One of my favourite outings in Bangkok last month was heading north to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed historic city of Ayutthaya for a day, together with my friend Vincie. Since we are both deeply into contemplating thoughtful travel - Vincie is the founder of RISE Travel Institute - we decided to record a chat about our experiences in Ayutthaya through a "thoughtful travel lens". We report the good and the bad and our conversation ranges from sustainabilty practices through tourist education and on to wildlife protection as well, and we also have a lot of fun reminiscing - so hope you enjoy this conversation too.

Links:
Ep 368 Bangkok Trip Diary and Thoughtful Travel Scorecard - notaballerina.com/368
RISE Travel Institute - risetravelinstitute.org 
Retouch Ayutthaya app - https://www.retouchayutthaya.com/ 
Ep 252 RISE Capstone project: Elephants Are Many Shades of Grey - notaballerina.com/252 
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/372

One of my favourite outings in Bangkok last month was heading north to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed historic city of Ayutthaya for a day, together with my friend Vincie. Since we are both deeply into contemplating thoughtful travel - Vincie is the founder of RISE Travel Institute - we decided to record a chat about our experiences in Ayutthaya through a "thoughtful travel lens". We report the good and the bad and our conversation ranges from sustainabilty practices through tourist education and on to wildlife protection as well, and we also have a lot of fun reminiscing - so hope you enjoy this conversation too.
Links:
<ul>
<li>Ep 368 Bangkok Trip Diary and Thoughtful Travel Scorecard - <a href="http://notaballerina.com/368">notaballerina.com/368</a></li>
<li>RISE Travel Institute - <a href="http://risetravelinstitute.org">risetravelinstitute.org</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Retouch Ayutthaya app - <a href="https://www.retouchayutthaya.com/">https://www.retouchayutthaya.com/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Ep 252 RISE Capstone project: Elephants Are Many Shades of Grey - <a href="http://notaballerina.com/252">notaballerina.com/252</a>&nbsp;</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>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/372"> https://notaballerina.com/372</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.

372 Ayutthaya, Thailand: Visiting Thoughtfully

It's International Women's Day again and I've got a different focus this year: some of the ways history and travel is not the same for women!

When we travel, especially on our own, we can be confronted with cultural differences and people's opinions in a starker way than others, and I loved hearing more about this from listeners who contributed to a chat on this in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group. 

History is also not the same for women - and women are often omitted from the history we learn about a place when we travel there. I chat with Nikki Padilla Rivera of She Shapes History about how this happens and what this fabulous Australian-born tour company is doing about it.

Links:
2025 International Women’s Day Episode 340 - https://notaballerina.com/340 
She Shapes History walking tours and more - https://sheshapeshistory.com/   
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/385

It's International Women's Day again and I've got a different focus this year: some of the ways history and travel is not the same for women!
When we travel, especially on our own, we can be confronted with cultural differences and people's opinions in a starker way than others, and I loved hearing more about this from listeners who contributed to a chat on this in the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group.&nbsp;
History is also not the same for women - and women are often omitted from the history we learn about a place when we travel there. I chat with Nikki Padilla Rivera of She Shapes History about how this happens and what this fabulous Australian-born tour company is doing about it.
Links:
<ul>
<li>2025 International Women&rsquo;s Day Episode 340 - <a href="https://notaballerina.com/340">https://notaballerina.com/340</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>She Shapes History walking tours and more - <a href="https://sheshapeshistory.com/">https://sheshapeshistory.com/</a>&nbsp; &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/385">https://notaballerina.com/385</a></li>
</ul>

385 Women in History and Travel - International Women’s Day 2026

This special episode is the audio of the live-streamed February 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting with author Hannah Kent about her book "Always Home, Always Homesick" - https://amzn.to/3Kxcb7M 

 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 February 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting with author Hannah Kent about her book "Always Home, Always Homesick" - <a href="https://amzn.to/3Kxcb7M">https://amzn.to/3Kxcb7M</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 24: Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent

We often focus on the visual when we travel ... after all, travellers go sightseeing, not "sound-hearing" or "taste-tasting"! But when we look back on our travel memories, it's often a smell, taste, sound or feel that actually has the most long-lasting impact. 

In this episode we hear from three travellers about their own experiences with non-visual senses, starting off with travel writer Tom Sykes, who also emphasises why this is important for writer as well. I then chat with Hannah Ballint about some of her fondest travel memories, which often involves sound and smell, across Vietnam, the United States and Australia. Finally, Ethan Kavanagh takes us through some of his highlights of a trip to Ireland with a focus on the feel and taste, too.

Links:
Tom Sykes - https://tomgsykes.co.uk/ 
Tom’s new book (coming March 2026) - The Years of Travelling Anxiously - https://amzn.to/4cyr2L1 
Tom’s book recommendation, Sven Lindqvist’s Exterminate All The Brutes - https://amzn.to/4u1LAlo
Hannah Balint - https://www.hannahbalintcoaching.com 
Ethan Kavanagh - The Perth Tourist - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-perth-tourist/id1823861279 
Ethan on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/noisepilotau/ 
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/384

 


*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.

We often focus on the visual when we travel ... after all, travellers go sightseeing, not "sound-hearing" or "taste-tasting"! But when we look back on our travel memories, it's often a smell, taste, sound or feel that actually has the most long-lasting impact.&nbsp;
In this episode we hear from three travellers about their own experiences with non-visual senses, starting off with travel writer Tom Sykes, who also emphasises why this is important for writer as well. I then chat with Hannah Ballint about some of her fondest travel memories, which often involves sound and smell, across Vietnam, the United States and Australia. Finally, Ethan Kavanagh takes us through some of his highlights of a trip to Ireland with a focus on the feel and taste, too.
Links:
<ul>
<li>Tom Sykes - <a href="https://tomgsykes.co.uk/">https://tomgsykes.co.uk/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Tom&rsquo;s new book (coming March 2026) - The Years of Travelling Anxiously - <a href="https://amzn.to/4cyr2L1">https://amzn.to/4cyr2L1</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Tom&rsquo;s book recommendation, Sven Lindqvist&rsquo;s Exterminate All The Brutes - <a href="https://amzn.to/4u1LAlo">https://amzn.to/4u1LAlo</a></li>
<li>Hannah Balint - <a href="https://www.hannahbalintcoaching.com/">https://www.hannahbalintcoaching.com</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Ethan Kavanagh - The Perth Tourist - <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-perth-tourist/id1823861279">https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-perth-tourist/id1823861279</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Ethan on Instagram - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/noisepilotau/">https://www.instagram.com/noisepilotau/</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/384">https://notaballerina.com/384</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.

372 Ayutthaya, Thailand: Visiting Thoughtfully

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