July 16, 2025 • 31 mins
In this very first episode of the Stamped series on the Global Travel Planning Podcast, host Tracy Collins welcomes Amanda Kendle, creator of the Thoughtful Travel Podcast. Together, they dive into Amanda’s personal travel stories, exploring the sparks that set her on a lifelong journey of exploration, her most memorable destinations, and the transformative impact of travel.
Amanda reminisces about early adventures, from a childhood road trip around Europe to epic journeys like crossing Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway. She shares practical insights on navigating off-the-beaten-path destinations, the joy of long-distance train travel, and her deep connections with places like Japan and Iceland.
Listeners get a candid look at travel from the perspective of someone passionate yet relatable, with highlights on family trips, cultural immersion, and the magic that happens when plans are left flexible.
⭐️ Guest - Amanda Kendle of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast
📝 Show Notes - Episode 63
🎧 Listen to next
- Episode #1: The Thoughtful Traveller’s Guide with Amanda Kendle
- Episode #11: Connecting Travellers with Local Experiences: A Conversation with LikeLocal Founder Gevorg Babayan
- Episode #12: Cultural Immersion Explored: Adventures in Vietnam and Cambodia with LikeLocal
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
10 questions, endless stories.
Welcome to the very firstepisode of Stamped, a brand new
series on the Global TravelPlanning Podcast.
In this episode, amanda Kendall, host of the Thoughtful Travel
Podcast, is first in the hotseat, sharing the moments,
places and people that havedefined her travels.
Hi and welcome to the GlobalTravel Planning Podcast.
(00:20):
I'm your host, tracy Collins,who, with my expert guests, will
take you on a weekly journey todestinations around the globe,
providing travel inspiration,itinerary ideas, practical tips
and more to help you plan yournext travel adventure.
Hello everyone, and welcome tothe Global Travel Planner
(00:46):
Podcast.
This week I'm very excited tohave my friend, amanda Kendall
from the Thoughtful TravelPodcast, on to share her
experiences and places thatshe's visited across the world
in this new segment.
So it was inspired.
So I'm going to shout out umHolly Rubenstein from the travel
diaries, who I absolutely love.
(01:07):
I love those episodes and Ilove listening to them, but I
kind of thought, you know what?
We've all got some greatstories to share and we don't
all have to be mega famous tvstars or writers or like up
there.
That everybody has to.
Kind of you know.
I've listened to lots of theepisodes.
I thought, wow, they'refantastic, but let's just have
(01:27):
some ordinary people like me andyou, on Amanda, share our
stories.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I'm thrilled to be an ordinary person.
Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah well, you know you're more than ordinary, but
you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I know exactly what you mean.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So, as you were the first guest on the Global Travel
Podcast all those yonks ago,episode one, and we're now on
episode 63, can you believe it?
So you're back.
This is the first time you'vebeen back, so you are the first
one to do this segment.
So we have 10 questions.
We'll see how it goes, butfirst of all, just introduce
yourself, amanda.
Go, go for it.
Tell us everybody who you are,what you do and about your
(02:09):
fantastic podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh, thank you, Tracey , and thanks for having me back.
I'm Amanda Kendall.
I'm an ordinary person and Ihappen to love travel, and I
have run the Thoughtful Travelpodcast for about nine years now
and getting very, very closeperilously close to a million
(02:30):
downloads.
So I'm enjoying seeing Traceylaugh here.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
I should say you're an extraordinary person, not an
ordinary person For the rest ofmy life.
Now I'm going to be aware ofthe fact I just called Amanda
Kendall an ordinary person Forthe rest of my life.
Now I'm going to be aware ofthe fact I just called Amanda
Kendall an ordinary person.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I am very.
No, I'm maybe not a normalperson, but I'm a very.
I'm not famous.
So there, yes, and I'm justwant to tell you all about my
travel.
So that's.
I don't know how I can condenseit into these 10 questions, but
I'm going to try.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So, yeah, thanks for having me.
And what we don't cover, peoplecan anyway pop over and listen
to your podcast, because youhave one of the best and top
podcasts, not only in Australiabut in the world, about travel
so anyway let's, let's go on tothese questions.
So, like first one, who lit thespark for you?
(03:29):
Who was the person or place, orbook, or moment, at what point
did you kind of go, wow, travel?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
There were a few sparks but if I kind of narrow
them down, definitely my parentswere kind of key sparks for two
reasons.
One, both of them had kind offor their generation and their
circumstances, done a bit oftravel.
So my dad had worked for thebank in Papua New Guinea for a
couple of years in the 50s.
(04:00):
So as I was growing up in the70s and 80s he would talk to me
about Papua New Guinea and thenso it seemed like a you know,
kind of really different toAustralia and interesting, so
that I had that kind of idea.
And my mum, she'd grown up in alittle tiny country town and
her whole desire was to get outof the country town.
That's what she lived for.
And in her mid to late teens,mid teens, she took a I guess
(04:25):
now we would call it a workingholiday from Western Australia.
She went over on the boat tothe east coast of Australia and
worked like she worked for theFord Motor Company for a few
months and then she went a bitfurther and worked somewhere
else.
So she used to tell me storiesof that.
So that was their backgrounds,was their backgrounds.
(04:45):
And then when I was nine, so 40years ago this year I've been
celebrating it.
They took me and my sister toEurope for a six month trip, so
my dad had long service leavefrom the bank and they, kind of,
you know, scrimped together alltheir savings because they
thought this was a reallyimportant thing.
Turned out they were right andwe had a motor home and
travelled around Western Europeand the UK for six months, which
(05:05):
was completely life-changingand completely ensured that I
would always need to travel.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
And, of course, you've been sharing that
recently on the podcast as welland on photos.
I loved some of the photosyou've been sharing on the
Facebook group.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Can you guess where this is.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
You're going closer and closer because there's a few
guesses and it turned out to bea caravan park near Paris.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yes, that's right which you couldn't tell unless
you had been there.
I know I like to be a bittricky.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
But so much fun and it's lovely that you know you
can trace it back.
Same with myself.
You go back to those childhoodyears and there's, you know,
parents or grandparents, there'ssomebody there that's going to
have kind of lit that spark inthat lifelong love for travel.
So, the first country that youever visited.
Can you remember?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yes, so I was nine Actually I was eight, I was
turned nine during our few daysthere.
So that was the beginning ofthis big trip.
And it was Hong Kong.
So this was 1985 and we flew toEurope via Hong Kong and we
stopped for like three nights,four nights in there.
(06:18):
So that was the very first timeI had been out of Western
Australia and I guess what stoodout, a few things stood out.
I don't really remember doingmuch sort of sight seeing, but
what I remember is things likethere were these huge apartment
buildings everywhere, becauseback then Perth had, I think,
probably zero apartmentbuildings and we just had all
these, you know, houses on bigempty blocks.
You know, going as far as thesuburbs could go, so seeing
(06:39):
apartments and people had theirwashing hung out like from their
windows and stuff, that wasjust like such a new thing to me
.
So, uh, and different coins youknow they had a coin with a
hole in the middle and all ofthose just little things that I
suppose as a eight or nine yearold that's, you know, that's
what, what interrupts your norm,and so, yeah, that's what I
remember the most.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, it's because up to that point, everything in
your life is the norm.
So then you go somewhere elsethat is so different.
It's like, well, you mean, theydon't have what I.
It's different to what I'm usedto at home.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's not the same Exactly and there was no
internet or anything, and soanything else I'd been exposed
to was, you know, a bit of TVand so, which was basically,
like you know, a bit of Americansitcoms and a lot of British
comedies, and that's about all Iknew about the world by then,
and have you been back to HongKong since?
Yes, finally, last year Ifinally got back to Hong Kong.
I'd been trying to get backthere for years, so I took my
(07:32):
son back to Hong Kong becausenow I have very good friends who
had just moved there to live.
So it was so much fun to goback.
It was completely different tohow I remembered it, but I still
loved it.
So, yeah, now that we've gotfriends living there, I'd like
to keep going back.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
That's exciting.
Now question three is what wasyour first real adventure?
What was the first trip thatyou went on and went?
Oh okay, this is different,this is exciting, this is
unforgettable.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
This was easy.
So I did a fair bit oftravelling before this, but this
was the kind of thing I'dreally wanted to do for ages,
and it was taking theTrans-Siberian train across
Russia.
So, you know, I had read PaulTheroux's Riding the Iron
Rooster and loved it and thought, oh, I want to sit on a train
like that, I want to see youknow the people.
(08:22):
And, uh, and I had thisopportunity.
I'd been working in Japan andthen had a new job in well, at
the time it was supposed to bein Prague, so we had to get to
Eastern Europe somehow, and sowhat better way than taking the
Trans-Siberian across Russia?
This was 2003.
So it was like nice and safe tobe in Russia, it was a good
moment in history and it waslike that.
(08:44):
That for me, like I'm not aphysical adventurous, physically
adventurous person, I'm notgoing to skydive or anything
like that but to have this, um,like, in the end, I think, three
weeks, uh, taking the trainacross Russia.
We'd, you know, go for a coupleof days on the train and then
stop somewhere for a few daysand then keep going, and it was
uh, I have no words because itwas one of the best experiences
(09:06):
of my life.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I can just imagine it was something that we wanted to
do so much and obviously notpossible now.
It's one of those things thatwhen you get the chance to kind
of reach out and do it, and itbegan a bit of a lifelong love
for travel by train as well,because you love train travel,
don't you?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
100%, and that was the first time I'd done any
significant train travel.
Oh, that's not true.
Actually, before the yearbefore that, I'd been in Vietnam
and we'd taken the, the poorlynamed reunification express.
There was nothing express aboutthat train, but um, so we'd
done a few overnight trips inVietnam as well.
(09:42):
Uh, but that, yeah, thatRussian one, absolutely Like it.
Just, I just love long distancetrain travel where you can just
sit.
Um, you're really immersed andI love sleeping on a train.
It like rocks me like a baby.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And what about?
Did you meet some interestingpeople along the way as well?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yes, so, um, I don't know if it was the timing or
also, we went, perhaps goingfrom east to west.
There seemed to be lesstourists or whatever, but
basically we were always theonly non-Russians on the train
and so we'd be in a cabin offour beds.
I was with me and my boyfriend,and so we'd usually have two
others in there with us and,yeah, some of them were the type
(10:21):
that would get in, they wouldpull out their vodka, they would
drink and they would go tosleep and they would not speak.
So there was people like thatand on one stage we had there
was a bunch of families in ourcar.
There was no restaurant car, sowe would all just be like
sharing food and stuff.
But there was a bunch offamilies who had been to the
coast, like to the far eastcoast, for their annual summer
(10:44):
holiday.
They were quite wealthy Moscowfamilies, doctors and lawyers
and stuff, and so they wouldtravel like a full week on the
train with these little kids andthen spend their two weeks at
the seaside and then a week backand it was like this is crazy,
but their kids there was a bunchof them maybe kind of six to
ten years old who loved us andthey would try and come and
practice their English sentenceson us and we'd play, you know,
(11:05):
chess and cards and stuff forthem.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
It's just absolute awesome fun oh, it sounds like
it's one of those things, isn'tit we're talking?
We just talked about the factthat when you first go somewhere
, it's the differences that yousee, but after it, then it's
actually not.
What you realize is that we'reall the same, so we're all the
same.
We all enjoy the same things.
Kids want to want to play thegames, they want to interact,
they want to chat.
You know, it's all that kind ofhumanity stuff that you just
(11:27):
get exposed to when you traveland you realize actually you
don't do anything at all.
We're all exactly the same, weall want the same things, we all
have the same hopes and dreams,and so, yeah, I bet that was an
amazing experience.
And you say it took is it threeweeks, that trip?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
well, so if you go non-stop it's a week, but we get
, we got off a lot of times but,what I would really love to do.
I've dreamt of doing it now,you know, who knows if I'll ever
be able to, but I wouldactually love to go back and do
just the full week withoutgetting off, and just have that
like week of I don't know, justthat.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
It's like a retreat, almost so yeah, Well, isn't it
if you could leave your socialmedia, like your phone and stuff
, behind?
It really would be, wouldn't it?
You could?
Really, really just chill outand immerse yourself with that
kind of train experience and thejourney which would be which
would be amazing.
And that's always the thingabout train travel, isn't it?
It's as much about the journeyas a destination.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah, exactly right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Okay, so next question.
I feel like I'm interrogatingyou, so oh.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I love it.
It's nice to be answeringinstead of asking for one.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
So so a wow moment.
Can you describe one place orexperience that completely blew
you away and what made it sospecial?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I mean it's very hard to narrow down.
So I've managed to narrow itdown just to a country sorry,
but that was hard but Iceland.
So I had very long wanted to goto Iceland.
I had, like in the early 2000s,I had students in Europe who'd
been to Iceland.
That was when I first sort ofhad it on the radar as a place
(12:54):
where I could go, and finallygot there in 2015, I think.
So it was kind of not superpopular.
As you know, it became a lotmore popular since that time.
Um, so I didn't kind of knowheaps about it, but like just
the, the landscape of it, the,the, the massive scale of I
(13:15):
don't know, of nothingness andof, or like of the enormous
waterfall or of the glaciers orI don't know, it's just, you
know, seemed like such a remoteand different and crazy place.
So, um, uh, yeah, I still lovedit.
Yeah, I still want to go backagain.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
And and.
So what did you do when youwent to visit to Iceland?
Did you?
Did you stay in Reykjavik?
Did you travel around theisland?
Speaker 2 (13:37):
So a lot of people do the ring road route all the way
around.
But I had my son with me, whowas five at the time, and the
amount of time we had it wouldhave been a lot of driving to do
the whole ring road.
So we went along the southcoast to where the biggest
glacier lagoons and stuff areJökulsalón, I think it is, uh
(13:57):
and then back to Reykjavik andup a little bit on the west
coast as well to some verybeautiful parts, and then spent
a couple of days in Reykjavik aswell.
So I think we had, um, must'vebeen like 11, 12 days or so
there, I think, in the end.
So, um, yeah, I didn't want torace around, so I've missed some
parts.
I've missed the Far East andthe Far North, so I have to go
(14:19):
back.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I was just about to say.
It just means that you have togo back.
Iceland has eluded me so far.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
You have to go, tracy .
We went in the middle of summer, so it was 24 hours of daylight
and it was super weird, butkind of cool.
Hard to get a five-year-old tosleep, though.
Well, I weird.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
But uh, kind of cool.
Hard to get a five-year-old tosleep, though.
Oh well, I can imagine, if it'sdaylight, that entire time it'd
be really difficult, it's aconsidering.
I lived not too far away in theuk and I never made it over
there and of course, I guess inthe last what, maybe five or six
years, it's become so superpopular uh, and it's quite
expensive it's quite I thinklet's read quite very, very
expensive.
Yes, yes, I did, I did look.
I did look.
(14:55):
When I was in scotland thisyear I thought I could fly over
and I was like, no, I think I'llhave to leave that to another
trip now.
Well, so you mentioned you wantto go back to iceland?
Um, but is there a particulardestination and you can have a
whole country if you want?
Amanda, I'll give you that.
That you that you consider likea home from home that you just
(15:15):
return to over and over again,or you would love to just keep
going back to.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
I mean, you would not be surprised if I say Japan.
So, yes, it is like my homefrom home.
So I lived there for two years,20 years ago, and I've been
back five or six times since andthere's lots of reasons that I
love it.
So the people are fascinatingand lovely and kind.
(15:40):
Uh, the food is my favoritekind of food, like you know, if
you always are.
If you asked if you only had tohave one kind of cuisine for
the rest of your life, whatwould it be?
That would be Japanese for me,a hundred percent.
Uh, it's also such a variedcountry Like each time've gone
back, I've, you know, been to adifferent part.
It's, it's like, it's almost,like you know, 50 countries in
one.
There's so many differentthings to experience, different
(16:03):
kinds of history, differentkinds of like.
It's so long and skinny.
The landscape changescompletely, like from, you know,
snowy Hokkaido down to tropicalOkinawa.
So there's just, yeah, I feel alonging to return many more
times.
Put it that way.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
So I know that you said you spent some time living
in Japan, so we'll talk aboutthat as well, and I know you've
done some walking in Japan,which are both kind of
interesting things, so we needto cover those.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
So how did you end up ?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
working and living in Japan.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Well, I started off the usual, well, fairly
stereotypical, route of teachingEnglish in Japan.
So I had known a few peoplewho'd done it already when it
was less common or less popularand you could earn a lot of
money doing it, and I kind ofmissed that wave of becoming
super rich from it.
But it was enough to save a bitto send home, which was nice,
(16:54):
and that kind of then funded abit more, a fair bit more travel
.
So I lived in Osaka for acouple of years teaching English
.
I had not taught before thenand I discovered I love teaching
and I've taught in various waysever since.
So that was a bonus.
And obviously, living somewhere, you know you get to know it in
a completely different way.
You know every day my job wasto talk to Japanese people in
small groups.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
you know every day my job was to talk to Japanese
people in small groups.
You know it was perfect.
It's the best way, isn't it?
It's the best way to immerseyourself in a culture and learn
about it.
Learn about how people actuallylive in that culture, in that
community, by becoming a memberof it.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Absolutely yeah.
I lived in a little apartment.
I had, you know, slept on afuton.
I ate rice for breakfast,because I quickly learnt that if
I tried to eat a Westernbreakfast I would go broke.
So you know, it was just liketwo of the very, very, very best
years of my life, easily.
So yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
And you returned not long ago to do a walk.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yes, so that's actually nearly two years ago
now.
It not long ago to do a walk,is that right?
Yes, so that's actually nearlytwo years ago now.
It was with Walk Japan, um.
So my friend Catherine and Igot to go um to Northern Honshu,
so like a few hours north ofTokyo, not as far as Hokkaido,
but um the cooler climbs andfairly mountainous area, and our
hike was following the trailthat, um, the haiku poet, um
(18:14):
Basho, had walked many years ago.
But it was, yeah, it was justlike.
So we were walking on our own,but Walk Japan organised
everything for us and gave usamazing, like book of you know
here, walk here, turn left here,see this sign, go right.
But plus all of the little,like you know cultural
information or historical things, it's just so cool and we
(18:36):
stayed in.
You know beautiful inns.
You know cultural informationor historical things.
It's just so cool and we stayedin.
You know beautiful inns.
You know very traditional innsevery night, amazing, amazing
food and, yeah, and the sceneryup there, like the mountains and
stuff we were walking through,was absolutely, yeah,
breathtakingly divine.
So that was, yeah, one of myvery favourite trips ever.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I know it sounds it and uh, have you got plans to go
back to japan in the pipeline,or is it always just hovering
there?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
yeah, I don't have actual definite plans, but
whatever happens, I will getback there, I am sure.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
So yeah, okay, there's always places in there
that just that's just tug at you, that you just fall in love
with and you just go.
This is, this is a place that Iknow for the rest of all I will
be wanting to go back to orexperience.
So what about places that areunder the radar?
So, have you been somewherethat is a lesser known place?
Um, and obviously at the momentwe're trying to kind of uh,
(19:29):
trying to promote a bit of thelesser known places, because
there's so much over tourism andand so many popular places
around the world that everybodywants to go to, wants to kind of
tick off on their bucket listor whatever they've got on their
agenda of what they want to do.
But what about some of thelesser known places that you've
been to and you think, oh, whydon't people not go and visit
(19:52):
this place?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Well, I have a real yearning to go back to the
Baltic states.
So Estonia, Latvia, Lithuaniaand obviously, like the capitals
have become, you know, there'sa bit more, or fair bit more,
tourism there and, as Iunderstand it, there's still a
lot of, you know, like bucks,weekends and stuff like that.
But outside of the capitals, uh, I spent, spent I don't know
(20:15):
how long, maybe six or eightweeks, backpacking through those
three countries a while backand I just found them so
fascinating and so individuallydifferent but as a whole kind of
a really interesting block andyeah, like cause, you know,
there's the kind of theex-Soviet kind of impact.
You know, when I was a kid,Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
(20:37):
were not on a map and when I was, you know, first going there to
travel, I had to kind of keeppracticing my head to try and
remember Estonia, top Latvia,then Lithuania.
So you know they're inalphabetical order.
Okay, got to remember this.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
That's a cool tip.
I'm remembering that one.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Oh, I just, you know, I just found them such
fascinating countries and I'mstill surprised that.
I mean, I'm still surprised ingeneral that not as many people
as I expect go to Eastern Europeas a whole.
So that's by far my favouritepart of Europe, but I still see
most people are going back tojust France, italy, spain, you
know, portugal, maybe Germanyand sometimes Scandinavia.
(21:16):
But yeah, I just still don'tsee many people going to Eastern
Europe and like it's sobrilliant.
So I mean, I almost don't wantto tell people, though, to go.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, it's a bit true , because I think of places like
Croatia, which have now becomeincredibly popular.
I think Bosnia has becomepopular, albania now, so
countries that were perhaps 10years ago lesser visited or
lesser known are starting tocreep up, and certainly, I know
Croatia has now become like ahot destination, slovenia as
well.
I think Prague, for example,has become a problem, with how
(21:48):
many hen and buck weekends weretaking place there, which I
think they've banned now.
Hopefully, yes.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I've lost track, but I know some cities have banned
them, which makes a lot of senseto me.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, absolutely the thing is.
I think part of the problem inEurope is there's those cheap
weekend breaks.
Yes, exactly so once thosecheaper flights go in, you can
end up kind of where you've justgot people going for a cheap
weekend, cheap alcohol and thenthat's what it leads to.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
It's very exploitative.
I don't like it.
No, I know it isn't good.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
And there are so many other places to go that you can
avoid that and most peopleactually want to avoid that that
I speak to they're like how canwe get to some of these other
places?
And you know, by train as well.
That's what I'm saying.
Yes, exactly, Some great traintrips in Europe that you can.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Fly into anywhere and you could get anywhere.
It's not, yeah, it's all veryreachable, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Now I know we've talked about the fact that, well
, both you and I have both livedand worked in numerous
countries throughout the world,and that makes a difference and
it does make you feel like alocal and probably going to be
more than one destination thatyou're going to cover in this
but is there somewhere thatyou've been where you felt more
like a local than a tourist?
And I use the phrase touristbecause I know it's a, it's a
(23:01):
controversial one, but I alwayssay, well, if we're traveling
somewhere, generally we're thereas a tourist.
So, yeah, yeah, where have youbeen that you kind of went?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
actually, I feel like I'm more immersed and and have
that more local experience yeah,I found I find this tricky to
answer, because I feel like it'svery clear to me that it's the
places where I have actuallylived.
But if I think about that, thenwhere I felt more local is
always where I can speak thelanguage.
Um, so, german, I lived inGermany for a few years, um, but
(23:32):
it's not just Germany where Ifeel more that I can fit in,
it's anywhere where I can speakGerman, so in Austria or to some
extent, german speakingSwitzerland, if they stop their
crazy Swiss German, because Ifind that impossible to
understand.
But I think that like, yeah,being able to speak a little bit
more of the language is useful.
And when I'm in Japan althoughI can't speak Japanese like
(23:54):
fluently by any means,especially like on that trip
that we described the hikingtrip we're in areas where
there's no tourists and a lot ofpeople didn't speak English and
definitely, you know, feel ableto fit in more because I could
speak the language.
So I think for me that's I alsolove learning languages, so for
me that's kind of that reallocalizing kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I'm sure you still have many destinations that
you'd like to visit around theworld.
I know I have, and the more Iread, the more I see, the more I
listen to other people talkabout places I go.
I really would like to go there.
So is there a particulardestination that is calling your
name, amanda?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Well, I mean, you're right, many, many.
So I've barely seen any of thewhole continent of Africa and I
have not even been to SouthAmerica at all.
So those two, 100%.
But the one that's reallycalling me, I suppose.
At the moment I keep beingdrawn to going to China.
So last year when I was in HongKong, I got to just have a
(24:54):
night.
We went over the border intoShenzhen, and so literally just
a night's experience, but I'dalready been kind of intrigued
and that really really whet myappetite.
A friend of mine's in Shanghaiat the moment.
I've been following all herposts with such intrigue and I
think I want to go to Chinabecause it's a really important
(25:15):
part of the world and I think wehave so many stereotypes about
it and we don't.
You know, I really want to, um,I really just want to know more
.
And also, I think you knowthere's lots of really
interesting things to see,there's amazing landscapes, lots
of reasons to go, but mostlybecause I just think you know
it's an era where we probablyshould know more about China and
(25:39):
I'd like to know that firsthand.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
So and I and I think, I think you're you're so right
with this, amanda, because I wastalking to somebody the other
day about China and it's thecountry that I feel like we know
the least about, and I don'tknow why.
I don't know.
Why do we not know anythingabout China?
It, you know I was watching theuh, there's a program on the UK
race around the world and theyactually started by going
through China and we were likeI've not heard of that place.
(26:02):
I don't know about this, Idon't know about that.
And then it completely Doug andI sat watching.
They did a lot by train.
So he was like, well, we haveto go, because look at all these
fantastic trains they've got inChina, but we just don't know
enough about it.
So I think that's what we needto do.
We must, we must get there andthen come back on the podcast
(26:23):
and share it with everybody.
And if you're listening andyou've spent some time in China.
Get in touch because I want totalk to you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Come on the podcast and share, give us some tips.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah, yeah, share where you've been and what
you've done.
Absolutely Okay.
So you've done a lot of travel.
As you say, you're 49.
Are you 49 yet, or is it thisyear that you turned 49?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
No, I'm 49 already.
Ah, okay, I'm in denial so Ihave to check.
No, I'm 49 already.
I'll be 50 next year.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Oh, I passed that a while ago.
The next one I've got is 60, sodon't.
Okay, well, I won't complain.
Don't complain.
Obviously, with a lot of travelunder your belt and a lot of
living around the world as well,a lot of experiences, what
would be the one tip that youalways share, the thing that you
(27:08):
kind of say to people that youwish you'd known earlier or
you've learned throughout yourlife about?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
travel.
Well, this is something thatearly on in my travels I did
without thinking, and then, inthe middle of my travel career,
I did it badly and then Irelearned it.
So, and it is basically to notover plan and to leave lots of
space for spontaneousexperiences.
So when I was a young traveler,I was a backpacker.
I had weeks and weeks, butbefore I had to be, you know, in
(27:32):
place X, you know, and youdidn't need to book anything and
we would just decide from dayto day what we would do.
And you know, we just had thisvague goal.
Like you know, we had to be inBratislava by you know, I don't
know whatever the August 10th tostart work, and I had two
months to get there, so,whatever.
So not very little planninginvolved.
(27:53):
And then, of course, I had achild and, you know, travelled
with, then a husband and stuff,and shorter trips, and I felt,
especially with a child, I feltlike I had to, you know, have
things booked and know wherewe'd be, and so I would plan a
lot more.
And then, of course, I realizedthat I hated traveling that way
, and also my, you know, mychild became a good traveler and
(28:16):
, you know, very flexible, andso you know, from those days on,
I have tried always, whenever Igo somewhere, I have some
things planned and sadly, thereis some more things we do need
to book in advance.
These days, you can't go to ayou know, a major city and not
if you really want to go to aparticular museum or something.
You often do need to book inadvance or you actually will
(28:38):
miss out.
So things like that I alwayscheck now, what do I have to
book?
Uh, but otherwise I like to havesome ideas, or lots of ideas
even, but no particular plans,and just, you know, take each
day as it comes and see where wego, cause I think that leaving
space often creates the gap forwhat become the best experiences
(29:01):
of your trip.
So that is my big thing I bangon about with anyone who will
listen.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I know and it's, it's a really it's a great tip,
honestly.
I mean, we've just come backfrom nine months and we we made
some of it up as we went alongand we knew what day we need to
be back in Australia.
But apart from that, we justkind of went with the flow and,
and you say, made sure we kindof booked some of the things we
knew we definitely wanted to do,but generally actually this
(29:28):
time we didn't do a lot of thekind of must-dos that people say
that you know no, actuallywe'll just mosey on and down and
see what we feel like doingwhen we get there.
So it was a really good trip.
But thanks so much, amanda, forcoming on the podcast.
It's always a joy to speak toyou.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
It really is.
Thank you very much for havingme.
It's great fun to talk aboutall my favorite things.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Thanks again, amanda, for coming on to this week's
episode of the podcast.
It's always such a joy to chatwith you.
You can find links to Amanda'swebsite and her podcast on the
show notes for this episode atglobaltravelplanningcom.
Forward slash, episode 63.
That just leaves me to sayuntil next week, happy global
travel planning.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of the Global
(30:10):
Travel Planning Podcast.
For more details and links toeverything we discussed today,
check out the show notes atglobaltravelplanetcom.
Remember, if you enjoyed theshow, please consider leaving us
a review on your favoritepodcast app, because your
feedback helps us reach moretravel enthusiasts, just like
you.
Anyway, that leaves me to say,as always, happy global travel
(30:30):
planning.
10 questions, endless stories.
Welcome to the very firstepisode of Stamped, a brand new
series on the Global TravelPlanning Podcast.
In this episode, amanda Kendall, host of the Thoughtful Travel
Podcast, is first in the hotseat, sharing the moments,
places and people that havedefined her travels.
Hi and welcome to the GlobalTravel Planning Podcast.
(00:20):
I'm your host, tracy Collins,who, with my expert guests, will
take you on a weekly journey todestinations around the globe,
providing travel inspiration,itinerary ideas, practical tips
and more to help you plan yournext travel adventure.
Hello everyone, and welcome tothe Global Travel Planner
(00:46):
Podcast.
This week I'm very excited tohave my friend, amanda Kendall
from the Thoughtful TravelPodcast, on to share her
experiences and places thatshe's visited across the world
in this new segment.
So it was inspired.
So I'm going to shout out umHolly Rubenstein from the travel
diaries, who I absolutely love.
(01:07):
I love those episodes and Ilove listening to them, but I
kind of thought, you know what?
We've all got some greatstories to share and we don't
all have to be mega famous tvstars or writers or like up
there.
That everybody has to.
Kind of you know.
I've listened to lots of theepisodes.
I thought, wow, they'refantastic, but let's just have
(01:27):
some ordinary people like me andyou, on Amanda, share our
stories.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I'm thrilled to be an ordinary person.
Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah well, you know you're more than ordinary, but
you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I know exactly what you mean.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So, as you were the first guest on the Global Travel
Podcast all those yonks ago,episode one, and we're now on
episode 63, can you believe it?
So you're back.
This is the first time you'vebeen back, so you are the first
one to do this segment.
So we have 10 questions.
We'll see how it goes, butfirst of all, just introduce
yourself, amanda.
Go, go for it.
Tell us everybody who you are,what you do and about your
(02:09):
fantastic podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh, thank you, Tracey , and thanks for having me back.
I'm Amanda Kendall.
I'm an ordinary person and Ihappen to love travel, and I
have run the Thoughtful Travelpodcast for about nine years now
and getting very, very closeperilously close to a million
(02:30):
downloads.
So I'm enjoying seeing Traceylaugh here.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
I should say you're an extraordinary person, not an
ordinary person For the rest ofmy life.
Now I'm going to be aware ofthe fact I just called Amanda
Kendall an ordinary person Forthe rest of my life.
Now I'm going to be aware ofthe fact I just called Amanda
Kendall an ordinary person.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I am very.
No, I'm maybe not a normalperson, but I'm a very.
I'm not famous.
So there, yes, and I'm justwant to tell you all about my
travel.
So that's.
I don't know how I can condenseit into these 10 questions, but
I'm going to try.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So, yeah, thanks for having me.
And what we don't cover, peoplecan anyway pop over and listen
to your podcast, because youhave one of the best and top
podcasts, not only in Australiabut in the world, about travel
so anyway let's, let's go on tothese questions.
So, like first one, who lit thespark for you?
(03:29):
Who was the person or place, orbook, or moment, at what point
did you kind of go, wow, travel?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
There were a few sparks but if I kind of narrow
them down, definitely my parentswere kind of key sparks for two
reasons.
One, both of them had kind offor their generation and their
circumstances, done a bit oftravel.
So my dad had worked for thebank in Papua New Guinea for a
couple of years in the 50s.
(04:00):
So as I was growing up in the70s and 80s he would talk to me
about Papua New Guinea and thenso it seemed like a you know,
kind of really different toAustralia and interesting, so
that I had that kind of idea.
And my mum, she'd grown up in alittle tiny country town and
her whole desire was to get outof the country town.
That's what she lived for.
And in her mid to late teens,mid teens, she took a I guess
(04:25):
now we would call it a workingholiday from Western Australia.
She went over on the boat tothe east coast of Australia and
worked like she worked for theFord Motor Company for a few
months and then she went a bitfurther and worked somewhere
else.
So she used to tell me storiesof that.
So that was their backgrounds,was their backgrounds.
(04:45):
And then when I was nine, so 40years ago this year I've been
celebrating it.
They took me and my sister toEurope for a six month trip, so
my dad had long service leavefrom the bank and they, kind of,
you know, scrimped together alltheir savings because they
thought this was a reallyimportant thing.
Turned out they were right andwe had a motor home and
travelled around Western Europeand the UK for six months, which
(05:05):
was completely life-changingand completely ensured that I
would always need to travel.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
And, of course, you've been sharing that
recently on the podcast as welland on photos.
I loved some of the photosyou've been sharing on the
Facebook group.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Can you guess where this is.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
You're going closer and closer because there's a few
guesses and it turned out to bea caravan park near Paris.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yes, that's right which you couldn't tell unless
you had been there.
I know I like to be a bittricky.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
But so much fun and it's lovely that you know you
can trace it back.
Same with myself.
You go back to those childhoodyears and there's, you know,
parents or grandparents, there'ssomebody there that's going to
have kind of lit that spark inthat lifelong love for travel.
So, the first country that youever visited.
Can you remember?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yes, so I was nine Actually I was eight, I was
turned nine during our few daysthere.
So that was the beginning ofthis big trip.
And it was Hong Kong.
So this was 1985 and we flew toEurope via Hong Kong and we
stopped for like three nights,four nights in there.
(06:18):
So that was the very first timeI had been out of Western
Australia and I guess what stoodout, a few things stood out.
I don't really remember doingmuch sort of sight seeing, but
what I remember is things likethere were these huge apartment
buildings everywhere, becauseback then Perth had, I think,
probably zero apartmentbuildings and we just had all
these, you know, houses on bigempty blocks.
You know, going as far as thesuburbs could go, so seeing
(06:39):
apartments and people had theirwashing hung out like from their
windows and stuff, that wasjust like such a new thing to me
.
So, uh, and different coins youknow they had a coin with a
hole in the middle and all ofthose just little things that I
suppose as a eight or nine yearold that's, you know, that's
what, what interrupts your norm,and so, yeah, that's what I
remember the most.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah, it's because up to that point, everything in
your life is the norm.
So then you go somewhere elsethat is so different.
It's like, well, you mean, theydon't have what I.
It's different to what I'm usedto at home.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's not the same Exactly and there was no
internet or anything, and soanything else I'd been exposed
to was, you know, a bit of TVand so, which was basically,
like you know, a bit of Americansitcoms and a lot of British
comedies, and that's about all Iknew about the world by then,
and have you been back to HongKong since?
Yes, finally, last year Ifinally got back to Hong Kong.
I'd been trying to get backthere for years, so I took my
(07:32):
son back to Hong Kong becausenow I have very good friends who
had just moved there to live.
So it was so much fun to goback.
It was completely different tohow I remembered it, but I still
loved it.
So, yeah, now that we've gotfriends living there, I'd like
to keep going back.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
That's exciting.
Now question three is what wasyour first real adventure?
What was the first trip thatyou went on and went?
Oh okay, this is different,this is exciting, this is
unforgettable.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
This was easy.
So I did a fair bit oftravelling before this, but this
was the kind of thing I'dreally wanted to do for ages,
and it was taking theTrans-Siberian train across
Russia.
So, you know, I had read PaulTheroux's Riding the Iron
Rooster and loved it and thought, oh, I want to sit on a train
like that, I want to see youknow the people.
(08:22):
And, uh, and I had thisopportunity.
I'd been working in Japan andthen had a new job in well, at
the time it was supposed to bein Prague, so we had to get to
Eastern Europe somehow, and sowhat better way than taking the
Trans-Siberian across Russia?
This was 2003.
So it was like nice and safe tobe in Russia, it was a good
moment in history and it waslike that.
(08:44):
That for me, like I'm not aphysical adventurous, physically
adventurous person, I'm notgoing to skydive or anything
like that but to have this, um,like, in the end, I think, three
weeks, uh, taking the trainacross Russia.
We'd, you know, go for a coupleof days on the train and then
stop somewhere for a few daysand then keep going, and it was
uh, I have no words because itwas one of the best experiences
(09:06):
of my life.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I can just imagine it was something that we wanted to
do so much and obviously notpossible now.
It's one of those things thatwhen you get the chance to kind
of reach out and do it, and itbegan a bit of a lifelong love
for travel by train as well,because you love train travel,
don't you?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
100%, and that was the first time I'd done any
significant train travel.
Oh, that's not true.
Actually, before the yearbefore that, I'd been in Vietnam
and we'd taken the, the poorlynamed reunification express.
There was nothing express aboutthat train, but um, so we'd
done a few overnight trips inVietnam as well.
(09:42):
Uh, but that, yeah, thatRussian one, absolutely Like it.
Just, I just love long distancetrain travel where you can just
sit.
Um, you're really immersed andI love sleeping on a train.
It like rocks me like a baby.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And what about?
Did you meet some interestingpeople along the way as well?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yes, so, um, I don't know if it was the timing or
also, we went, perhaps goingfrom east to west.
There seemed to be lesstourists or whatever, but
basically we were always theonly non-Russians on the train
and so we'd be in a cabin offour beds.
I was with me and my boyfriend,and so we'd usually have two
others in there with us and,yeah, some of them were the type
(10:21):
that would get in, they wouldpull out their vodka, they would
drink and they would go tosleep and they would not speak.
So there was people like thatand on one stage we had there
was a bunch of families in ourcar.
There was no restaurant car, sowe would all just be like
sharing food and stuff.
But there was a bunch offamilies who had been to the
coast, like to the far eastcoast, for their annual summer
(10:44):
holiday.
They were quite wealthy Moscowfamilies, doctors and lawyers
and stuff, and so they wouldtravel like a full week on the
train with these little kids andthen spend their two weeks at
the seaside and then a week backand it was like this is crazy,
but their kids there was a bunchof them maybe kind of six to
ten years old who loved us andthey would try and come and
practice their English sentenceson us and we'd play, you know,
(11:05):
chess and cards and stuff forthem.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
It's just absolute awesome fun oh, it sounds like
it's one of those things, isn'tit we're talking?
We just talked about the factthat when you first go somewhere
, it's the differences that yousee, but after it, then it's
actually not.
What you realize is that we'reall the same, so we're all the
same.
We all enjoy the same things.
Kids want to want to play thegames, they want to interact,
they want to chat.
You know, it's all that kind ofhumanity stuff that you just
(11:27):
get exposed to when you traveland you realize actually you
don't do anything at all.
We're all exactly the same, weall want the same things, we all
have the same hopes and dreams,and so, yeah, I bet that was an
amazing experience.
And you say it took is it threeweeks, that trip?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
well, so if you go non-stop it's a week, but we get
, we got off a lot of times but,what I would really love to do.
I've dreamt of doing it now,you know, who knows if I'll ever
be able to, but I wouldactually love to go back and do
just the full week withoutgetting off, and just have that
like week of I don't know, justthat.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
It's like a retreat, almost so yeah, Well, isn't it
if you could leave your socialmedia, like your phone and stuff
, behind?
It really would be, wouldn't it?
You could?
Really, really just chill outand immerse yourself with that
kind of train experience and thejourney which would be which
would be amazing.
And that's always the thingabout train travel, isn't it?
It's as much about the journeyas a destination.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah, exactly right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Okay, so next question.
I feel like I'm interrogatingyou, so oh.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I love it.
It's nice to be answeringinstead of asking for one.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
So so a wow moment.
Can you describe one place orexperience that completely blew
you away and what made it sospecial?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I mean it's very hard to narrow down.
So I've managed to narrow itdown just to a country sorry,
but that was hard but Iceland.
So I had very long wanted to goto Iceland.
I had, like in the early 2000s,I had students in Europe who'd
been to Iceland.
That was when I first sort ofhad it on the radar as a place
(12:54):
where I could go, and finallygot there in 2015, I think.
So it was kind of not superpopular.
As you know, it became a lotmore popular since that time.
Um, so I didn't kind of knowheaps about it, but like just
the, the landscape of it, the,the, the massive scale of I
(13:15):
don't know, of nothingness andof, or like of the enormous
waterfall or of the glaciers orI don't know, it's just, you
know, seemed like such a remoteand different and crazy place.
So, um, uh, yeah, I still lovedit.
Yeah, I still want to go backagain.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
And and.
So what did you do when youwent to visit to Iceland?
Did you?
Did you stay in Reykjavik?
Did you travel around theisland?
Speaker 2 (13:37):
So a lot of people do the ring road route all the way
around.
But I had my son with me, whowas five at the time, and the
amount of time we had it wouldhave been a lot of driving to do
the whole ring road.
So we went along the southcoast to where the biggest
glacier lagoons and stuff areJökulsalón, I think it is, uh
(13:57):
and then back to Reykjavik andup a little bit on the west
coast as well to some verybeautiful parts, and then spent
a couple of days in Reykjavik aswell.
So I think we had, um, must'vebeen like 11, 12 days or so
there, I think, in the end.
So, um, yeah, I didn't want torace around, so I've missed some
parts.
I've missed the Far East andthe Far North, so I have to go
(14:19):
back.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I was just about to say.
It just means that you have togo back.
Iceland has eluded me so far.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
You have to go, tracy .
We went in the middle of summer, so it was 24 hours of daylight
and it was super weird, butkind of cool.
Hard to get a five-year-old tosleep, though.
Well, I weird.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
But uh, kind of cool.
Hard to get a five-year-old tosleep, though.
Oh well, I can imagine, if it'sdaylight, that entire time it'd
be really difficult, it's aconsidering.
I lived not too far away in theuk and I never made it over
there and of course, I guess inthe last what, maybe five or six
years, it's become so superpopular uh, and it's quite
expensive it's quite I thinklet's read quite very, very
expensive.
Yes, yes, I did, I did look.
I did look.
(14:55):
When I was in scotland thisyear I thought I could fly over
and I was like, no, I think I'llhave to leave that to another
trip now.
Well, so you mentioned you wantto go back to iceland?
Um, but is there a particulardestination and you can have a
whole country if you want?
Amanda, I'll give you that.
That you that you consider likea home from home that you just
(15:15):
return to over and over again,or you would love to just keep
going back to.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
I mean, you would not be surprised if I say Japan.
So, yes, it is like my homefrom home.
So I lived there for two years,20 years ago, and I've been
back five or six times since andthere's lots of reasons that I
love it.
So the people are fascinatingand lovely and kind.
(15:40):
Uh, the food is my favoritekind of food, like you know, if
you always are.
If you asked if you only had tohave one kind of cuisine for
the rest of your life, whatwould it be?
That would be Japanese for me,a hundred percent.
Uh, it's also such a variedcountry Like each time've gone
back, I've, you know, been to adifferent part.
It's, it's like, it's almost,like you know, 50 countries in
one.
There's so many differentthings to experience, different
(16:03):
kinds of history, differentkinds of like.
It's so long and skinny.
The landscape changescompletely, like from, you know,
snowy Hokkaido down to tropicalOkinawa.
So there's just, yeah, I feel alonging to return many more
times.
Put it that way.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
So I know that you said you spent some time living
in Japan, so we'll talk aboutthat as well, and I know you've
done some walking in Japan,which are both kind of
interesting things, so we needto cover those.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
So how did you end up ?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
working and living in Japan.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Well, I started off the usual, well, fairly
stereotypical, route of teachingEnglish in Japan.
So I had known a few peoplewho'd done it already when it
was less common or less popularand you could earn a lot of
money doing it, and I kind ofmissed that wave of becoming
super rich from it.
But it was enough to save a bitto send home, which was nice,
(16:54):
and that kind of then funded abit more, a fair bit more travel
.
So I lived in Osaka for acouple of years teaching English
.
I had not taught before thenand I discovered I love teaching
and I've taught in various waysever since.
So that was a bonus.
And obviously, living somewhere, you know you get to know it in
a completely different way.
You know every day my job wasto talk to Japanese people in
small groups.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
you know every day my job was to talk to Japanese
people in small groups.
You know it was perfect.
It's the best way, isn't it?
It's the best way to immerseyourself in a culture and learn
about it.
Learn about how people actuallylive in that culture, in that
community, by becoming a memberof it.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Absolutely yeah.
I lived in a little apartment.
I had, you know, slept on afuton.
I ate rice for breakfast,because I quickly learnt that if
I tried to eat a Westernbreakfast I would go broke.
So you know, it was just liketwo of the very, very, very best
years of my life, easily.
So yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
And you returned not long ago to do a walk.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yes, so that's actually nearly two years ago
now.
It not long ago to do a walk,is that right?
Yes, so that's actually nearlytwo years ago now.
It was with Walk Japan, um.
So my friend Catherine and Igot to go um to Northern Honshu,
so like a few hours north ofTokyo, not as far as Hokkaido,
but um the cooler climbs andfairly mountainous area, and our
hike was following the trailthat, um, the haiku poet, um
(18:14):
Basho, had walked many years ago.
But it was, yeah, it was justlike.
So we were walking on our own,but Walk Japan organised
everything for us and gave usamazing, like book of you know
here, walk here, turn left here,see this sign, go right.
But plus all of the little,like you know cultural
information or historical things, it's just so cool and we
(18:36):
stayed in.
You know beautiful inns.
You know cultural informationor historical things.
It's just so cool and we stayedin.
You know beautiful inns.
You know very traditional innsevery night, amazing, amazing
food and, yeah, and the sceneryup there, like the mountains and
stuff we were walking through,was absolutely, yeah,
breathtakingly divine.
So that was, yeah, one of myvery favourite trips ever.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I know it sounds it and uh, have you got plans to go
back to japan in the pipeline,or is it always just hovering
there?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
yeah, I don't have actual definite plans, but
whatever happens, I will getback there, I am sure.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
So yeah, okay, there's always places in there
that just that's just tug at you, that you just fall in love
with and you just go.
This is, this is a place that Iknow for the rest of all I will
be wanting to go back to orexperience.
So what about places that areunder the radar?
So, have you been somewherethat is a lesser known place?
Um, and obviously at the momentwe're trying to kind of uh,
(19:29):
trying to promote a bit of thelesser known places, because
there's so much over tourism andand so many popular places
around the world that everybodywants to go to, wants to kind of
tick off on their bucket listor whatever they've got on their
agenda of what they want to do.
But what about some of thelesser known places that you've
been to and you think, oh, whydon't people not go and visit
(19:52):
this place?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Well, I have a real yearning to go back to the
Baltic states.
So Estonia, Latvia, Lithuaniaand obviously, like the capitals
have become, you know, there'sa bit more, or fair bit more,
tourism there and, as Iunderstand it, there's still a
lot of, you know, like bucks,weekends and stuff like that.
But outside of the capitals, uh, I spent, spent I don't know
(20:15):
how long, maybe six or eightweeks, backpacking through those
three countries a while backand I just found them so
fascinating and so individuallydifferent but as a whole kind of
a really interesting block andyeah, like cause, you know,
there's the kind of theex-Soviet kind of impact.
You know, when I was a kid,Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
(20:37):
were not on a map and when I was, you know, first going there to
travel, I had to kind of keeppracticing my head to try and
remember Estonia, top Latvia,then Lithuania.
So you know they're inalphabetical order.
Okay, got to remember this.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
That's a cool tip.
I'm remembering that one.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Oh, I just, you know, I just found them such
fascinating countries and I'mstill surprised that.
I mean, I'm still surprised ingeneral that not as many people
as I expect go to Eastern Europeas a whole.
So that's by far my favouritepart of Europe, but I still see
most people are going back tojust France, italy, spain, you
know, portugal, maybe Germanyand sometimes Scandinavia.
(21:16):
But yeah, I just still don'tsee many people going to Eastern
Europe and like it's sobrilliant.
So I mean, I almost don't wantto tell people, though, to go.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, it's a bit true , because I think of places like
Croatia, which have now becomeincredibly popular.
I think Bosnia has becomepopular, albania now, so
countries that were perhaps 10years ago lesser visited or
lesser known are starting tocreep up, and certainly, I know
Croatia has now become like ahot destination, slovenia as
well.
I think Prague, for example,has become a problem, with how
(21:48):
many hen and buck weekends weretaking place there, which I
think they've banned now.
Hopefully, yes.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I've lost track, but I know some cities have banned
them, which makes a lot of senseto me.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, absolutely the thing is.
I think part of the problem inEurope is there's those cheap
weekend breaks.
Yes, exactly so once thosecheaper flights go in, you can
end up kind of where you've justgot people going for a cheap
weekend, cheap alcohol and thenthat's what it leads to.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
It's very exploitative.
I don't like it.
No, I know it isn't good.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
And there are so many other places to go that you can
avoid that and most peopleactually want to avoid that that
I speak to they're like how canwe get to some of these other
places?
And you know, by train as well.
That's what I'm saying.
Yes, exactly, Some great traintrips in Europe that you can.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Fly into anywhere and you could get anywhere.
It's not, yeah, it's all veryreachable, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Now I know we've talked about the fact that, well
, both you and I have both livedand worked in numerous
countries throughout the world,and that makes a difference and
it does make you feel like alocal and probably going to be
more than one destination thatyou're going to cover in this
but is there somewhere thatyou've been where you felt more
like a local than a tourist?
And I use the phrase touristbecause I know it's a, it's a
(23:01):
controversial one, but I alwayssay, well, if we're traveling
somewhere, generally we're thereas a tourist.
So, yeah, yeah, where have youbeen that you kind of went?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
actually, I feel like I'm more immersed and and have
that more local experience yeah,I found I find this tricky to
answer, because I feel like it'svery clear to me that it's the
places where I have actuallylived.
But if I think about that, thenwhere I felt more local is
always where I can speak thelanguage.
Um, so, german, I lived inGermany for a few years, um, but
(23:32):
it's not just Germany where Ifeel more that I can fit in,
it's anywhere where I can speakGerman, so in Austria or to some
extent, german speakingSwitzerland, if they stop their
crazy Swiss German, because Ifind that impossible to
understand.
But I think that like, yeah,being able to speak a little bit
more of the language is useful.
And when I'm in Japan althoughI can't speak Japanese like
(23:54):
fluently by any means,especially like on that trip
that we described the hikingtrip we're in areas where
there's no tourists and a lot ofpeople didn't speak English and
definitely, you know, feel ableto fit in more because I could
speak the language.
So I think for me that's I alsolove learning languages, so for
me that's kind of that reallocalizing kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I'm sure you still have many destinations that
you'd like to visit around theworld.
I know I have, and the more Iread, the more I see, the more I
listen to other people talkabout places I go.
I really would like to go there.
So is there a particulardestination that is calling your
name, amanda?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Well, I mean, you're right, many, many.
So I've barely seen any of thewhole continent of Africa and I
have not even been to SouthAmerica at all.
So those two, 100%.
But the one that's reallycalling me, I suppose.
At the moment I keep beingdrawn to going to China.
So last year when I was in HongKong, I got to just have a
(24:54):
night.
We went over the border intoShenzhen, and so literally just
a night's experience, but I'dalready been kind of intrigued
and that really really whet myappetite.
A friend of mine's in Shanghaiat the moment.
I've been following all herposts with such intrigue and I
think I want to go to Chinabecause it's a really important
(25:15):
part of the world and I think wehave so many stereotypes about
it and we don't.
You know, I really want to, um,I really just want to know more
.
And also, I think you knowthere's lots of really
interesting things to see,there's amazing landscapes, lots
of reasons to go, but mostlybecause I just think you know
it's an era where we probablyshould know more about China and
(25:39):
I'd like to know that firsthand.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
So and I and I think, I think you're you're so right
with this, amanda, because I wastalking to somebody the other
day about China and it's thecountry that I feel like we know
the least about, and I don'tknow why.
I don't know.
Why do we not know anythingabout China?
It, you know I was watching theuh, there's a program on the UK
race around the world and theyactually started by going
through China and we were likeI've not heard of that place.
(26:02):
I don't know about this, Idon't know about that.
And then it completely Doug andI sat watching.
They did a lot by train.
So he was like, well, we haveto go, because look at all these
fantastic trains they've got inChina, but we just don't know
enough about it.
So I think that's what we needto do.
We must, we must get there andthen come back on the podcast
(26:23):
and share it with everybody.
And if you're listening andyou've spent some time in China.
Get in touch because I want totalk to you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Come on the podcast and share, give us some tips.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah, yeah, share where you've been and what
you've done.
Absolutely Okay.
So you've done a lot of travel.
As you say, you're 49.
Are you 49 yet, or is it thisyear that you turned 49?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
No, I'm 49 already.
Ah, okay, I'm in denial so Ihave to check.
No, I'm 49 already.
I'll be 50 next year.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Oh, I passed that a while ago.
The next one I've got is 60, sodon't.
Okay, well, I won't complain.
Don't complain.
Obviously, with a lot of travelunder your belt and a lot of
living around the world as well,a lot of experiences, what
would be the one tip that youalways share, the thing that you
(27:08):
kind of say to people that youwish you'd known earlier or
you've learned throughout yourlife about?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
travel.
Well, this is something thatearly on in my travels I did
without thinking, and then, inthe middle of my travel career,
I did it badly and then Irelearned it.
So, and it is basically to notover plan and to leave lots of
space for spontaneousexperiences.
So when I was a young traveler,I was a backpacker.
I had weeks and weeks, butbefore I had to be, you know, in
(27:32):
place X, you know, and youdidn't need to book anything and
we would just decide from dayto day what we would do.
And you know, we just had thisvague goal.
Like you know, we had to be inBratislava by you know, I don't
know whatever the August 10th tostart work, and I had two
months to get there, so,whatever.
So not very little planninginvolved.
(27:53):
And then, of course, I had achild and, you know, travelled
with, then a husband and stuff,and shorter trips, and I felt,
especially with a child, I feltlike I had to, you know, have
things booked and know wherewe'd be, and so I would plan a
lot more.
And then, of course, I realizedthat I hated traveling that way
, and also my, you know, mychild became a good traveler and
(28:16):
, you know, very flexible, andso you know, from those days on,
I have tried always, whenever Igo somewhere, I have some
things planned and sadly, thereis some more things we do need
to book in advance.
These days, you can't go to ayou know, a major city and not
if you really want to go to aparticular museum or something.
You often do need to book inadvance or you actually will
(28:38):
miss out.
So things like that I alwayscheck now, what do I have to
book?
Uh, but otherwise I like to havesome ideas, or lots of ideas
even, but no particular plans,and just, you know, take each
day as it comes and see where wego, cause I think that leaving
space often creates the gap forwhat become the best experiences
(29:01):
of your trip.
So that is my big thing I bangon about with anyone who will
listen.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I know and it's, it's a really it's a great tip,
honestly.
I mean, we've just come backfrom nine months and we we made
some of it up as we went alongand we knew what day we need to
be back in Australia.
But apart from that, we justkind of went with the flow and,
and you say, made sure we kindof booked some of the things we
knew we definitely wanted to do,but generally actually this
(29:28):
time we didn't do a lot of thekind of must-dos that people say
that you know no, actuallywe'll just mosey on and down and
see what we feel like doingwhen we get there.
So it was a really good trip.
But thanks so much, amanda, forcoming on the podcast.
It's always a joy to speak toyou.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
It really is.
Thank you very much for havingme.
It's great fun to talk aboutall my favorite things.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Thanks again, amanda, for coming on to this week's
episode of the podcast.
It's always such a joy to chatwith you.
You can find links to Amanda'swebsite and her podcast on the
show notes for this episode atglobaltravelplanningcom.
Forward slash, episode 63.
That just leaves me to sayuntil next week, happy global
travel planning.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of the Global
(30:10):
Travel Planning Podcast.
For more details and links toeverything we discussed today,
check out the show notes atglobaltravelplanetcom.
Remember, if you enjoyed theshow, please consider leaving us
a review on your favoritepodcast app, because your
feedback helps us reach moretravel enthusiasts, just like
you.
Anyway, that leaves me to say,as always, happy global travel
(30:30):
planning.
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