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

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:
<ul>
<li>Catherine Marshall on Instagram - <a href="http://instagram.com/zizzyballord">instagram.com/zizzyballord</a></li>
<li>Catherine&rsquo;s course the Art of Travel Writing <a href="https://artoftravelwriting.thinkific.com/products/courses/aotwn">https://artoftravelwriting.thinkific.com/products/courses/aotwn</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/404">https://notaballerina.com/404</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.

404 Egypt and the Nile: Cruising with Catherine

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

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 &nbsp;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:
<ul>
<li>Riana Ang-Canning - <a href="https://teaspoonofadventure.com/">https://teaspoonofadventure.com/</a></li>
<li>Mathi Thayanan&rsquo;s business in Sri Lanka, The Curious Experience - <a href="https://thecuriousexperience.com/">https://thecuriousexperience.com/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Theodora Chatzipavlidis&rsquo;s app Velout - <a href="https://www.velout.app/">https://www.velout.app</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Episode 378 Seoul Trip Report: Spontaneous Budget Travel to South Korea <a href="http://notaballerina.com/378">notaballerina.com/378</a><a href="https://www.notaballerina.com/2026/01/seoul-trip-report-spontaneous-budget-travel-south-korea-episode-378-thoughtful-travel-podcast.html"></a></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/403">https://notaballerina.com/403</a></li>
</ul>

403 Off Season Travel

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 

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:
<ul>
<li>Thanks to sponsor, Slowly - download Slowly to start building genuine friendships today -available for free on the App Store and Google Play -&nbsp;<a href="https://notaballerina.com/slowly">https://notaballerina.com/slowly</a></li>
<li>Laura Pakenham on Instagram&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/laurajpakenham/">https://www.instagram.com/laurajpakenham/</a></li>
<li>Laura&rsquo;s book "Irish: History and culture through language" -&nbsp;<a href="https://amzn.to/3ST7Z6b">https://amzn.to/3ST7Z6b</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Colin Johnston&rsquo;s website <a href="https://racingdaydreams.com/">https://racingdaydreams.com/</a></li>
<li>And huge thanks to Tony O&rsquo;Sullivan</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 -&nbsp;<a href="https://notaballerina.com/linkedin">https://notaballerina.com/linkedin</a></li>
<li>Sign up for the Thoughtful Travellers newsletter at Substack -&nbsp;<a href="https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com">https://thoughtfultravel.substack.com</a></li>
<li>Show notes: <a href="https://notaballerina.com/402">https://notaballerina.com/402</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

402 Ireland: Chats with Locals

About one in ten jobs across the globe are in the travel industry, but from the hundreds of conversations I've had over the years, I've learnt that the paths to working in tourism and travel are many and varied!

In this episode I chat with four people who've found their way into this industry through very different ways.

First up, Russell True describes how he ended up having a lifetime career in the dude ranch accommodation and experience industry; then I speak with Mathi Thayanan who now runs his own travel company in Sri Lanka but didn't always plan to do this. Jana Marie Bald then explains her career path from agricultural science to tourism (not what I'd expected!) and finally, Aabiskar Thapa describes how from growing up near Pokhara, Nepal and seeing tourists on the trail, he took a circuitous route to ending up working in travel himself.

Links:
Russell True of the True Ranch Collection - https://trueranchcollection.com/
Mathi’s business in Sri Lanka, The Curious Experience - https://thecuriousexperience.com/ 
Jana’s app Ørth - https://www.oerth.life/ 
Sharing Seeds in Nepal - https://linktr.ee/sharing.seeds 
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/401

About one in ten jobs across the globe are in the travel industry, but from the hundreds of conversations I've had over the years, I've learnt that the paths to working in tourism and travel are many and varied!
In this episode I chat with four people who've found their way into this industry through very different ways.
First up, Russell True describes how he ended up having a lifetime career in the dude ranch accommodation and experience industry; then I speak with Mathi Thayanan who now runs his own travel company in Sri Lanka but didn't always plan to do this. Jana Marie Bald then explains her career path from agricultural science to tourism (not what I'd expected!) and finally, Aabiskar Thapa describes how from growing up near Pokhara, Nepal and seeing tourists on the trail, he took a circuitous route to ending up working in travel himself.
Links:
<ul>
<li>Russell True of the True Ranch Collection - <a href="https://trueranchcollection.com/">https://trueranchcollection.com/</a></li>
<li>Mathi&rsquo;s business in Sri Lanka, The Curious Experience - <a href="https://thecuriousexperience.com/">https://thecuriousexperience.com/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Jana&rsquo;s app &Oslash;rth - <a href="https://www.oerth.life/">https://www.oerth.life/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Sharing Seeds in Nepal - <a href="https://linktr.ee/sharing.seeds">https://linktr.ee/sharing.seeds</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/401">https://notaballerina.com/401</a></li>
</ul>

404 Egypt and the Nile: Cruising with Catherine

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