The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Travel can change your life! It sounds like a cliched salesy headline but it's my experience that it's true, and the guests in this episode would agree. I start off chatting with Mike Clapper who had a career epiphany - and set up a now successful new business - off the back of a particular moment in Iceland. Lindsey Danis explains how she and her partner made a huge life change after contemplating what they loved so much about their honeymoon in Thailand. Finally, Tudor Morgan describes some of the ways his work is focused on travellers who are often experiencing this while on expedition trips he leads. Links: Mike Clapper - Able2Global - https://able2global.com/  Lindsey Danis - (Out) On the Road - https://amzn.to/4vIK334 Lindsey's blog Queer Adventurers https://www.queeradventurers.com Tudor Morgan of HX Expeditions - https://www.travelhx.com/en-au/  Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/405 *Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some of those academic references: Bennett, M. (2012). An exploration of transformational learning in adults as a result of adventure travel experiences [Doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University]. Pepperdine Digital Commons. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/319/digitalcommons.pepperdine Magrizos, S., Kostopoulos, I., & Powers, L. (2021). Volunteer tourism as a transformative experience: A mixed methods empirical study. Journal of Travel Research, 60(4), 878–895. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520913630 Pung, J. M., & Del Chiappa, G. (2020). An exploratory and qualitative study on the meaning of transformative tourism and its facilitators and inhibitors. European Journal of Tourism Research, 24, Article 2404. https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v24i.406 Tovar, L. A., & Misischia, C. (2018). Experiential learning: Transformation and discovery through travel study programs. Research in Higher Education Journal, 35, 1–15. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1194438.pdffiles.eric.edSupport the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This special episode is the audio of the livestream of the October 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting about the book "Travels with Nala" by Dean Nicholson. If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, sign up for our updates at https://thoughtfultravellersbookclub.substack.com/ You can also read more about it at https://notaballerina.com/bookclub, and you can keep up with all the thoughts about our current books in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook Group at https://facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers  *Full disclosure: Amazon Services LLC Associates ProgramNotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I had the joy of visiting Egypt in September 2026, and spending ten days seeing Cairo and cruising the Nile, visiting historical highlights including Dendera, Luxor, Kom Omob, Esna and Aswan. I'll be sharing my experiences across several episodes but to start with, I've got an overview of the trip plus a chat with my friend and travel companion Catherine Marshall. Although choosing favourites was extremely hard, we discuss some of our best meals, sightseeing spots, learnings, surprises and shopping moments of our time in Egypt. Links: Catherine Marshall on Instagram - instagram.com/zizzyballord Catherine’s course the Art of Travel Writing https://artoftravelwriting.thinkific.com/products/courses/aotwn    Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/404 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With high tourist numbers in some popular places making travel less enjoyable, it only makes sense that there's an increased interest in off season travel. Choosing a shoulder or off peak time to  travel makes sense for so many reasons to me, and it's often when you'll have the much better experiences all round! Last year, my son and I enjoyed an off season trip to Seoul, South Korea so thoroughly that we're trying the same time of year for a Tokyo visit soon. In this episode, I talk with three people who also have been converted to the off season way. First up, Riana Ann-Canning describes a trip to France in chilly (or was it?!) February which exceeded all expectations; Mathi Thayanan then explains the benefits of visiting Sri Lanka at non-peak times of year; finally, Theodora Chatzipavlidis tells me how she accidentally discovered how much she likes travelling in the off season when she ended up touring parts of Europe during the ultimate off season of Covid! Links: Riana Ang-Canning - https://teaspoonofadventure.com/ Mathi Thayanan’s business in Sri Lanka, The Curious Experience - https://thecuriousexperience.com/  Theodora Chatzipavlidis’s app Velout - https://www.velout.app  Episode 378 Seoul Trip Report: Spontaneous Budget Travel to South Korea notaballerina.com/378 Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com  Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/403 Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ireland and the Irish - we all have a story to tell, right? In this episode I get the insider stories from Ireland - both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland - from three brilliant guests who all agreed to answer questions about why they love living there, their favourite traditions, what surprises visitors and what we as travellers need to know before we go. What I loved most about speaking with these Ireland locals is the variety of their answers - I thought I knew a lot about this part of the world but there's so much more to learn. A huge thanks to Laura, Tony and Colin for being part of this special Chats with Locals episode. Links: Thanks to sponsor, Slowly - download Slowly to start building genuine friendships today -available for free on the App Store and Google Play - https://notaballerina.com/slowly Laura Pakenham on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/laurajpakenham/ Laura’s book "Irish: History and culture through language" - https://amzn.to/3ST7Z6b  Colin Johnston’s website https://racingdaydreams.com/ And huge thanks to Tony O’Sullivan Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/402  Support the show: https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.