Travelling overnight in a train is, I think, a very special experience. I've slept peacefully on overnight trains in Russia, Finland and Vietnam, and will happily do so again, for many reasons. Spending extended periods of time on trains is a wonderful way to get chatting to other travellers, a comfortable way to really see a country's landscapes, and of course, it's also more environmentally friendly than flying.

My first guest on this episode is Justin Meneguzzi, who recently included overnight train travel to replace domestic flights on his trip to Thailand. It was great to hear about his experiences in both first and second class and has definitely inspired me to test out the Thai rail system on my next trip there.

I then chat with Julie Kaplan, who not long ago spent four months travelling in Iraq. She took her first overnight train trip while she was there, and tells me about her experience travelling from Baghdad to Basra.

Finally, I speak with Imogen Lepere about her trip across Russia on the Trans-Mongolian. As is often the case with overnight train travel, she struck up some kind of connection with the local travellers sharing her cabin.

Links:
French ban on short plane trips - https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/12/02/is-france-banning-private-jets-everything-we-know-from-a-week-of-green-transport-proposals
12 Go Asia https://12go.asia/en - booking transport in Asia 
Justin Meneguzzi - https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com
Julie Kaplan - https://www.juliekaplan.com/
Julie’s YouTube channel, Julie from LA - https://www.youtube.com/@juliefromla
Imogen Lepere - https://www.imogenleperewriter.com/
Imogen’s book The Ethical Traveller - 100 ways to roam the world without ruining it - https://amzn.to/3Pj7KO7
Trans-Siberian Train Journeys, Episode 194 - notaballerina.com/194
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/295

Travelling overnight in a train is, I think, a very special experience. I've slept peacefully on overnight trains in Russia, Finland and Vietnam, and will happily do so again, for many reasons. Spending extended periods of time on trains is a wonderful way to get chatting to other travellers, a comfortable way to really see a country's landscapes, and of course, it's also more environmentally friendly than flying.
My first guest on this episode is Justin Meneguzzi, who recently included overnight train travel to replace domestic flights on his trip to Thailand. It was great to hear about his experiences in both first and second class and has definitely inspired me to test out the Thai rail system on my next trip there.
I then chat with Julie Kaplan, who not long ago spent four months travelling in Iraq. She took her first overnight train trip while she was there, and tells me about her experience travelling from Baghdad to Basra.
Finally, I speak with Imogen Lepere about her trip across Russia on the Trans-Mongolian. As is often the case with overnight train travel, she struck up some kind of connection with the local travellers sharing her cabin.
Links:
<ul>
<li>French ban on short plane trips - <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/12/02/is-france-banning-private-jets-everything-we-know-from-a-week-of-green-transport-proposals">https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/12/02/is-france-banning-private-jets-everything-we-know-from-a-week-of-green-transport-proposals</a> </li>
<li>12 Go Asia <a href="https://12go.asia/en">https://12go.asia/en</a> - booking transport in Asia </li>
<li>Justin Meneguzzi - <a href="https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com">https://www.justinmeneguzzi.com</a> </li>
<li>Julie Kaplan - <a href="https://www.juliekaplan.com/">https://www.juliekaplan.com/</a> </li>
<li>Julie’s YouTube channel, Julie from LA - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@juliefromla">https://www.youtube.com/@juliefromla</a> </li>
<li>Imogen Lepere - <a href="https://www.imogenleperewriter.com/">https://www.imogenleperewriter.com/</a> </li>
<li>Imogen’s book The Ethical Traveller - 100 ways to roam the world without ruining it - <a href="https://amzn.to/3Pj7KO7">https://amzn.to/3Pj7KO7</a> </li>
<li>Trans-Siberian Train Journeys, Episode 194 - <a href="http://notaballerina.com/194">notaballerina.com/194</a>     </li>
<li>Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers">https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers</a></li>
<li>Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - <a href="https://notaballerina.com/linkedin">https://notaballerina.com/linkedin</a></li>
<li>Show notes: <a href="http://notaballerina.com/295">https://notaballerina.com/295</a></li>
</ul>

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle is a show for travel lovers. Each episode is packed with travel stories from fellow travel addicts on topics like using foreign languages, meeting the locals, getting lost and what we learn from our travels.

Tales from travel-lovers about why we travel and what we learn from it.

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle - established 2016 - helps travellers think about how our travels can be good for us and good for the world. We talk about how to make ethical decisions on our trips, sustainable and regenerative tourism, bringing back what we learn from the people and cultures we meet to improve our lives back home, and share the most memorable stories from travelling: fun, scary, educational and more. Most episodes include extracts from conversations with three different guests, centred on a particular topic, but you'll also hear occasional deep dive interviews, recordings from the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, and Amanda's own experiences from travelling past and present.

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle - established 2016 - helps travellers think about how our travels can be good for us and good for the world. We talk about how to make ethical decisions on our trips, sustainable and regenerative tourism, bringing back what we learn from the people and cultures we meet to improve our lives back home, and share the most memorable stories from travelling: fun, scary, educational and more. Most episodes include extracts from conversations with three different guests, centred on a particular topic, but you'll also hear occasional deep dive interviews, recordings from the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, and Amanda's own experiences from travelling past and present.

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