Travelling in Cairo and cruising the Nile in September will forever be one of my favourite trips, and reliving that by sharing these two interviews makes me want to return to Egypt immediately! In this episode, I speak with two very experienced travellers in Egypt. Firstly, Alice Ager of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises tells me about her initial experience of Egypt and how she continues to love returning. I then chat with the Egyptologist who led our group, Hatem Abdel Aziz, about the knowledge required to do this job, and how thoughtful travellers can prepare for such a trip. These interviews took place in ships on the Nile - definitely the most picturesque place I have ever recorded!

Links:
Episode 404: Egypt and the Nile - Cruising with Catherine - https://www.notaballerina.com/2026/10/egypt-nile-cruising-episode-404-thoughtful-travel-podcast.html 
Uniworld’s Egypt River Cruise - https://www.uniworld.com/au/destinations/egypt 
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/406

 

Travelling in Cairo and cruising the Nile in September will forever be one of my favourite trips, and reliving that by sharing these two interviews makes me want to return to Egypt immediately! In this episode, I speak with two very experienced travellers in Egypt. Firstly, Alice Ager of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises tells me about her initial experience of Egypt and how she continues to love returning. I then chat with the Egyptologist who led our group, Hatem Abdel Aziz, about the knowledge required to do this job, and how thoughtful travellers can prepare for such a trip. These interviews took place in ships on the Nile - definitely the most picturesque place I have ever recorded!
Links:
<ul>
<li>Episode 404: Egypt and the Nile - Cruising with Catherine - <a href="https://www.notaballerina.com/2026/10/egypt-nile-cruising-episode-404-thoughtful-travel-podcast.html">https://www.notaballerina.com/2026/10/egypt-nile-cruising-episode-404-thoughtful-travel-podcast.html</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Uniworld&rsquo;s Egypt River Cruise - <a href="https://www.uniworld.com/au/destinations/egypt">https://www.uniworld.com/au/destinations/egypt</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/406">https://notaballerina.com/406</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

What does it mean to travel well? Since 2016, host Amanda Kendle has chatted with hundreds of travellers about how we can travel in ways that are good for us and good for the world. Listen for curious stories about local cultures, slow travel, what happens when things go wrong, and much more.

What does it mean to travel well? Since 2016, host Amanda Kendle has chatted with hundreds of travellers about how we can travel in ways that are good for us and good for the world. Listen for curious stories about local cultures, slow travel, what happens when things go wrong, and much more.

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.

406 Egypt Through Experienced Eyes

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.ed

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:
<ul>
<li>Mike Clapper - Able2Global - <a href="https://able2global.com/">https://able2global.com/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Lindsey Danis - (Out) On the Road - <a href="https://amzn.to/4vIK334">https://amzn.to/4vIK334</a></li>
<li>Lindsey's blog Queer Adventurers <a href="https://www.queeradventurers.com/">https://www.queeradventurers.com</a></li>
<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>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="https://notaballerina.com/405">https://notaballerina.com/405</a></li>
</ul>
*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. <a href="https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/319/">https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/319/digitalcommons.pepperdine</a>
Magrizos, S., Kostopoulos, I., &amp; Powers, L. (2021). Volunteer tourism as a transformative experience: A mixed methods empirical study. Journal of Travel Research, 60(4), 878&ndash;895. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520913630">https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520913630</a>
Pung, J. M., &amp; 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. <a href="https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v24i.406">https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v24i.406</a>
Tovar, L. A., &amp; Misischia, C. (2018). Experiential learning: Transformation and discovery through travel study programs. Research in Higher Education Journal, 35, 1&ndash;15. <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1194438.pdf">https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1194438.pdffiles.eric.ed</a>

405 Travel Can Cause Significant Change

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 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 livestream of the October 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting about the book <a href="https://link.amazon/B03Lo49Qh">"Travels with Nala"</a> by Dean Nicholson.
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 27: Nala's World by Dean Nicholson

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>

406 Egypt Through Experienced Eyes

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