The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

For travellers like us, knowing a tourism business we are about to use is properly thoughtful, taking into account the impact we will have on the community and the environment, is important. But with an industry full of greenwashing and unsubstantiated eco-credentials, it's sometimes difficult to know what we can trust.

Over the past few years now I've had a growing awareness of B Corps but was very keen to dig deeper, so this pod...

This is an episode I never imagined I'd need to make; family lore was that my mum June would live to a hundred. But very sadly, after a sudden terminal cancer diagnosis in late January, my beautiful mum passed away early in February. As the biggest fan of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I knew I couldn't restart it after my time away without mentioning my mum and how she encouraged me to travel - I definitely wouldn't be here creati...

Staying in someone’s home is the ultimate in starting to understand the local way of life when you travel, and I’ve had some brilliant homestay experiences in the past. In this episode devoted to homestay accommodation, I first tell you my own tales of Russian homestays, with some of the delightful interactions with homestay hosts in Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Moscow and St Petersburg.

I then chat with Nina Karnikowski who explai...

When I was first introduced to Gevorg Babayan and his company LikeLocal.io, which matches travellers with local experiences, I knew he'd be a good guest for The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, but as I got to know him more through interactions in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group, I soon realised that a quick chat wouldn't be enough - we would need a deep dive!

In this chat, I learn more about Gevorg's background in Armenia, his...

Tales of things going wrong - or almost - are always popular, and I think if you throw in the trickiness of a border crossing, these stories are top-notch entertainment! In this episode, I start off chatting with Michael Jensen about a triple-border experience in northern Thailand recently - made more fun by knowing exactly the spot he was talking about as I was lucky enough to visit that same spot just last year.

I then talk to A...

I am absolutely convinced that taking kids travelling is one of the best things you can do for them, and in this episode I've gathered together the thoughts of four fathers who agree with me!

First up, I chat with Rupert Grey, who took his daughters across the world at a young age - in particular, he tells me about their experience visiting Bangladesh in the 1990s, and the impact that their travels has had on them now that they ar...

Connecting with local people when we travel is a true joy for me - whether it's just a quick conversation in a queue, or a deeper day or more spent together, learning about how our lives are the same and different - I love it all! In this episode I chat with three guests who agree, and have found various ways to meet locals when they travel.

First up, I get the tour operator perspective from Cristian Martinus, who confirms that gu...

If you decided to escape the corporate world, would you buy up a plot of land in an isolated part of Japan? It's not my first thought, but this is what Walk Japan CEO Paul Christie did at the age of forty, and with many good consequences.

One of these is that Walk Japan has a strong social, "giving back" element, between the Community Project in Kyushu - which springs from Paul's initial plot of land - and its emphasis on taking t...

It's common knowledge that train travel beats air travel in the sustainability stakes, but in recent months I've put this to the test a bit more than usual, in a country where it can be hard to do: my homeland, Australia. 

It all began when Dr Susanne Etti, the Global Environmental Impact Manager for Intrepid Travel, challenged me to fly the shorter route to Melbourne and then take the train with her from Melbourne to Sydney, on o...

The statistics tell us so: more and more of us want to give back and do good when we travel. This is heartening, right? Now we just have to start figuring out the best ways to contribute to the places we visit, in genuinely useful ways - and some of these are described in this episode.

First up, I chat with Roger Smith of Echidna Walkabout who gives a good overview of giving back, and shares his wisdom from a tour operator perspec...

I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Micah Kamohoali'i when I was in Sydney for SXSW recently, and I knew immediately we would need a LONG chat! This discussion was a pleasure from start to finish: we start off discussing how Micah found himself working in the tourism industry, and what tourism in Hawai'i has been like over the years: with ups and downs of how responsible it was (and wasn't) and the different kinds of tourists th...

I'm not alone in finding Japanese museums about earthquakes and tsunamis interesting and impactful; I know my friend Catherine who travelled with me in Tohoku last month is the same. This episode will test out whether it's just the two of us, or if more of you share this feeling - a yearning to understand more about these kinds of disasters, to get to know more about the human stories behind them, and a keen desire to share in the ...

Here it is! This is the live recording of our panel at South By South West (SXSW) Sydney, from October 2023, on the topic “Why We Need Travel More Than Travel Needs Us”.

It was such a thrill to be on the podcast stage at SXSW with Catherine Marshall, Susanne Etti and Justin Watson, three fabulous guests who had so many interesting stories and opinions to offer for this tricky topic. 

We start off with everyone sharing a story abo...

There are many, many ways to see Japan, but I think I've just experienced my favourite: on foot. In late September/early October 2023, I undertook a six-day trip with Walk Japan, on the Self-Guided Basho Wayfarer walk around Sendai. And it was brilliant!

In this episode, I give an overview of the content and logistics of this trip, which essentially includes hiking various segments of the route that haiku poet Matsuo Basho took in...

It's a strange phenomenon, but podcast episodes full of stories of things going wrong on our travels are always popular! For Episode 307, I've got two stories of strange goings-on while my guests are at sea. Enjoy?!

First up, Antonio Cala tells the story of that time he and his wife needed to be rescued by the Jamaican coastguard. Fortunately, we know they lived to tell the tale, but let's just say life on their catamaran in the C...

If we want to be mindful of our carbon footprint when we travel, a good way to do this is to consider more carefully the kinds of places where we choose to stay - like focusing on eco-accommodation. This is a part of my travel I definitely haven't given enough thought to in the past, and this episode has inspired me with stories about all kinds of accommodation options which are more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

First...

Travel experiences should be accessible to everyone - I strongly believe that's an important part of the whole thoughtful travel ethos. As part of the Year of Accessible Tourism in Queensland, I've put together this episode about accessible travel on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia - it's full of great stories of people doing better, and I hope you enjoy it!

First up, I chat with Daniel Watkins, world champion wake boarder...

Bangkok is a city which rewards many repeat visits and my recent trip there proved it! Putting together Episode 304 was a special chance for me to chat with several friends, old and new, who I had the joy of travelling with on our recent trip to Thailand. 

In this episode, I start of chatting with Paddy Jenkins about our mutually favourite part of this Bangkok trip - visiting the Portuguese quarter or Kudijin (Kudichin). Diving de...

Thank you internet: you've made many things possible, two of them being podcasts, and working as a digital nomad. In this episode on digital nomading, I've got three guests who all bring quite different perspectives on digital nomad life, and I hope it sparks some thinking!

First up, I chat with Will Hatton, aka The Broke Backpacker, who's spent many years wandering the world, making money in various ways online, including through...