This is the hardest, yet also possibly the most important episode I've published to date. Together with Ginger Kern from The Traveler's Mindset and Nathaniel Boyle from Holocene, we explore solo travel as a tool for personal growth and healing, by sharing my own personal story on the heels of my divorce. Through a number of hard questions and deep topics, based around a story I wrote recently, 5 Beautiful Lessons I Learned From Making the Hardest Decision of My Life, we discuss the unparalleled power of change, transformation, and strength that comes with traveling solo. 

We visited my favorite packing tricks and techniques in episode 34, but as much as I try to accommodate men, it's best to get advice for males straight from expert male travelers themselves. Today I cornered Travis Sherry from Extra Pack of Peanuts, Jason Moore from Zero to Travel, and Nathaniel Boyle from The Travelers (The Daily Travel Podcast) and got them talking about their favorite ways to pack, what they can't leave home without, and the tricks they use to carry everything on. 

Join the party in this bonus episode today as Travis Sherry from Extra Pack of Peanuts, Jason Moore from Zero to Travel, and Nathaniel Boyle from The Travelers (The Daily Travel Podcast), and I all sit down to ask each other travel questions. 

Although we were in three different countries during this recording, somehow we made it work! Listen in for questions like:

Question #1:  Where would you want to be right now if you could be anywhere in the world – gut reaction?

Question #2:  What is your favorite travel app?

Question #3:  As Americans, does it bother you when Canadians wear the Canadian flag on their backpack?

Question #4:  What is your favorite piece of travel gear?

Question #5:  What’s the one place that everyone has told you you’ll love but when you went there, you didn’t?

Question #6:  Since we are all podcasters and digital nomads, I want to know what you look for in an office on the road?

Question #7:  What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten when traveling?

Today we get down to business with Amanda Williams, solo female traveler extraordinaire, who has all the answers to the most asked questions about solo female travel, such as:

-Isn't solo travel dangerous as a female?

-How do you keep your money/valuables safe?

-How do you deal with loneliness?

-What are the best destinations for solo travel? 

Rachel is a fearless solo traveler turned married expat living in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she's about to have her first baby. I hit her up for her best advice about solo female travel, including how she got to where she is, both geographically and career-wise, as she is the co-founder of an online travel company for women.

In this episode, Steph Yoder, founder of Twenty-Something Travel helps us kick off a new series about solo female travel. As a solo traveler turned married traveler, Steph shares her take on what it really means to travel solo, why she still does it even though she is married, and why she believes everyone should travel solo at least once in their lives.

Join us as I chat with Nathaniel Boyle from the Daily Travel Podcast in this last of our series of interviews with awesome people who have started businesses out of their passion for travel. Nathaniel took his first trip overseas at just 5 years old! And today he shares with us how that planted a seed in him that grew into a love for travel, and eventually a podcast, and some other exciting ventures...

Join us as we chat with Mark van der Heijden, also known as The Backpacker Intern, in a conversation about how he leveraged his career skills to get him free accommodations and food all over the world. To take it to the next step, Mark has started a company that enables other travelers to do this exact same thing. Listen to find out more about his new company, Wanderbrief.

Today we continue our series with entrepreneurs who have created businesses out of travel. I interview Yasmine El Baggari, Founder and CEO of Voyaj, a new company created to match travelers and locals with brief home stays to enrich the cultural travel experience. Yasmine shares her story with us about how she first came to the US as a Young Moroccan Ambassador, and then turned her visit into a mission to visit all 50 states. During her time in the US, she stayed with 75 American families, which ultimately led her down the path to creating Voyaj. At just 22 years old, Yasmine is a prime example of a dreamer who took a leap of faith to create a business out of something she believes in.

Today we start a new series about people who have started businesses out of travel, and for this episode, we turn the mic on... me! Nathaniel Boyle from the Daily Travel Podcast guest hosts to interview me about the path I took to eventually start a travel blog.