The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Is travel good for your mental health? If you believe my guests in this episode (and me), then it's a resounding yes. I chat first with Kaila Yu who explains some of what she thinks helps your mental health when travelling, including some chat about the miraculous quiet of being under the sea when scuba diving. Next, Heidi Brown describes her mental journey before, during and after a trip, identifying some of the precise reasons that she believes her travels have improved her mental health. Finally, Diane Hartmann describes some of what happened to her on her first trips abroad - all solo - and how these challenges contributed positively to her mental health. A content warning: some of our conversations include references to depression and in the final part of the podcast, suicide, so skip this one if you'd rather not hear these discussions. Links: How travel makes me feel more like myself - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/p/how-travel-makes-me-feel-more-like  Kaila Yu - https://kailayu.com/ Kaila

Chatting with author and journalist Monisha Rajesh was just as delightful as I expected (and I had high expectations!). Long-distance train travel is basically synonymous with being a thoughtful traveller, and our chat ranged from a favourite train (you are allowed to have favourites!) through some of the most interesting passengers she's met and a little taster about the thrills of sleeper train travel, which she delves into more in her new book Moonlight Express. If you're listening to this shortly after publication, don't forget you can join us live to chat with Monisha on 10th October for our Thoughtful Travellers Book Club - Moonlight Express edition. Links: Monisha’s website https://monisharajesh.com/  “Moonlight Express” book club with Monisha - https://www.facebook.com/events/730399343332753 Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train - https://amzn.to/4mm4UEN  Our previous book club chat on Around the World in 80 Trains - https://youtu.be/9WsdgaAUaGs?si=F7k3iR8K6-_

In this episode of the Van Life Diaries: Europe 1985, we move on to Scandinavia. Starting off in Denmark, we looked for Lego, noticed the size of the Little Mermaid, and enjoyed spending time in Copenhagen. From Denmark it was a short ferry ride to Sweden, and while my Dad and I muse that we don't have many strong memories from our time there, my Mum's diary does the heavy lifting contributing details about our time in some seaside islands, followed by Stockholm, and an intriguing visit to a timber mill area. Finally, we chat about how much we loved Norway, including time in Oslo, the fjords and playing badminton in Bergen. This is the fifth part of a monthly, six-episode series celebrating the fact that exactly 40 years ago this year, my family and I spent six months in a striped motorhome travelling around Europe. I was nine years old and yes, this trip had an enormous impact on my life - I'm sure you wouldn't be listening to this podcast today if Van Life 1985 hadn't taken place! Throughout the series, I'l

Di Westaway is the founder of Coastrek and Wild Women on Top, and she has had the most fabulous career building up these businesses - topped off with many well-deserved accolades like an Order of Australia medal for services to women's health, fitness and charity services. It was so much fun to chat with Di about how her impulsive decision to attempt to climb South America's highest peak, Mount Aconcagua, even when she'd never done anything remotely like it before, set off a chain reaction leading to decades of fascinating travels and influencing and inspiring countless people to look after themselves more and take on new challenges. During our chat we move from the "big fail" of Mount Aconcagua through some other favourite hiking trips around the world, Di's world record for the highest handstand, a scary night on Mount Rinjani in Indonesia (and a story she said she's never told anyone publicly!!!), and through to the success of Coastrek today in getting thousands of people out there hiking the most beautifu

Creativity is an important part of my life, and I have so often observed that when I'm travelling, and also on my return, my creative thinking gets a huge boost. In this episode I chat with other travellers who feel the same. First up, I talk to author Spiri Tsintziras. Spiri has written several memoirs related to her experiences and travels in Greece, and explains beautifully how being away from home impacts her creativity so positively. Next, artist Carol McQuaid describes how travelling not only allows her creativity to flourish, but also talks about how travellers who take her visual art workshops while they are travelling have the same experience. Finally, author Diane Hartman tells me about her experiences in Ireland and in particular, about a writing retreat in a beautiful part of County Cork which included all the required ingredients for maximum creativity. I also chatted with friends and colleagues from the Creative Schools program, Claire Davenhall and Joanne Marriott, about how they feel travel an

This special episode is the audio of the livestream of the August 2025 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, speaking about Chris Broad's book "Abroad in Japan". If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, all the info is at https://thoughtfultravellersbookclub.substack.com and you can keep up with all the thoughts about our current books in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook Group at https://facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting to know new people is one of the fun parts of travelling, and sometimes these encounters turn into long-term and even lifelong friendships. In this episode, my guests have wonderful stories to tell about the friends they have made on a trip - I found it very uplifting! First up, Heidi Brown describes how taking solo trips to indulge her love of U2 has led to a delightful network of similarly U2-obsessed friends, who continue to meet up around the world. I then chat with Shari Leid, who carried out a fantastic project having a meal with a stranger or near stranger in all fifty US states, making some good friends along the way. Finally, Steve Hoffman ponders the difficulties inherent in making lasting friendships when we travel and gives a great example of a friend he made while spending an extended period in rural France. Links: Substack post I mentioned: Conversations that changed my perspective on life - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/p/conversations-that-changed-my-perspective  Heidi Br

When my friend Tracy Collins messaged me to say hey, I'm doing a new series on the Global Travel Planning Podcast and I want to interview you first - I said yes as fast as I could. Tracy had an idea to guide me through a chat about a number of my very most special travel experiences and I knew it would be fun. In fact, I think it turned out to be such a great chat that I asked Tracy if I could share it here with all my audience too. We cover so many topics: who inspired me to travel in the first place, some of my favourite trips (taking the Trans-Siberian across Russia and my road trip in Iceland both got airtime here), why I love and keep returning to Japan, how speaking a language can help you connect more deeply with a place and where I'd really like to return to soon. And more! Hope you enjoy listening just a fraction as much as I enjoyed being interviewed - thanks Tracy! Links: Global Travel Planning - https://globaltravelplanning.com/ Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www

This is the fourth part of a monthly, six-episode series celebrating the fact that exactly 40 years ago this year, my family and I spent six months in a striped motorhome travelling around Europe. I was nine years old and yes, this trip had an enormous impact on my life - I'm sure you wouldn't be listening to this podcast today if Van Life 1985 hadn't taken place! Throughout the series, I'll include chats recorded with my Dad this year, extracts from my late Mum's travel diary from 1985, and of course my own memories and thoughts.  In this episode, we move on to spend time in Germany, a country that would become very important in my future life. We bypassed Munich, visited the Black Forest, Baden Baden and Heidelberg, and spent time staying with friends near Frankfurt, where my sister and I especially enjoyed the flying fox play equipment in a local path. Belgium featured very briefly in our trip and we then carried on to the Netherlands, enjoying a cheese market in Alkmaar and a canal cruise in Amsterda

Solo travel might seem daunting, but as you'll hear from my guests today, the benefits can be amazing. While this episode features women who travel alone, the advantages they talk about are definitely relevant to anyone.  First up, Heidi Brown shares her love of solo travel and explains that she's developed a unique strategy for finding great restaurants when she's travelling alone - it's surprisingly effective and has something to do with design choices. Next, Kaila Yu travels solo frequently for work and has discovered a clever way to avoid unwanted attention as a solo female traveller. She also talks about the freedom of not having to compromise when you're on your own. Renae Ninneman then tells us about her spontaneous encounter with a fellow traveller at a music festival in South Korea - one of those benefits of travelling alone when you can be completely flexible. Finally, Chelsea Gruber shares her approach to staying safe while solo travelling, including some practical preparation tips and a syste

Did you know that one in ten jobs worldwide is in the tourism industry? I think we're all sometimes guilty of merrily going on our travels without giving much thought to the people behind the scenes that make this possible. In this episode I chat with three people in very different careers in the travel area and hear some of the behind-the-scenes of what makes tourism tick. First up, Suyash Keshari, founder of Ameliya Safaris, gives us the rundown of a typical day in the life of a safari guide. It's interesting to hear the ups and the downs of what sounds like a dream job. Next, I speak with John Roberts, who's the Group Director of Sustainability and Conservation in the Minor Hotels group. He tells me about some of the challenges and goals of implementing sustainability actions and policies across a hundreds of hotels in different parts of the world. Finally, Jamie Burr describes how he entered the tourism industry and explains his previous and current roles in marketing. His thoughts on how travel businesse

Two of my favourite things in life are reading novels and travelling, so it's about time they appeared in a podcast episode together - especially since so many other people love this combination of joys, too! Starting with a bunch of wonderful "novel on a trip" experiences from listeners, I next hear from Carol McQuaid about the long list of novels she created to read on a round-the-world trip, along with continued reasons to read novels related to her travels.  Next, Louis Hall has a fabulous argument for why reading fiction might even be more relevant to your travels than the typical non-fiction travel narratives we often read when preparing for a trip. And finally, Jonny Wright joins me with some deep thinking on the impact of reading during our travels, both for the books we read and the places we read them in. Links: Festival of Fiction in Perth - https://festivaloffiction.com.au/  Carol Mc Quaid - The Illustrated Vagabond - Carol’s pre-trip reading list - https://www.theillustratedvagab

This is the third part of a monthly, six-episode series celebrating the fact that exactly 40 years ago this year, my family and I spent six months in a striped motorhome travelling around Europe. I was nine years old and yes, this trip had an enormous impact on my life - I'm sure you wouldn't be listening to this podcast today if Van Life 1985 hadn't taken place! Throughout the series, I'll include chats recorded with my Dad this year, extracts from my late Mum's travel diary from 1985, and of course my own memories and thoughts.  In this episode, we move on from Italy to Switzerland, where much of our fun involves mountain and snow. Growing up in Western Australia, none of us had any experience with snow, and we were all thrilled to play in the summer snow we found in alpine Switzerland. You need to listen to find out what we wore during these snowy adventures! We then spent time in Austria, and thanks to my Mum's diary we know we had some good times there too - curiously, neither my Dad nor I remember

When you're given an intriguing invitation or an interesting opportunity on your travels, do you say yes? I try to whenever possible, and that's led to some very memorable experiences - and the same is true of the three guests in this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast.  First up, Carl Klein explains what happened when he was invited to tag along with a family he'd got to know in northern Colombia, as part of a very important day. I then chat with Tracy Collins about her brave "yes" moment, which led to a lifetime of fun and friendship. Finally, Chiara Barbera explains that although her cousin tried to put her off agreeing to a particular offer in Italy, saying "yes" led to quite the epiphany and a major passion and goal in life. Links: Carl Klein - Lost Canyon Imports -  https://www.lostcanyonimports.com/  Tracy Collins - UK Travel Planning https://uktravelplanning.com and Global Travel Planning at https://globaltravelplanning.com  Chiara’s Assaggio platform - https://experie

Whether it's a bus, train or subway, using any kind of public transport or transit system when you're travelling can be very eye-opening (and a lot of fun!). In my opinion it's a much better way to get to know a place you're visiting, and of course it's also usually the most budget-friendly way of getting around, another bonus. In this episode you'll hear from four guests who have stories to share about their use of public transport across the world. Ros Belford has some lovely stories about bus drivers in Italy; Martha Waslen talks about the famous subway of New York and the nearly equally well-known trains of Tokyo; Scott Antcliffe compares his experience of public transport in the UK with recent travels in Singapore and Berlin; and Megan Frye gives a good explanation of some of the reasons why public transport helps you get to know a city, and even a country. Links: Ros Belford - https://rosbelford.com Ros’s book Children of the Volcano - https://amzn.to/4dq2vpz Martha’s DayAway platform - htt

This special episode is the audio of the Facebook Livestream of the June 2025 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, speaking with author Ash Bhardwaj about his book "Why We Travel". If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, all the info is at https://notaballerina.com/bookclub, and you can keep up with all the thoughts about our current books in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook Group at https://facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers   Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's no single definition of mindful travel, but in this episode we talk about various ideas: from travel where we intentionally take time to practice mindfulness like on a yoga or meditation retreat, through the kinds of trips where we are really paying attention to what's happening around us, and even some specific ways we could travel that encourage mindfulness. First up, I chat with frequent solo traveller Chelsea Gruber, who has had numerous trips where she specifically aims to be mindful, such as yoga retreats. I then speak with Christine Newell about some experiences she's had about really being present on travels, with a great example from some time she spent in Japan. Finally, Louis Hall describes how he discovered that travelling with a horse forces mindfulness in a very positive way, something that he's found quite life-changing. Links: Chelsea Gruber - https://www.chelseasolotravels.com/  Chelsea's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/chelseasolotravels/  Christine Newell - https://

This is the second part of a monthly, six-episode series celebrating the fact that exactly 40 years ago this year, my family and I spent six months in a striped motorhome travelling around Europe. I was nine years old and yes, this trip had an enormous impact on my life - I'm sure you wouldn't be listening to this podcast today if Van Life 1985 hadn't taken place! Throughout the series, I'll include chats recorded with my Dad this year, extracts from my late Mum's travel diary from 1985, and of course my own memories and thoughts.  In this episode, we drive briefly through Spain, which none of us really remember (sorry, Spain, I do love you now!). We then had some fun times in Italy, with vivid memories of climbing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and quite the adventure getting mixed up with the local police in the small town of Potenza. We spend a few weeks thoroughly enjoying Greece before diverting back through Italy, Venice in particular, en route to our next country. A big thanks to Context Travel for sp

It rarely takes much experience of travel to collect an experience of someone you meet while travelling being surprisingly kind. While we're often trained to think the worst, countless tales from travellers tell of strangers helping out and showing kindness in myriad ways - it's one of the most heartening parts of seeing the world, I think! In Episode 350, I chat with four travellers who have stories of kindness to share. The first happened some decades back in Sudan, when Patrick Nash was welcomed into a Dinka village and given a special treat. Next, Ros Belford explains what happened when she found herself stuck in an Italian train station at midnight with her two toddlers and no taxis. Jonny Wright, a frequent hitchhiker, tells me just how often the vulnerability of hitchhiking is met not with the danger we often worry about but acts of thoughtful kindness. Finally, Chris Magnuson talks about how another wonderful act of kindness almost meant he missed his flight! Links: Patrick Nash - https://www.patrick

We all take hundreds of photos on our travels these days, but I was keen to chat with Nicole Smith, founder of Flytographer, about how their network of photographers take this to the next level in many popular travel spots around the world. Nicole is an avid traveller who caught the travel bug young, and after a very unfortunate photographic "accident" on a long trip through Asia, she realised just how important having photos to job our memories can be. Nicole and I chatted about what it means to be a thoughtful traveller, the benefits of meeting up with local people in the places we visit, and more about how special our photographic travel memories can be. Links: Flytographer - https://www.flytographer.com/ Win a $100 Flytographer voucher - https://forms.gle/zUsK9byTtER9XbLD8  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Trave