Humaning With a Difference

Something big is coming. In this episode, Freya and Nick introduce the adventure they have been quietly building towards: a trip to Coonabarabran in Western New South Wales, near the ancient Warrumbungle National Park, famous for its fossils, vegetation and dark night skies.

This is not just a travel episode. It is a conversation about what happens when two people with vision loss decide to sleep on the earth, walk in ancient country, connect with First Nations people, do pottery, and practise embodiment under a sky free of city interference. It is about an idea that sat quietly in Nick's subconscious since before COVID, and the team, trust and collaboration that finally made it real.

Time is something everyone wrestles with. But when you live with disability, time takes on a whole different weight. In this reflective and wide ranging episode, Freya and Nick sit down to explore their very different relationships with time, from Nick's 5am mornings and meticulous punctuality, to Freya's self-described time optimism and the revelation that her vision loss had been quietly costing her 20 to 30 hours a week before she even started her day.

This is a conversation about slowing down, speeding up, and finding what a well-lived day actually looks like.

What happens when you invite a blind man to dance? This intimate and surprisingly moving episode finds Freya and Nick fresh off a one-on-one dance session, unpacking what it means to inhabit your body when so much of the world around you is invisible. From self-consciousness to sacred trust, this is a conversation about embodiment, expression and the courage it takes to move in new ways.

Nick has spent a lifetime moving fast and with purpose. Sport, running, achieving. But moving slowly, expressively, just for the sake of moving? That is something else entirely. And Freya is his guide.

It's New Year's Eve and Freya and Nick are choosing a spa day over a beach party. This warm and wandering episode begins with a story about drumming, fire, and a beach in Maroubra, and ends up somewhere much more interesting: an honest conversation about access needs, self-knowledge, adventure, and what it really means to honour your own reality.

Along the way there are synchronicities, a sound healing tent in the dark, a chance encounter with a blind stranger, and a story about two guide dogs crossing paths in a hospital corridor that will stay with you.

Networking is hard enough for most people. But what happens when you can't read body language, recognise faces, or make eye contact across a crowded room? In this candid and surprisingly fun episode, Freya and Nick unpack the art of building connections and community when you have low vision or blindness, recorded just hours before they head out to a real life networking event to put it all to the test.

This is one part practical guide, one part honest conversation about social anxiety, exclusion, energy and the power of asking really good questions.

In the second of two episodes from Hotel Etico in the Blue Mountains, Freya and Nick go deeper into the heart of what makes this place so special. They speak with Harry, a multilingual rugby referee and Special Olympics basketball player training for the World Games in Chile, and Jacob, a newer trainee discovering what it means to work alongside people who do things differently. Then Andrea, the CEO and driving force behind Hotel Etico Australia, shares the remarkable story of how a young man with Down syndrome in northern Italy walked into a chef's kitchen and started a movement.

This episode is about what real inclusion looks like, not just in theory, but in practice, every shift, every bed made, every beer poured.

In the first of two episodes recorded at Hotel Etico in the Blue Mountains, Freya and Nick sit down with Josh, a young man with vision impairment whose energy, warmth and ambition are completely infectious. From learning to pour the perfect beer to earning his RSA, Josh shares what it has meant to train, graduate and build a working life he is genuinely proud of.

This episode is a celebration of what becomes possible when people with disability are given real opportunities, real responsibility and real support. Josh is living proof.

What does it mean to find a silver lining? In this rich and deeply personal episode, Freya and Nick explore one of life's most enduring concepts, tracing it all the way back to a 1635 poet and weaving it through their own lived experiences of blindness, loss, resilience and unexpected joy.

From Nick running 90 kilometres at the Comrades ultramarathon in South Africa, to Freya navigating the grief of separation and the challenges of NDIS funding gaps, this episode is an honest and warm conversation about how adversity can quietly become a gift. Including a story involving a stalker, lost earrings, and a very kind waiter.

Humaning with a Difference launches with a heartfelt and surprising origin story. Hosts Freya and Nick, two visually impaired creatives from Sydney, trace an unlikely connection that stretches back decades, from a primary school visit that left a lasting impression on a confused young girl, to a podcasting internship that finally brought them face to face.

In this introductory episode, Freya and Nick sit down with interviewer Esther to share the "why" behind the podcast, exploring what it means to not just cope with vision loss and disability, but to truly thrive. Expect curiosity, warmth, a touch of the weird, and two voices who believe that being human is worth talking about.

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