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 work in tourism there and abroad in places like Cambodia, and most impressively to me, some of the unique approaches to tours he offers his visitors. I loved hearing about his creativity in coming up with different ways that travellers can get to know more about a destination and its people, and I'm sure you will too.

Links:
Like Local - https://www.likelocal.io/


Netflix Episode with Olafur Eliasson on Abstract: The Art of Design - https://www.netflix.com/title/80057883 
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
Join my newsletter community at Substack - https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/318

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 work in tourism there and abroad in places like Cambodia, and most impressively to me, some of the unique approaches to tours he offers his visitors. I loved hearing about his creativity in coming up with different ways that travellers can get to know more about a destination and its people, and I'm sure you will too.
Links:
<ul>
<li>Like Local - <a href="http://www.local.io/">https://www.likelocal.io/</a> </li>
<li>
Netflix Episode with Olafur Eliasson on Abstract: The Art of Design - https://www.netflix.com/title/80057883 
</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>Join my newsletter community at Substack - <a href="http://thoughtfultravel.substack.com">https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com</a> </li>
<li>Show notes: <a href="http://notaballerina.com/318">https://notaballerina.com/318</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 - is a weekly show which 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 - is a weekly show which 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.

318 Gevorg Babayan: Deep Dive into Experiential Tours in Armenia and Beyond

If you could go back in time and tap on the shoulder of your younger self as you backpack around the world, what would you say? I've been pondering this question and asked several other experienced travellers to tell me their thoughts on it too, and the results are pretty interesting! 

In this episode I start off chatting with Josh Zukas, a travel writer now based in Vietnam, who had advice for his younger self that I very much agree with. Next up, sailor Tim Geisler of Nautilus Sailing reminded me of advice I'd actually received from a wise friend in my early twenties, just before I began travelling, that really impacted my travels positively. Finally, Tom Sykes talks about advice to his younger self with the focus of travelling with anxiety, and this led us to a very thoughtful conversation! 

Links:
Josh Zukas - https://www.joshuazukas.com/ 
Tim Geisler - Nautilus Sailing - https://www.nautilussailing.com/
Tom Sykes - https://tomgsykes.co.uk/ 
Tom’s book - The Years of Travelling Anxiously - https://amzn.to/4cyr2L1 
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/392

 

*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.

If you could go back in time and tap on the shoulder of your younger self as you backpack around the world, what would you say? I've been pondering this question and asked several other experienced travellers to tell me their thoughts on it too, and the results are pretty interesting!&nbsp;
In this episode I start off chatting with Josh Zukas, a travel writer now based in Vietnam, who had advice for his younger self that I very much agree with. Next up, sailor Tim Geisler of Nautilus Sailing reminded me of advice I'd actually received from a wise friend in my early twenties, just before I began travelling, that really impacted my travels positively. Finally, Tom Sykes talks about advice to his younger self with the focus of travelling with anxiety, and this led us to a very thoughtful conversation!&nbsp;
Links:
<ul>
<li>Josh Zukas - <a href="https://www.joshuazukas.com/">https://www.joshuazukas.com/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Tim Geisler - Nautilus Sailing - <a href="https://www.nautilussailing.com/">https://www.nautilussailing.com/</a></li>
<li>Tom Sykes - <a href="https://tomgsykes.co.uk/">https://tomgsykes.co.uk/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Tom&rsquo;s book - The Years of Travelling Anxiously - <a href="https://amzn.to/4cyr2L1">https://amzn.to/4cyr2L1</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers -&nbsp;<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>Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - <a href="https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com">https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Show notes: <a href="http://notaballerina.com/392">https://notaballerina.com/392</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
*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.

392 What You'd Tell Your Younger Travelling Self

This special episode is the audio of the live-streamed May 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting about "The Venice Hotel", a novel with very thoughtful travel themes, with author Tess Woods - https://amzn.to/4ug8Cou 

 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 Program
NotABallerina.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This special episode is the audio of the live-streamed May 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting about "The Venice Hotel", a novel with very thoughtful travel themes, with author Tess Woods -&nbsp;<a href="https://amzn.to/4ug8Cou">https://amzn.to/4ug8Cou</a>&nbsp;
&nbsp;If you'd like to join the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, sign up for our updates at <a href="https://thoughtfultravellersbookclub.substack.com/">https://thoughtfultravellersbookclub.substack.com/</a>
You can also read more about it at&nbsp;<a href="https://notaballerina.com/bookclub,">https://notaballerina.com/bookclub,</a>&nbsp;and you can keep up with all the thoughts about our current books in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook Group at <a href="https://facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers">https://facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers</a>&nbsp;
*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.

Book Club 25: The Venice Hotel by Tess Woods

It's easy to be a little envious of anyone who gets to travel to interesting places as part of their work, but when the work itself is also truly fascinating, then I think it's fair that we can all be rather jealous! Nonetheless I loved chatting with these four guests about the experiences their careers have afforded them around the globe.

First up, Tudor Morgan explains how his lifelong love of the polar regions has translated into a range of rewarding work opportunities. Next, Kerstin Pilz tells of a very special job that she did during her academic career, on The Scholar Ship. Cade Martin then explains how his initial work in photography came about via a National Geographic project, and finally, Neil Laird describes the making of his graduate school film in Egypt, which led to a lifetime of travelling the world making documentaries.

Links:
Tudor Morgan of HX Expeditions - https://www.travelhx.com/en-au/ 
Kerstin Pilz - https://kerstinpilz.com/
Kerstin Pilz’s book “Loving my lying, dying, cheating husband” - https://amzn.to/422vCdn
Cade Martin - https://www.cademartin.com/
Wheelchair Mafia short film on rescue dogs in Thailand - https://www.cademartin.com/exploration-wheelchair-mafia 
Neil Laird - https://neillaird.com
Neil’s Prime Time Travelers novels - https://amzn.to/48jqoNB 
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/391

 

 


*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.

It's easy to be a little envious of anyone who gets to travel to interesting places as part of their work, but when the work itself is also truly fascinating, then I think it's fair that we can all be rather jealous! Nonetheless I loved chatting with these four guests about the experiences their careers have afforded them around the globe.
First up, Tudor Morgan explains how his lifelong love of the polar regions has translated into a range of rewarding work opportunities. Next, Kerstin Pilz tells of a very special job that she did during her academic career, on The Scholar Ship. Cade Martin then explains how his initial work in photography came about via a National Geographic project, and finally, Neil Laird describes the making of his graduate school film in Egypt, which led to a lifetime of travelling the world making documentaries.
Links:
<ul>
<li>Tudor Morgan of HX Expeditions -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.travelhx.com/en-au/">https://www.travelhx.com/en-au/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Kerstin Pilz - <a href="https://kerstinpilz.com/">https://kerstinpilz.com/</a></li>
<li>Kerstin Pilz&rsquo;s book &ldquo;Loving my lying, dying, cheating husband&rdquo; - <a href="https://amzn.to/422vCdn">https://amzn.to/422vCdn</a></li>
<li>Cade Martin - <a href="https://www.cademartin.com/">https://www.cademartin.com/</a></li>
<li>Wheelchair Mafia short film on rescue dogs in Thailand - <a href="https://www.cademartin.com/exploration-wheelchair-mafia">https://www.cademartin.com/exploration-wheelchair-mafia</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Neil Laird - <a href="https://neillaird.com/">https://neillaird.com</a></li>
<li>Neil&rsquo;s Prime Time Travelers novels - <a href="https://amzn.to/48jqoNB">https://amzn.to/48jqoNB</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers -&nbsp;<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>Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack - <a href="https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com">https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Show notes: <a href="http://notaballerina.com/391">https://notaballerina.com/391</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
 *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.

318 Gevorg Babayan: Deep Dive into Experiential Tours in Armenia and Beyond

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