Karthika interviews Vignesh Ishwar, an award winning musician from Chennai, India. Vignesh is an IT professional turned musician who performs Classical Carnatic music all over India and around the world. Vignesh shares his passion for the arts and how his analytical background actually helps him with his music career. He also talks about Margazhi, the month long music festival in the city of Chennai that pretty much turns the whole city into a music arena with several hundred concerts all over the city.

Karthika introduces Season 04 of CulturallyOurs which is all about cultures and traditions from around the world - some well know and some not so much - as a way to get further insight into the lifestyles of people around the world. This season looks at how cultures and traditions affect the way people live and how they interact with each other and society as a whole.

In this episode Karthika shares what it means to be a culturally sensitive traveler and how we can all be more culturally aware and culturally respectful as we travel to places very different from what we are used to. She also shares details on the 2019 travel retreat to India that kicks off this week. Travel is an incredible opportunity and a privilege that not many of us have so let’s make the best of it for everyone involved – us and the people who we engage with on our travels.

In this bonus episode, Karthika shares opinions and thoughts around some of the most dangerous migration journeys in the world and the people who risk life and limb to undertake such an ordeal in the hopes that what awaits them on the other side is a life more worth living. There are no right or wrong sides when it comes to understanding the dangers of migration and what it means to the communities that take in immigrants. But understanding the human side of this is perhaps a step in the right direction.

Karthika celebrates one year of CulturallyOurs - a year of podcasting, content creation and entrepreneurship. She shares successes as well as the lessons she has learnt along the way. She also discusses why it is important to make mistakes early on so that we can learn and move forward. We all have something to give to the world and own it to ourselves to take chances and do the best we can, in everything that we do.

Explore Travel and Lifestyle as Karthika chats with Kirsty Lamour and her daughters. Kirsty, Saffy and Indy are avid travelers having lived all over the world since they were babies. The girls shared how important culture and diversity is to them - a way to learn about how all of us around the world are actually quite similar instead of focusing on our differences. Kirsty, Saffy and Indy are currently on a year long overland adventure as they take an epic road trip in a van they lovingly call Vera.

Karthika interviews Shane Mitchell, a food, culture and travel writer who had worked with some of the biggest names out like Travel and Leisure, Bon Appetite, and Saveur. She has won three James Beard awards – one of the highest honors given to people in books, journalism, broadcast media, food, and lifetime achievements. Shane talked about her 30+ years in journalism, her decade long journey with her book, Far Afield Food Encounters From Around The World and her connections with people and their lands.

Aaron Teasdale is an outdoors writer, photographer and nature lover who talks about how the outdoors has always been such a huge part of his life and lifestyle. He has found a way to incorporate the outdoors in his family life too as he sets off on adventures and explorations with his family. Aaron also shared his views on the changing face of adventure travel and how it should be more than just ticking things off a bucket list - instead focusing on really experiencing the outdoors for all that they are.

In this bonus episode, Karthika explores the importance of human connections and how a simple smile, a handshake, a hug, a hello, a voice - all matter so much more than just swipes on a screen or hearts on a post. The world can be a scary place but there is immense strength in human connection – strength to face the toughest situations if only you open yourself up to that connection – human to human, heart to heart, soul to soul.

Karthika interviews Pat Wetzel, a cancer survivor and wellness advocate who shares her life pre-cancer and post-cancer. Pat is an incredible inspiration when it comes to dealing with life’s adversities. She shares how she did not let her diagnosis get her down. Instead she focused on her love for travel and used it to help her heal. Now she has taken that concept and created an organization called Cancer Road Trips that helps people dealing with cancer with the gift of travel and adventure.