Travelling to countries with different customs and cultures from your own can induce varying kinds of culture shock, and Episode 41 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast looks at a few examples of culture shock across Asia and the Middle East. 

Amanda begins by speaking to Matt Treglia about some of his very first travel experiences abroad, and especially the terror that came with trying to cross a busy road in Thailand, and his new-found love of the fact that most places outside of his home country of the United States don’t expect you to tip people!

Following Matt, Amanda talks to Diana Edelman more about the cultural differences in Thailand and the various customs Diana had to get used to when she moved to Thailand. There is a lot to learn, and the Thai people don’t want you to lose face by telling you about the mistakes you make, so it’s a tricky road to navigate.

Emma Mann then talks to Amanda about the unease she felt travelling as a young woman in the Middle East, when it was made clear to her that she shouldn’t speak or be involved in any decision making - something that was very different to the way she had been brought up in Australia.

Links:

• Matt’s site Words with Winos
• Words with Winos podcast 
• My post on things I didn’t expect in Bangkok
• Diana Edelman at D Travels Round
• Diana’s new site, Vegans Baby
• Emma Mann at The Vagabond Feminist 
• Emma’s Flying Foodie blog 
• Japan Times article on “hesokuri” 
• Join our Facebook group
• Tweet me @amandakendle
• Hashtag #thoughtfultravelpod
• Follow me on Facebook    
• Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/41