This special episode is the audio of the livestream of the July 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting about book "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck - https://amzn.to/4sGQFOu 

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 July 2026 meeting of the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, chatting about book "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck - <a href="https://amzn.to/4sGQFOu">https://amzn.to/4sGQFOu</a>&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.

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.

Book Club 26: Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

We all want the places we visit to exist for longer than our lifetime (and hopefully MUCH longer) - right? Conservation in the travel space can mean a bunch of things, and the three guests in this episode each have a story to share about their own connections between conservation and tourism.

First up, I chat with James Ward of Rewild Safaris, who has had many years of experiencing planning and running safari trips that have a conservation focus. Next, writer Joshua Zukas has a tale to tell of a recent conservation meets tourism success in Vietnam. Finally, Russell True speaks to the issue of historical and cultural heritage when he talks about the preservation of dude ranches in the United States.

Links:
Episode 298 on Conservation Travel - https://notaballerina.com/298
James Ward - Rewild Safaris - https://rewildsafaris.com/ 
Joshua Zukas - https://www.joshuazukas.com/ 
Russell True - True Ranch Collection - https://trueranchcollection.com/ 
Ranch Preservation Foundation - https://www.ranchpreservationfoundation.org/ 
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/398

We all want the places we visit to exist for longer than our lifetime (and hopefully MUCH longer) - right? Conservation in the travel space can mean a bunch of things, and the three guests in this episode each have a story to share about their own connections between conservation and tourism.
First up, I chat with James Ward of Rewild Safaris, who has had many years of experiencing planning and running safari trips that have a conservation focus. Next, writer Joshua Zukas has a tale to tell of a recent conservation meets tourism success in Vietnam. Finally, Russell True speaks to the issue of historical and cultural heritage when he talks about the preservation of dude ranches in the United States.
Links:
<ul>
<li>Episode 298 on Conservation Travel - <a href="https://notaballerina.com/298">https://notaballerina.com/298</a></li>
<li>James Ward - Rewild Safaris -&nbsp;<a href="https://rewildsafaris.com/">https://rewildsafaris.com/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Joshua Zukas - <a href="https://www.joshuazukas.com/">https://www.joshuazukas.com/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Russell True - True Ranch Collection - <a href="https://trueranchcollection.com/">https://trueranchcollection.com/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Ranch Preservation Foundation - <a href="https://www.ranchpreservationfoundation.org/">https://www.ranchpreservationfoundation.org/</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/398">https://notaballerina.com/398</a></li>
</ul>

398 Conservation and Tourism

Things inevitably go wrong when we travel - some big, some small, occasionally some trip-ending, but most travel dramas seem to end up being great stories we tell later and moments that also teach us something - about how we travel, about our personalities, about the world!

First up in this episode I speak with Lindsey Danis, who explains what happened on a spontaneous hiking trip in Florida when somehow, the trail markers seemed to disappear. Next, Theodora Chatzipavlidis has a story to share about the moment she walked into a bargain-priced Airbnb in Mexico and got both more and less than she bargained for. Finally, Ethan Kavanagh takes us through his trip to England and Ireland where things started going wrong shortly after getting on the plane, but he managed to navigate it all with good humour - and some learnings!

Links:
Lindsey Danis - (Out) On the Road -https://lindseydanis.com/outontheroad/  and https://amzn.to/4vIK334
Lindsey's LGBTQ travel blog Queer Adventurers https://www.queeradventurers.com
Theodora Chatzipavlidis’s app Velout - https://www.velout.app 
Ethan Kavanagh - The Perth Tourist - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-perth-tourist/id1823861279 
Ethan's NoisePilot 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/397

 


*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.

Things inevitably go wrong when we travel - some big, some small, occasionally some trip-ending, but most travel dramas seem to end up being great stories we tell later and moments that also teach us something - about how we travel, about our personalities, about the world!
First up in this episode I speak with Lindsey Danis, who explains what happened on a spontaneous hiking trip in Florida when somehow, the trail markers seemed to disappear. Next, Theodora Chatzipavlidis has a story to share about the moment she walked into a bargain-priced Airbnb in Mexico and got both more and less than she bargained for. Finally, Ethan Kavanagh takes us through his trip to England and Ireland where things started going wrong shortly after getting on the plane, but he managed to navigate it all with good humour - and some learnings!
Links:
<ul>
<li>Lindsey Danis - (Out) On the Road -<a href="https://lindseydanis.com/outontheroad/"> </a><a href="https://lindseydanis.com/outontheroad/">https://lindseydanis.com/outontheroad/</a>&nbsp; and <a href="https://amzn.to/4vIK334">https://amzn.to/4vIK334</a></li>
<li>Lindsey's LGBTQ travel blog Queer Adventurers <a href="https://www.queeradventurers.com/">https://www.queeradventurers.com</a></li>
<li>Theodora Chatzipavlidis&rsquo;s app Velout - <a href="https://www.velout.app/">https://www.velout.app</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's NoisePilot Instagram - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/noisepilotau/">https://www.instagram.com/noisepilotau/</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/397">https://notaballerina.com/397</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.

397 Travel Dramas Always Teach Us Something

If you have the opportunity to spend an extended time travelling - like an entire year - I say, grab it! In this episode I chat with three people who’ve had the good fortune to stay away from home for a year, for very different reasons and in many varied parts of the world - what they have in common is that these experiences were very impactful and meaningful.

I chat first with Riana Ann-Canning who explained the first time she spent an extended period living abroad, on a youth mobility visa in the Czech Republic. Next, Amy Willis describes a fascinating year on a digital nomad program which saw her move countries each month. Finally, Jonty Crane tells me about his year spent volunteering in the little-touristed nation of Timor-Leste. 

Links:
Riana Ang-Canning - https://teaspoonofadventure.com/
Amy Willis from Ker & Downey https://kerdowney.com/
Amy's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/amynwillis/ 
Jonty Crane - https://jontytravels.com/
Exploring Timor - https://www.exploringtimor.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/396

If you have the opportunity to spend an extended time travelling - like an entire year - I say, grab it! In this episode I chat with three people who&rsquo;ve had the good fortune to stay away from home for a year, for very different reasons and in many varied parts of the world - what they have in common is that these experiences were very impactful and meaningful.
I chat first with Riana Ann-Canning who explained the first time she spent an extended period living abroad, on a youth mobility visa in the Czech Republic. Next, Amy Willis describes a fascinating year on a digital nomad program which saw her move countries each month. Finally, Jonty Crane tells me about his year spent volunteering in the little-touristed nation of Timor-Leste.&nbsp;
Links:
<ul>
<li>Riana Ang-Canning - <a href="https://teaspoonofadventure.com/">https://teaspoonofadventure.com/</a></li>
<li>Amy Willis from Ker &amp; Downey <a href="https://kerdowney.com/">https://kerdowney.com/</a></li>
<li>Amy's Instagram - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/amynwillis/">https://www.instagram.com/amynwillis/</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Jonty Crane - <a href="https://jontytravels.com/">https://jontytravels.com/</a></li>
<li>Exploring Timor - <a href="https://www.exploringtimor.com/">https://www.exploringtimor.com/</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/396">https://notaballerina.com/396</a></li>
</ul>

Book Club 26: Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

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