trails - https://www.sun-trails.com/
Peter Baines - Hands Across the Water - https://www.handsacrossthewater.org.au/
Rick Antonson - https://www.rickantonson.com
Rick’s new book, Train Beyond the Mountains - https://amzn.to/3Zq1C8T
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/316
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
315 Meeting Locals When We Travel
Connecting with local people when we travel is a true joy for me - whether it's just a quick conversation in a queue, or a deeper day or more spent together, learning about how our lives are the same and different - I love it all! In this episode I chat with three guests who agree, and have found various ways to meet locals when they travel.
First up, I get the tour operator perspective from Cristian Martinus, who confirms that guests who travel on his Moroccan tours particularly enjoy any opportunities for genuine connection with local people - but (appropriately, I think) he warns against "staged authenticity".
Next, Will Hatton describes some of the ways he has met local people on his travels across the world, and we particularly get deeper into describing some of his Couchsurfing experiences.
Finally, Dara Brewton highlights how taking a cooking class or two can be a special window into the lives of locals, with lots of time to chat (and a delicious outcome as a bonus!).
Links:
Cristian Martinus - Sun Trails - https://www.sun-trails.com/
Will Hatton - The Broke Backpacker - https://www.thebrokebackpacker.com/
Dara Brewton - https://travelness.com/
Cookly - https://www.cookly.me/
Episode 302 about Chiang Rai - https://notaballerina.com/302
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/315
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
314 Paul Christie, CEO Walk Japan - Deep Dive into Revitalising Rural Japan
If you decided to escape the corporate world, would you buy up a plot of land in an isolated part of Japan? It's not my first thought, but this is what Walk Japan CEO Paul Christie did at the age of forty, and with many good consequences.
One of these is that Walk Japan has a strong social, "giving back" element, between the Community Project in Kyushu - which springs from Paul's initial plot of land - and its emphasis on taking travellers to rural areas of Japan which can really benefit from the tourism dollars (quite apart from being some of the most beautiful parts of the country, with the most welcoming inhabitants!).
This episode is a wide-ranging chat with Paul about his career, how he came to be in Japan and what Walk Japan is doing to give back to many local communities, and particularly in the Kunisaki Peninsula in Kyushu, southern Japan.
Links:
Walk Japan - https://walkjapan.com/
Fukushima Trip - Episode 310 - https://notaballerina.com/310
My Walk Japan Trip - Episode 308 - https://notaballerina.com/308
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/314
Disclaimer stuff: Walk Japan hosted me on my September/October walk in Japan, which means they covered my travel costs (thank you!). However, my opinions, as always, are all my own, honest truth.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.