The Thoughtful Travel Podcast
Episodes
206 Curious Tourism Meets The Thoughtful Travel Podcast
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 206 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is a special one: for the first time, I'm doing a crossover episode with another podcast, because I'm sur...
205 What Turns Us Into Travellers
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What turned you into a traveller? I've been pondering this question and in Episode 205 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat with four travel lovers...
204 Island Travel
07 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Island life, island time, there are all kinds of phrases we use that evoke that special feeling of islands - be they tropical or otherwise, small isla...
203 Student Exchange Trips
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Travel can have a lasting impact at any age but if you’re a teenager and you’re away from your family on some kind of student exchange pro...
202 Wildflowers in Western Australia Trip Diary
24 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's wildflower season! The Western Australian border might be closed thanks to Covid-19, but the positive side of this is as a Perth resident I'm abl...
201 Listener Stories
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This is the second part of my celebration of 200 episodes - today, the wonderful listeners you met in Episode 200 share some of their very favourite t...
200 Podcast Listener Interviews
10 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's a big milestone today: this is the 200th episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast! And since this podcast would literally be nothing at all witho...
199 Responsible Animal Tourism
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Seeing animals when we travel is high on many people's must-do lists - but are we doing it responsibly? Responsible animal tourism is one of those are...
198 Early Trips of Experienced Travellers
27 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The trips we take early in our travelling careers are very special - those first times when you are really seeing the world with truly fresh eyes. Tha...
197 Getting Engaged While Travelling
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Amongst travel lovers it's quite common that your engagement happens while you're travelling - I guess it's the obvious time to have a big romantic ge...
Book Club 05: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby
18 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the June 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about A Short Wa...
196 When Your Passport Goes Missing
13 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when your passport goes missing while you’re travelling? Well, as proven by Episode 196 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, what ha...
195 Encounters with Locals in Central Asia
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Regular listeners to The Thoughtful Travel Podcast know just how much I love hearing about encounters with local people when we travel, so Episode 195...
Book Club 04: Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajeshi
05 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the May 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, talking about Around the ...
194 Trans-Siberian Train Journeys
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Train-lovers unite - Episode 194 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about journeys on the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia. This will always ...
193 Travel Firsts and Transformations
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you think back to the first time you travelled, you might just recall that this was a pretty important and influential part of your travelling expe...
192 Travel in Dangerous Places
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ever travelled to somewhere that other people told you was dangerous? Or decided not to go, for precisely that reason? Episode 192 of The Thoughtful T...
191 Travellers with a Disability
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As I've learnt by listening over the years to one of our guests, one in five travellers have a disability. That's a high percentage and I guess that m...
190 Covid-19 Thoughts from Western Australia
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 190 - time for a special episode! As Western Australian life starts to become somewhat normal again after a period of Covid-19 isolation, I de...
Book Club 03: On the Plain of Snakes by Paul Theroux
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the March/April 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, On the Plain of S...
189 Unusual Ways to Meet the Locals
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Meeting local people when you travel is one of the surest ways I know to be a more thoughtful traveller - and to have a lot of fun, too! In Episode 18...
188 Getting Sick on Your Travels
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nobody wants to get sick on a trip, but especially if you're a frequent or long-term traveller, it's nearly inevitable. Like many mishaps when we trav...
187 Historical Connections and Travel
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are lots of interesting stories in travel but if your travels are connected to some personal connections to history, that sure makes it even mor...
186 Travel Mishaps
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Things go wrong fairly frequently when I travel - and I'm sure I'm not alone. Mostly these mishaps are minor and they make an otherwise ordinary day m...
185 Slow Travel Benefits
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Slow travel is a concept hitting all the "travel trends" lists recently, and I think (and hope) that travel post-Covid will include a lot more slow tr...
Book Club 02: The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the February 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, discussing The Year ...
184 Antarctic Travels
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many people (including me!) dream of going to Antarctica, but only a small number ever get there. One thing's for sure: I've never met someone who's c...
183 Justifying Travel in the Climate Change Era
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
So, here's a big question for you: can we justifying travelling in the era of climate change? It's a question that's been on my mind for quite a while...
182 Travel and Personal Development
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Travel can change us in so many positive ways - that's one of the main reasons I keep doing it! In Episode 182 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast I chat...
181 Small Group Travel
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
I used to be a staunch anti-group-travel kind of gal. I went literally decades without even a thought of joining a group tour! But in Episode 181 of T...
180 Fourth Anniversary Travel Journal Memory Lane
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Normally a podcast anniversary is a purely joyous occasion - I've been putting out The Thoughtful Travel Podcast consistently for four whole years now...
179 Australian Tourism After the Bushfires
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
January 2020 was a horrible time for Australia - 186,000 square kilometres of Australia burnt in bushfires (that's an area half the size of Germany); ...
178 Interesting Plane Passengers Sitting Next to You
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Oftentimes you can't choose the passenger sitting next to you on a plane. This can be both good and bad! Episode 178 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast ...
177 African Travels
02 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
African travel seems to have been constantly on my radar lately - I guess it's nearly time for me to go and explore more of that continent? For now, a...
Book Club 01: The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the January 2020 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, discussing The Art of...
176 When Travelling is Your Job
24 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We sometimes see people doing glamorous jobs and travelling the world and think: wow, they have a great life! It's those kind of people who are in Epi...
175 Walking and Hiking Travels
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever wondered what it's really like to head out for days or even months and just keep walking, Episode 175 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast ...
174 Life Lessons From Travel
10 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Travelling teaches us a lot - there's nothing like having a big range of different inputs in a short time to wake up your brain! Episode 174 of The Th...
173 Anxiety and Travel
03 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There's a bit of a myth out there that we travellers are brave, confident people who never get anxious. From my own life and knowing many other travel...
172 Helping Others When We Travel
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wanting to help others when we travel is a common theme amongst experienced travellers, because we've all realised how lucky we are and how unlucky ma...
171 Moving to Another Country
20 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's one thing to travel to a foreign country, but to completely migrate and move to another country is another level of experience entirely! In Episo...
170 How Travel Changed in a Decade
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's 2020 (and arguably not the start of the decade but let's skip that discussion) and I want to look back on the years from 2010 until now. Travel h...
169 Romance and Travel
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Let's kick off 2020 with something we've never covered on The Thoughtful Travel Podcast before: romance and travel! Episode 169 covers the whole gamut...
168 New Year Travels [Replay]
30 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Celebrating the turn of the year can be a lot of fun, and if you happen to be somewhere away from home for December 31, it can be even more fun and me...
167 Christmas Travels [Replay]
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's Christmas time again - it comes so fast! - and I'm replaying this Christmas episode of the podcast from the early years, which I know many people...
166 Travel Year in Review
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
2019 is coming to an end - and it's been another big year for The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. You can hear about some of our travels in Episodes 150 (T...
165 Travel Insurance Saves the Day
09 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
You never want to need your travel insurance ... but you should always have it. Episode 165 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is a mix of trips gone wr...
164 Please Travel With Your Children
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
I might be a little bit obsessive about this topic - although it's been a long time since an episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast has covered it -...
163 Tony Wheeler, Lonely Planet Founder
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Tony Wheeler, most famed for being the co-founder, along with his wife Maureen, of the Lonely Planet guide book...
162 Choosing Where to Live Abroad
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever thought about living abroad? I've done it - in Japan, Slovakia and Germany - but it all just kind of happened, and I never had the inten...
161 Cycling Across the World
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ever thought about cycling around the whole world? I sure haven’t - but today’s two guests in Episode 161 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast...
160 Cairns and Queensland Podcast Diary
04 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Time for something different for Episode 160 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast: you can listen in on my diary! I've just spent a week in Cairns, Queens...
159 Languages and Travel
28 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Travelling in foreign countries is only half the fun when we know the language, right? Plenty of intrigue and hilarity ensues when you're trying to co...
158 When Travel Days Go Wrong
21 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Getting around on your travels is not always smooth sailing and things do go wrong. Does that mean your trip is a disaster? I think not! If my three g...
157 Uncommon Destinations
14 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Visiting places that not many people go to is a special joy for me - I love not knowing much about a place and honestly, I feel a bit proud to tell pe...
156 How Travel Stretches Our Comfort Zone
07 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Travel can stretch your comfort zone in a multitude of ways, and the fact that it does is one of the biggest benefits of travel, I think. You can stre...
155 What's So Special About India?
30 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
India is one of those countries that people seem to visit and then rave about for the rest of their lives. In fact, it's really the only place I can t...
154 Dancing on Your Travels
23 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Taking a dancing class when I'm travelling or specifically taking a trip to learn to dance is not something that I've ever done - but hearing about al...
153 Reading Books to Inspire Travel
09 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It seems that the number of people who love to travel AND who love to read makes up quite a high proportion of my listeners so I'm excited that Episod...
152 Transformative Travel
02 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Because travel has changed my life in so many varied ways, I know that it's transformative; when I talk to three other people who believe this, like f...
151 Scuba Diving Travel
26 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Scuba travel has never been high on my wishlist but after talking to my three guests on Episode 151 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast about their divin...
150 Post-Denmark Thoughtful Travel Debrief
19 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Before I travelled to Denmark a couple of months back, I recorded Episode 140 with all my thoughts ahead of that trip. In particular, I wanted to be a...
149 - Class and Privilege When We Travel
29 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We who get to travel the world are a very privileged lot - right? If we're going to be good, thoughtful travellers, I think that considering issues of...
148 Solo Travelling
22 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Solo travelling is one of those things that you might fear before you try it: but if you take the plunge you will find that the life of a solo travell...
147 - Ten Years a Nomad with Nomadic Matt Kepnes
15 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most well-known (and successful, for that matter) travel bloggers around is Matt Kepnes, also known as Nomadic Matt. Here's the thing. I ac...
146 - Travelling in Iran
08 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's not all too many years ago that I would have thought Iran was definitely off the visit list, but in recent years it has become quite a popular de...
145 Volunteering Experiences While Travelling
01 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's becoming increasingly popular to make volunteering a part of a trip abroad, but it's also becoming increasingly known that not all volunteer prog...
144 - Grief, Travel and Change
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Travel and life intersect in all kinds of ways and Episode 144 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is a collection of stories about when grief intersects...
143 - Helpful or Harmful Travel with Jan Fran
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
So are you a helpful traveller or a harmful traveller when you're on the road? I think we'd all like to think we're more the former, but there's alway...
142 - Why Getting Lost is Fun
10 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We often fear getting lost when we travel ... but in reality, it usually either means we discover something we otherwise wouldn't have, and/or it beco...
141 Immersing with Locals When You Travel
03 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you don't get to really meet the people of a country, have you really been there? Some of my first significant travel moments involved a lot of imm...
140 - Being a Thoughtful Traveller in Denmark: Pre-Trip Thoughts
21 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's a special episode again - every ten episodes I do something different for The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - and listener Justin suggested I record ...
139 - Culture Shock When You Come Home
14 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We're used to expecting culture shock when we travel to a different country but what about when we return home? Sometimes it's a worse shock than when...
138 - Accommodation Alternatives
06 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Want to stay somewhere other than a hotel? Then Episode 138 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is for you! I'm not a huge fan of hotels and love to stay...
137 - Depression and Travel
29 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you experience depression, you may have combined this with travel and either found it made things worse, or better. I would love to imagine that tr...
136 - Photography for Travellers
21 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone takes tonnes of photos when they travel these days - hundreds from a short trip is not unusual, thanks to bringing our smartphones complete w...
135 - Nightlife on Your Travels
15 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ever painted the town red one night on your travels? Episode 135 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is all about the nightlife you've experienced on you...
134 Location Independent Work
07 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Having location independent work - which usually means doing a job that you can do online - is becoming increasingly popular these days and many peopl...
133 - The Big Trips That Changed Everything
01 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes, the things we learn from travel creep up on us in a cumulative way. Other times, one trip teaches us so much and just whacks us in the head...
132 - Third Anniversary of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast
25 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's my birthday! Well, yesterday was my birthday, which means this week is the THIRD anniversary of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast. That's three years...
131 - Why You Should Take Your Children Travelling
17 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
I'm an incredibly firm believer in the value of taking your children travelling, and my own son, about to turn nine, has already been to 17 countries ...
130 - Brooke McAlary on Slow Family Travel and Nomadic Life
11 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 130 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - being a nice round number - is another very special episode, where I chat with Brooke McAlary, a very l...
129 - Travel in Developing Countries
04 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For me, some of the most interesting travel I've done has been the more challenging travel, and that's often when I've travelled to developing or poor...
128 Travel Planning and Research
25 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hands up if you like the planning and research part of travel almost as much - or maybe even more - than the actual travelling itself! Some of the gue...
127 Yoga and Meditation Travel
18 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ever been on a yoga retreat in an exotic destination or considered a meditation vacation? On Episode 127 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast we are talki...
126 - Language Difficulties When You Travel
11 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Some people feel that language difficulties can be a reason not to travel, but trying to get by in a country where I don't speak the language is actua...
125 - Spending Years Abroad
04 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Do you dream about spending years living abroad? I've done it, and so have all my guests today, and we are all here to tell you that if you ever get t...
124 - Hiking When You Travel
28 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
You know I love slow travel and if you're travelling on foot that's one of the slowest forms of travel there is - hence my love for the topic of hikin...
123 - Exploring Cultural Differences
21 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Getting to know the cultural differences between different countries and nationalalities is one of the most fascinating parts of travelling, I think. ...
122 - Talking to Locals When We Travel
14 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Easily one of my favourite and most rewarding things to do when I travel is find the chance to talk to locals. I don't want to just see the sights: I ...
121 - Travelling in Cold Places
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Travelling in cold places is absolutely not my speciality - so Episode 121 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is a useful one for me personally! I chat ...
120 - 2018 in Review: Travel Fun and Podcast Fun
03 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This year has been nuts! In a good way, thankfully. Episode 120 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast is a fun summary of 2018 both in terms of my travel, ...
119 - Life-Altering Travel Moments
27 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Travel can be utterly life-altering in so many ways and this episode's three guests have brilliant stories to illustrate exactly that! First I s...
118 - Ecotourism and Responsible Travel
19 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
They might be buzz words at the moment, but ecotourism and responsible travel are nonetheless super-important and that's why Episode 118 of The Though...
117 - Taking a Class When You Travel
12 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Learning should never stop just because you're not at school and in Episode 117 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast we talk about taking classes when you...
116 - Choosing Your Next Destination
05 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How do you choose your next destination? In Episode 116 I chat with four travellers about the different ways they decide where they're going to travel...
115 - Travelling in Muslim Countries
30 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
I’m always fascinated by cultural differences and if you’re travelling in Muslim countries there can be quite a lot of customs that are di...
114 - Our Amazing Cambodia Experience
22 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
I've had lots of special travel experiences in my life but my recent week in Cambodia with Hands On Journeys easily rates as one of the most special o...
113 - Expat Travellers
15 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Anyone who's lived an expat life of some sort tends to be a good traveller, right? (Actually, I have a friend who's an exception to this, but it's rar...
112 - Wellness Travel
08 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Wellness travel is a fast-growing industry, but it's a part of travel that I haven't taken much part in to date. I'm intrigued, though, I was happy to...