The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

With high tourist numbers in some popular places making travel less enjoyable, it only makes sense that there's an increased interest in off season travel. Choosing a shoulder or off peak time to  travel makes sense for so many reasons to me, and it's often when you'll have the much better experiences all round!

Last year, my son and I enjoyed an off season trip to Seoul, South Korea so thoroughly that we're trying the same time of year for a Tokyo visit soon. In this episode, I talk with three people who also have been converted to the off season way. First up, Riana Ann-Canning describes a trip to France in chilly (or was it?!) February which exceeded all expectations; Mathi Thayanan then explains the benefits of visiting Sri Lanka at non-peak times of year; finally, Theodora Chatzipavlidis tells me how she accidentally discovered how much she likes travelling in the off season when she ended up touring parts of Europe during the ultimate off season of Covid!

Links:

• Riana Ang-Canning - https://teaspoonofadventure.com/
• Mathi Thayanan’s business in Sri Lanka, The Curious Experience - https://thecuriousexperience.com/ 
• Theodora Chatzipavlidis’s app Velout - https://www.velout.app 
• Episode 378 Seoul Trip Report: Spontaneous Budget Travel to South Korea notaballerina.com/378
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• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/403

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Ireland and the Irish - we all have a story to tell, right? In this episode I get the insider stories from Ireland - both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland - from three brilliant guests who all agreed to answer questions about why they love living there, their favourite traditions, what surprises visitors and what we as travellers need to know before we go. What I loved most about speaking with these Ireland locals is the variety of their answers - I thought I knew a lot about this part of the world but there's so much more to learn. A huge thanks to Laura, Tony and Colin for being part of this special Chats with Locals episode.

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
• Laura Pakenham on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/laurajpakenham/
• Laura’s book "Irish: History and culture through language" - https://amzn.to/3ST7Z6b 
• Colin Johnston’s website https://racingdaydreams.com/
• And huge thanks to Tony O’Sullivan
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
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• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/402 

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About one in ten jobs across the globe are in the travel industry, but from the hundreds of conversations I've had over the years, I've learnt that the paths to working in tourism and travel are many and varied!

In this episode I chat with four people who've found their way into this industry through very different ways.

First up, Russell True describes how he ended up having a lifetime career in the dude ranch accommodation and experience industry; then I speak with Mathi Thayanan who now runs his own travel company in Sri Lanka but didn't always plan to do this. Jana Marie Bald then explains her career path from agricultural science to tourism (not what I'd expected!) and finally, Aabiskar Thapa describes how from growing up near Pokhara, Nepal and seeing tourists on the trail, he took a circuitous route to ending up working in travel himself.

Links:

• Russell True of the True Ranch Collection - https://trueranchcollection.com/
• Mathi’s business in Sri Lanka, The Curious Experience - https://thecuriousexperience.com/ 
• Jana’s app Ørth - https://www.oerth.life/ 
• Sharing Seeds in Nepal - https://linktr.ee/sharing.seeds 
• Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
• Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
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• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/401

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Episode 400 ... what?! Back in 2016, I certainly didn't imagine I'd reach Episode 400, and yet, here we are. It seemed something to celebrate so I asked my dear friend Sasha Wasley along to ask me 40 questions for 400 episodes (aren't you all lucky I didn't opt for 400 questions?!).

Some of the topics I especially enjoyed discussing with Sasha were my long trip across Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway, some of the changes in the way I travel since I started the podcast over a decade ago, and my not-so-thoughtful (perhaps?) love of Disneyland. She even asked me which episode I think all listeners should skip! It was a great chat covering a whole variety of thoughtful travel topics and we laughed a lot, too. Enjoy!

Links:

• Sasha Wasley’s website - https://sashawasley.com/
• Sasha's newest novel - The Society of Literary Marauders - https://amzn.to/4wWEejX 
• Sasha's books for younger readers, under Ash Harrier - https://ashharrier.com/ 
• Ten Year Anniversary episode - notaballerina.com/387 
• Paul Theroux interview in Episode 214 - notaballerina.com/214 
• Other interviews with me - Episode 90 notaballerina.com/90, Episode 100 notaballerina.com/100 and Episode 240 notaballerina.com/240 
• 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/400

*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/

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For those of us with the great fortune of being taken travelling in our childhood, I'm certain that there are many ways this impacts our lives - changing our mindset and exposing us to so many new ideas, cultures, languages and people. In this episode, three guests concur: starting with James Wild, who tells the story of his first safari in Africa as a teenager. Tim Geisler then shares the experiences of his childhood growing up across several countries, and the long-lasting impact of these moves. Finally, Theodora Chatzipavlidis explains her gratitude to her parents for taking she and her four siblings travelling frequently and muses on the effect this has had on her career and life choices.

Links:

• James Ward - Rewild Safaris - https://rewildsafaris.com/ 
• Tim Geisler - Nautilus Sailing - https://www.nautilussailing.com/ 
• Theodora Chatzipavlidis’s app Velout - https://www.velout.app 
• Episode 94 How Travel Changes Kids - notaballerina.com/94
• Episode 275 Kids Are Shaped By Travel - notaballerina.com/275 
• Van Life Diaries series - notaballerina.com/vanlife 
• 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/399

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This special episode is the audio of the livestream of the July 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting about book "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck - https://amzn.to/4sGQFOu 

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 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.

We all want the places we visit to exist for longer than our lifetime (and hopefully MUCH longer) - right? Conservation in the travel space can mean a bunch of things, and the three guests in this episode each have a story to share about their own connections between conservation and tourism.

First up, I chat with James Ward of Rewild Safaris, who has had many years of experiencing planning and running safari trips that have a conservation focus. Next, writer Joshua Zukas has a tale to tell of a recent conservation meets tourism success in Vietnam. Finally, Russell True speaks to the issue of historical and cultural heritage when he talks about the preservation of dude ranches in the United States.

Links:

• Episode 298 on Conservation Travel - https://notaballerina.com/298
• James Ward - Rewild Safaris - https://rewildsafaris.com/ 
• Joshua Zukas - https://www.joshuazukas.com/ 
• Russell True - True Ranch Collection - https://trueranchcollection.com/ 
• Ranch Preservation Foundation - https://www.ranchpreservationfoundation.org/ 
• 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/398

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Things inevitably go wrong when we travel - some big, some small, occasionally some trip-ending, but most travel dramas seem to end up being great stories we tell later and moments that also teach us something - about how we travel, about our personalities, about the world!

First up in this episode I speak with Lindsey Danis, who explains what happened on a spontaneous hiking trip in Florida when somehow, the trail markers seemed to disappear. Next, Theodora Chatzipavlidis has a story to share about the moment she walked into a bargain-priced Airbnb in Mexico and got both more and less than she bargained for. Finally, Ethan Kavanagh takes us through his trip to England and Ireland where things started going wrong shortly after getting on the plane, but he managed to navigate it all with good humour - and some learnings!

Links:

• Lindsey Danis - (Out) On the Road - https://lindseydanis.com/outontheroad/  and https://amzn.to/4vIK334
• Lindsey's LGBTQ travel blog Queer Adventurers https://www.queeradventurers.com
• Theodora Chatzipavlidis’s app Velout - https://www.velout.app 
• Ethan Kavanagh - The Perth Tourist - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-perth-tourist/id1823861279 
• Ethan's NoisePilot 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/397

*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.

If you have the opportunity to spend an extended time travelling - like an entire year - I say, grab it! In this episode I chat with three people who’ve had the good fortune to stay away from home for a year, for very different reasons and in many varied parts of the world - what they have in common is that these experiences were very impactful and meaningful.

I chat first with Riana Ann-Canning who explained the first time she spent an extended period living abroad, on a youth mobility visa in the Czech Republic. Next, Amy Willis describes a fascinating year on a digital nomad program which saw her move countries each month. Finally, Jonty Crane tells me about his year spent volunteering in the little-touristed nation of Timor-Leste. 

Links:

• Riana Ang-Canning - https://teaspoonofadventure.com/
• Amy Willis from Ker & Downey https://kerdowney.com/
• Amy's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/amynwillis/ 
• Jonty Crane - https://jontytravels.com/
• Exploring Timor - https://www.exploringtimor.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/396

Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/

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Learning more about a place when we travel there is something that always gives me a thrill, and in this episode we take a cultural deep dive into three very different aspects of culture across the world. I first chat with Silvia Gentile Polese who shares a story from her first trip to Bali, which started with a simple question about yoga but led to an unforgettable cultural experience. Next, I speak with Laura Pakenham about the work she does in the Irish language media and the impact of helping to keep up this minority language, and where it's led her to travel, too. Finally, Alda Sigmundsdottir tells me what she learnt when diving deeper into her own Icelandic heritage, peeling back some history in the culture of Iceland I'd not heard about.

Links:

• Silvia Gentile Polese - https://thegoodobserverblog.co.uk/ 
• 7 day slow travel itinerary for Bali - https://thegoodobserverblog.co.uk/7-day-slow-travel-itinerary-for-bali/ 
• Laura Pakenham on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/laurajpakenham/
• Laura’s book "Irish: History and culture through language" - https://amzn.to/3ST7Z6b  
• Alda Sigmundsdóttir - https://aldasigmunds.com/
• Alda's books about Iceland - https://amzn.to/4s8cXYC
• Alda's new book The Shape of Silence, coming soon
• 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/395

*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.